Salesforce released findings from the United Arab Emirates as part of its Tenth Edition State of Marketing Report. The research, based on responses from 100 marketing decision-makers across the UAE, reveals a market that is embracing AI with greater confidence than its global counterparts, yet faces significant data integration challenges that limit the effectiveness of personalisation.
The UAE findings reveal a marketing community that has moved rapidly to embrace artificial intelligence. Eighty-six percent of UAE marketers say AI is raising customer expectations, matching the global average. Eighty-five percent of UAE marketers trust AI to respond to customer inquiries, significantly higher than the 81% global average. Seventy-three percent of UAE marketers confess to running generic campaigns, compared to 84% globally, indicating stronger personalisation efforts.
Additionally, only 41% of UAE marketers have not figured out how to adapt their strategies to AI, compared to 48% globally, showing faster adaptation to the new technology landscape.
Despite their AI enthusiasm, UAE marketers face a critical challenge that is even more pronounced than the global average: accessing the customer context needed for meaningful engagement. While 69% of marketers globally struggle to respond promptly to customers, this figure jumps to 78%.
This gap between AI ambition and data reality represents the central challenge for UAE marketing organisations. The research identifies siloed data across channels as the top barrier to AI-driven personalisation, followed by lack of overall strategy and difficulty scaling quality control.
The research highlights a fundamental shift in customer expectations. While 83% of marketers globally report that customers now expect two-way conversations, this figure stands at 76% in the UAE. However, the ability to deliver on this expectation remains limited.
When comparing UAE marketers to their global counterparts, several patterns emerge. Seventy-three percent of UAE marketers run generic campaigns compared to 84% globally, indicating stronger personalisation efforts in the region. Seventy-eight percent of UAE marketers struggle to respond promptly to customers versus 69% globally, showing a more pronounced data access challenge.
Eighty-five percent of UAE marketers trust AI to respond to customers compared to 81% globally, reflecting higher confidence in AI capabilities. Both regions show identical rates of 86% regarding AI raising customer expectations.
Regarding customer expectations for two-way conversations, 76% of UAE marketers report this trend compared to 83% globally. When it comes to keeping up with changing customer behaviours, 61% of UAE marketers struggle versus 64% globally, showing slightly better alignment. Finally, 41%
of UAE marketers have not adapted their strategies to AI compared to 48% globally, indicating faster adaptation in the UAE market.
The data reveals that UAE marketers are slightly more confident in keeping up with changing customer behaviours, but the gap between customer expectations and organisational capability remains significant across both markets.
“The UAE has always been at the forefront of embracing transformative technologies, and our marketing community’s confidence in AI reflects this forward-thinking mindset. However, the research clearly shows that technology adoption alone is not enough. The marketers who will win in this new era are those who can unify their data to deliver the personalised, conversational experiences that customers increasingly demand. Data is the foundation upon which all AI success is built,” said Mohammed Alkhotani, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Salesforce Middle East and Africa.
The research underscores how AI is fundamentally changing the marketing landscape. Half of all Google searches now feature AI summaries that displace traditional results. During the recent holiday season, AI and AI agents drove $262 billion in global sales, representing 20% of global orders and signaling a significant shift in how people discover and shop.
The top AI use cases in UAE marketing include personalising content, generating copy, and predicting campaign performance or ROI. However, significant barriers to personalisation remain, including lack of overall strategy, siloed data across channels, and difficulty scaling quality control.
The UAE data reveals several distinctive characteristics when compared to global trends. In terms of running generic campaigns, the UAE shows 73% compared to 84% globally, indicating better personalisation efforts in the UAE market. For trust in AI for customer response, the UAE demonstrates 85% versus 81% globally, reflecting higher AI confidence in the region.
When examining the challenge of responding promptly to customers, the UAE faces a greater hurdle at 78% compared to 69% globally, suggesting a more pronounced data integration challenge.
Regarding adaptation to AI, the UAE shows 41% have not adapted versus 48% globally, indicating faster adaptation in the UAE market.
For keeping up with changing customer behaviours, the UAE shows 61% struggling compared to 64% globally, suggesting slightly better alignment with market dynamics. The analysis reveals that UAE marketers are ahead of the curve in AI trust and adaptation but face similar or greater challenges in data integration and customer responsiveness. This suggests that while the UAE market is quick to adopt new technologies, the foundational data infrastructure may need additional investment to realise AI’s potential fully.
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