Enterprises embed AI deeper into core business operations, but most surveyed organisations remain locked into AI systems they cannot easily change, reinforcing the growing importance of AI sovereignty to maintain business continuity and performance, says a new global study by the IBM Institute for Business Value.
Based on insights from 1,000 senior executives, The Calculus of AI Sovereignty study* reveals that 88% of surveyed executives in the UAE say switching their primary AI vendor or model would be difficult if they had to do it today, highlighting the extent of AI vendor lock-in. Additionally, 74% of surveyed executives say meeting data residency and sovereignty requirements across geographies is challenging, creating complexity in moving AI systems or data across environments. The dynamics point to growing pressure on organisations to strengthen control and oversight as AI adoption and compliance requirements expand.
While the need for control is intensifying, most UAE organisations still lack the visibility required to act on it: 96% of those surveyed say they don’t fully understand their organisation’s dependencies across AI vendors, models and infrastructure, limiting the ability to assess risk and plan for disruption. Surveyed leaders report an average of seven AI-related disruptions over the past two years, largely driven by vendor services, yet 84% say a seven-day vendor outage would still cause severe or critical disruption, effectively halting operations.
Respondents also cite unexpected changes across the AI ecosystem, including price increases, usage restrictions, model deprecations, and performance degradation. The findings underscore the challenges enterprises face in managing AI dependencies.
Shukri Eid, General Manager, IBM Gulf, Levant and Pakistan, said: “The UAE has created one of the world’s most ambitious environments for AI innovation. As organisations move from experimentation to enterprise-wide deployment, success will increasingly depend on their ability to retain control over their AI ecosystem.
“AI sovereignty enables organisations to innovate with greater confidence by reducing dependency, strengthening resilience, and giving business leaders the flexibility to adapt as technology, regulation and market demands continue to evolve.”
According to the study, organisations globally that design AI systems to adapt data, models and infrastructure as conditions change – a core element of AI sovereignty – are outperforming peers:
- Analysis shows that organisations with the most advanced AI control capabilities see less AI downtime and protect 55% more operating profit from AI-driven disruptions.
- Yet, only a minority of the organisations surveyed (7%) operate at this level, signaling a widening gap between those building adaptable AI systems and those constrained by dependency.
Roughly four out of five UAE organisations (82%) describe their AI environments as intentionally multi‑vendor, yet vendor diversity in practice appears to be driven less by deliberate strategy and more by internal and operational realities:
- Most organisations struggle in this area, with 80% UAE executives saying it would take at least six months to move core AI systems and applications to a different vendor.
- Across sectors, UAE executives estimate it would take an average of 150 days to move their AI training and operational data to a different environment.
- 78% of surveyed UAE executives say they would accept a 20% cost increase to maintain AI vendors if it improved strategic flexibility.
Source: Tahawul Tech