UAE Enterprises Shift Focus from AI Adoption to Measurable Business Value

Exclusive interview with Shadi Hatoum, Regional Director MEA at Tealium

The UAE is moving quickly from AI experimentation to deployment. What do you think will determine which organizations actually turn adoption into measurable business value?

The organizations that create measurable value will be those that connect AI to a clearly defined business decision, then give it the right data and operating model to support that decision.

The UAE has already built significant momentum. Boston Consulting Group found that 42% of UAE organizations qualify as AI Leaders, while 37% have reached the scaling stage of AI maturity. The next test is whether that maturity translates into sustained outcomes.

Deploying a model is not the same as changing how a business operates. AI needs trusted, consented, and real-time context around customer identity, behavior, intent, and journey stage. It also needs clear ownership, measurable objectives, and teams that understand how to use the output.

From my perspective, data readiness and organizational adoption will be the two biggest differentiators. The organizations that can put reliable context in front of AI at the moment of decision, and embed the resulting insight into daily workflows, will be best positioned to turn adoption into measurable value.

How much of the current gap between AI ambition and AI impact comes down to fragmented or outdated customer data?

A significant part of the gap comes down to data readiness, although technology alone is not the whole answer. Most organizations do not lack data. Their challenge is that the data is fragmented, difficult to interpret, or unavailable when a decision needs to be made.

Historical data provides useful depth, but AI also needs data in motion. It needs to understand what a customer is doing now, what has changed, what the customer has consented to, and whether the signal belongs to the correct individual or account.

Tealium’s Future of Customer Data research found that 88% of organizations consider real-time data important to achieving business objectives. That is important because an AI system working from yesterday’s profile may produce a technically valid recommendation that is no longer relevant.

The real opportunity is to create a trusted context layer that connects identity, behavior, consent, and intent, then makes that context available to models and decisioning systems while the customer interaction is still taking place.

Does agentic AI create a new governance problem for enterprises, particularly when agents are acting on customer data without constant human intervention?

Agentic AI does not make the principles of governance entirely new, but it raises the stakes and increases the speed at which controls need to operate. When an AI agent can move from recommendation to action, governance can no longer be treated only as a periodic policy or review exercise. It needs to operate within the data flow and decision process itself.

Enterprises need clear controls over which data an agent can access, the purpose for which it can use that data, how identity and consent are verified, which actions it is authorized to take, and when a person must review or approve the outcome.

The key question is not only whether an agent can access a piece of customer data. It is whether the agent should use that data for this customer, for this purpose, at this moment.

That requires trusted data, current consent, auditability, defined action limits, and clear escalation paths. As autonomy increases, accountability needs to become more precise, not less.

Which sectors in the Middle East do you think are furthest ahead in using real-time customer data and AI together effectively?

From my experience across the region, telecommunications and travel, hospitality, and tourism are among the most active and promising sectors because they generate frequent customer signals and have a clear need to respond in the moment.

In a recent discussion with the Chief Commercial Officer of a major telecom operator in the region, we talked about growth as filling a bucket while also stopping the leaks. Acquisition fills the top, but poor service, irrelevant engagement, and unresolved friction allow value to escape through churn. Sustainable growth requires both attracting new customers and protecting the loyal customer base already in the bucket.

This is where AI-supported decisioning can create real value. Trusted, consented, real-time behavioral data can help an operator recognize changes in usage, service issues, digital engagement, and signs of churn. The next best action may be to resolve a problem, recommend a more suitable plan, position a bespoke package at the right time, or avoid making an offer when the customer first needs support.

The objective is not to push more offers. It is to improve relevance and timing. That can support retention, strengthen loyalty, and create opportunities to grow average revenue per user, or ARPU, by responding to what the customer needs in that moment.

Travel, hospitality, and tourism have a similarly strong opportunity. The customer journey moves from inspiration and research to booking, arrival, the in-destination experience, and loyalty. Each stage creates different needs. A traveler facing disruption needs assistance, while a guest already at a destination may value a timely, personalized experience or service.

These sectors show why hyper-personalization at scale depends on trusted, consented behavioral data in motion. The value comes from giving AI initiatives the current context they need to choose the next best action for that specific moment.

At AI Everything Abu Dhabi 2026, what are the biggest changes you are seeing in the conversations enterprises are having compared with a year or two ago?

The biggest change is that enterprises are no longer asking whether they should adopt AI. They are asking how to move it into production, connect it to measurable outcomes, and govern it at scale.

A year or two ago, many conversations centered on experimentation and individual use cases. Today, the questions are more operational. Leaders want to understand how AI will work with their existing data, how agents will receive current customer context, how decisions will be controlled, and how value will be measured beyond a successful pilot.

I am also hearing much more emphasis on adoption. Organizations recognize that a model does not create value by itself. Teams need clear use cases, practical training, shared measures of success, and confidence in the data behind the recommendation.

The conversation has therefore moved from AI capability to AI readiness. That includes the quality of the data foundation, the governance around it, the ability to make decisions in real time, and the people and processes required to turn those decisions into action. For me, that is a sign that the market is becoming more mature and more focused on sustainable business impact.