78% of business leaders say AI demands a major rethink of how companies operate

The UAE has placed digital transformation and artificial intelligence at the forefront of its economic agenda, driven by its vision to build a competitive economy powered by knowledge, innovation and advanced technology. AI is no longer merely a tool for improving performance; it has become a strategic engine for economic growth, higher productivity, greater operational efficiency and the development of new business models capable of keeping pace with rapidly evolving global markets.

Against this backdrop, companies operating in the UAE must rethink and restructure their operations and strategies, moving beyond limited applications of smart technologies to embed AI at the heart of their businesses. This includes everything from decision-making and data analytics to resource management, customer service and product development. Achieving this transformation requires investment in digital infrastructure, workforce development and skills enhancement, enabling businesses to harness AI’s full potential, strengthen their competitive edge and achieve sustainable growth in the economy of the future.

As AI adoption accelerates across the UAE’s government and corporate sectors, Camunda, a specialist in enterprise process automation and orchestration, is helping government entities integrate AI into their core operations while maintaining human oversight and operational control.

In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, Stefan Vaerenbergh-Dubois, Camunda’s Vice President for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, discusses the importance of combining AI, traditional automation and human involvement in decision-making to transform business operations.

AI at the centre of its economic agenda.

1. The UAE has placed digital transformation and AI at the centre of its economic agenda. How is this changing the way organisations approach AI?

-; The UAE has moved AI from experimentation towards practical use. The question is no longer simply, “Are we using AI?” but “How can AI change the way work gets done?”.

That means organisations need to rethink how work moves from one step to another, rather than simply adding AI to existing ways of working. Many processes were designed around people reviewing information, approving decisions and passing tasks between teams. Our research found that 78 per cent of leaders believe they need to fundamentally redesign these processes to remain competitive.

2. What changes when AI systems start taking actions within important business processes?

-; The biggest change comes when AI moves from giving advice to taking action. For example, it might update a customer record, recommend a refund or start the next stage of an application.

Organisations then need clear answers to three questions: What is the AI allowed to do? Can they understand why it took a particular action? And who is responsible if something goes wrong?

These safeguards need to be built into the way the organisation operates, with human approval required for sensitive or high-risk decisions.

The risk at the companies and the prompt responds . 

3. Is there a risk that companies simply create another disconnected technology layer with AI?

-; Yes. Many large organisations already use several different systems to manage customers, finances, services and internal operations.

A simple test is whether an employee can immediately tell a customer where their case stands. If finding the answer requires checking four systems and two spreadsheets, adding more AI could make the problem worse.

Organisations therefore need to look at the entire customer or business journey, rather than focusing on individual AI tools. They also need a clear record of what the AI has done and why.

4. Where should organisations use AI, traditional automation or people?

Most organisations will need a combination of all three.

Traditional automation works well for predictable tasks that follow clear rules, such as checking whether an application meets specific requirements or processing an approved payment.

AI is more useful when information varies or some judgement is required, such as interpreting different types of documents or dealing with unusual customer requests.

People should remain involved when decisions have serious consequences or require greater judgement. The goal is not to automate everything, but to find the right balance between speed, judgement and control.

Speed is a major characteristic of the region.

5. How do the UAE and wider Middle East compare with other markets in adopting AI?

-. Speed is a major characteristic of the region. AI ambitions can move from strategy to implementation quickly, particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The UAE government’s initiative to make 50% of its processes agentic is a strong example of this ambition and signals a shift from using AI as a supporting tool to embedding it directly into how government services operate.

But having modern technology does not automatically mean that an organisation works in a modern way. Even newer systems may support processes built around manual checks, approvals and handovers.

Achieving this agentic ambition will therefore require government entities to rethink and redesign processes from the ground up. The opportunity for Gulf organisations is to redesign those processes around what AI can now make possible, rather than simply using new technology to repeat old ways of working.

Working with large banks , companies and government entities 

6. What are Camunda’s priorities in the UAE and wider region?

-;  Camunda helps large organisations improve how their core business processes work by connecting people, existing systems and AI. Our goal is to make everyday operations faster and more efficient while maintaining appropriate oversight and control.

We work primarily with large banks, government entities and other enterprise organisations, helping them connect processes, systems and people to drive automation and support AI adoption. Rather than focusing on AI in isolation, we help organisations embed it into end-to-end business processes where it can deliver clear business outcomes

For the UAE, our focus is helping organisations to improve their core AI processes, from customer services to complex internal operations, and use AI where it can deliver measurable outcomes.

We are also developing ProcessOS, which uses AI to help organisations understand how their processes work today and identify where they can be improved.

We are also expanding our regional presence. Our UAE-based team grew by 200 per cent over the past year, and we plan further growth to support the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC, working with local partners and GSIs.

7. What will separate organisations that successfully expand their use of AI from those that remain stuck in small trials?

The difference will be whether they are prepared to redesign how work gets done.

Instead of asking, “Where can we add AI to what we already do?”, leaders should ask, “How would we design this way of working today, knowing what AI can do?”

Our research found that 82 per cent of organisations expect adapting their most important processes for AI to take up to five years. In a fast-moving market such as the UAE, that presents a significant challenge.

Simply spending more on AI will not fix an inefficient way of working. Organisations that succeed will rethink the work itself, not just add new technology to old processes.