Page 167 - Red Hat PR REPORT - OCTOBER 2025

10/13/25, 11:04 AM Red Hat Survey: UAE Organisations Prepare for Widespread AI Adoption and Upskilling - Middle East News 247

To overcome these challenges and help turn ambitions to reality, UAE organisations are embracing open
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source across all areas of IT strategy. The survey shows that 100% of UAE IT leaders view open source
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as vital for cost optimisation , post-quantum cryptography , and virtualisation .
AI a work in progress

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One of the highest AI priority of respondents for the next 18 months (83% ) is agentic AI, AI systems that
operate with high degrees of autonomy and can execute complex, multi-step tasks with limited human
intervention. Enabling broad employee adoption and operationalising AI are also ranked high on the
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priority to-do list, with 86% and 85% agreeing respectively.
Retaining and developing the right talent remains a challenge, with AI skills still ranking among the most
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urgent gaps, as cited by 76% of respondents. Within AI specifically, the talent shortage mirrors the target
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priorities for UAE IT and AI leaders: connecting AI to enterprise data cited by 59% of respondents,
effective use of agentic AI cited by 57%, efficient use of AI capabilities cited by 58%, and educating the
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business to use AI reported by 47%. Almost all (98% ) of respondents experience barriers to AI adoption,
especially integration challenges with existing systems (36%), data privacy and security concerns (32%),

and lack of buy-in from stakeholders (32%).

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Additionally, 70% of respondents report they are experiencing a “shadow AI” problem – i.e., unauthorised
use of AI tools by employees.

Confidence tempered by complexity; open source key

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Confidence in the UAE’s potential on the global AI stage is high, with 99% of responding UAE
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businesses believing the nation is, or will soon become, an AI powerhouse within the next three years . A
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similar sense of optimism exists in other countries: 99% of respondents in Spain shared the same view,
followed closely by Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands at 98% each, while 83% of businesses in the
UK expressed similar trust in their nation’s AI trajectory.

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