The UAE is a global leader in AI adoption, with 64% of working-age individuals using AI tools. Government bodies report 97% usage, backed by more than Dh543 billion in investments for 2024 and 2025. Still, many small businesses in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have yet to join this wave.
This gap can be seen as a real opportunity. Small businesses that move now can use AI to boost sales with smarter recommendations, automate routine tasks to save time, and build customer loyalty through personalised service. The result is leaner operations, lower costs, and a clearer picture of what customers actually want.
This progress did not happen by chance. Back in 2017, five years before ChatGPT entered the public conversation, the UAE appointed the world’s first Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence. That early commitment built public trust, which is more valuable than infrastructure.
According to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, around 67% of people in the UAE trust AI, compared to just 32% in the United States. Customers here are open to AI experiences and often expect them as part of the service.
Where are small businesses falling behind?
A 2025 YouGov survey found that 94% of UAE businesses believe AI will help them grow. Many say this. Fewer have actually started. The UAE market makes the challenge more acute. With residents from over 200 nationalities, businesses must navigate multiple languages, cultural expectations, and rapidly shifting preferences. At the same time, e-commerce has removed the geographic protection that once gave local businesses a natural advantage.
What small businesses do have, however, is something larger competitors often struggle to replicate: genuine proximity to their customers.
That understanding comes from data. And most small businesses in the UAE are sitting on more of it than they realise. Every transaction generates a data point: purchase history, visit frequency, average spend, peak hours.
The businesses are already making it work
Some merchants have not waited for the perfect solution, but have started with the tools available and built from there. One retailer has developed a workflow that many larger businesses would recognise: she exports data from her POS and inventory systems, uploads the reports directly into AI tools, and asks pointed questions about her business. AI allows her to identify top-selling items, slow-moving stock, and restocking priorities — insights that feed directly into her decisions.
An F&B outlet used AI not for operations, but as a creative growth lever. The team used ChatGPT to brainstorm menu names, landing on one that drove a noticeable jump in orders on its own. No new ingredients, no price change, just the right words. A third merchant uses AI to monitor competitors’ offers and packages, particularly during seasonal periods. It is a lean, low-cost approach to market research that keeps the business responsive without needing a dedicated team.
These are not isolated wins. Globally, businesses using AI see an average return of $3.50 for every dollar spent. AI is projected to add $320 billion to the Middle East economy by 2030. For small businesses, that macro figure translates into something immediate and tangible: better inventory decisions, less waste, more relevant offers reaching the right customers at the right time.
The businesses moving fastest are thinking of AI as an answer to practical questions: What do my customers actually do? Where am I losing repeat business? What opportunity am I missing at checkout?
Where to start
AI can feel overwhelming, particularly for business owners already stretched thin. But the entry point need not be complex. The UAE has established the infrastructure, the regulatory trust, and the national momentum to support adoption at every level. The next step is straightforward: audit the data your business already collects, such as sales, customer interactions, and inventory. Identify one core challenge, whether that is improving customer retention, managing stock more efficiently, or understanding what your competitors are doing. Then explore the AI tools relevant to that specific problem.
The merchants who already do this did not start with a master plan. They started with one question. That is enough. Acting now will position your business ahead of competitors still sitting on the sidelines, and in a market moving this fast, timing matters more than perfection.
This opinion piece is authored by Sergei Kukharev, Head of VAS product, Fortis.
