75% of organizations in UAE saw an increase in volume or complexity of cyberattacks
The vast majority (98%) of organizations in the UAE are deploying agentic AI in at least part of their cybersecurity operations, with 53.2% in full production and 44.8% in the pilot phase of deployment, according to a new survey conducted by Censuswide and commissioned by the global cybersecurity leader, Palo Alto Networks.
Furthermore, the trend looks set to continue gathering pace, with 98% of organizations likely to increase investment in agentic AI for cybersecurity in 2025–2026.
This large-scale action in deploying AI for cybersecurity comes as organizations in the UAE see a significant uptick in cyberthreats, with 75% of survey respondents reporting an increase in the volume or complexity of cyberattacks targeting them in 2025 compared to the previous year.
Almost all respondents, 99.2% said they believe that AI agents, defined as AI systems that can operate autonomously, are currently being used by cybercriminals to automate or enhance attacks.
Reducing cybersecurity risks
Despite this, survey respondents overwhelmingly believe that agentic AI will reduce cybersecurity risks for their organization: 89.2% anticipate that agentic AI will decrease risks for their organization in the next 12 months, while just 2.4% believe it will increase risks.
Meanwhile, the biggest barriers organizations face in adopting or scaling agentic AI in cybersecurity are integration with legacy systems (26.4%), lack of trust in AI autonomy (20.8%), lack of clear regulation (20.4%), limited in-house expertise (18.4%), and cost (13.6%).
“The results of the survey serve as a sobering reminder of the need for organizations in the UAE to move quickly and effectively in using AI-based tools to fight AI-based cybersecurity threats,” stated Haider Pasha, Chief Security Officer, EMEA, Palo Alto Networks.
This underscores the need for organizations to embrace a ‘platformization’ approach to consolidate cybersecurity functions, reduce complexity and provide robust defence against the most pernicious new threats,” he concluded.
