A new study reveals that AI network traffic in the UAE will more than triple within the next three years. Consequently, eighty-one percent of local organizations expect their network capacity to reach its absolute limit by 2029. The research, conducted by Cisco in partnership with Foundry, surveyed 200 IT leaders in the UAE to assess infrastructure readiness.
Currently, only thirty-two percent of UAE respondents state that their networks are fully prepared for this projected growth. Meanwhile, sixty-eight percent of local IT leaders admit they need immediate infrastructure upgrades to handle the demand. Notably, this readiness rate still exceeds the global average of twenty-three percent.
The Impact of Rising AI Network Traffic
The rapid adoption of large language models and agentic AI is placing significant strain on enterprise telecommunications networks. Specifically, thirty-four percent of surveyed organizations have already deployed AI agents across their entire enterprise. Furthermore, ninety-nine percent of respondents expect an increase in agentic AI use within the next twenty-four months.
These automated agents generate dense data flows by triggering dozens of database lookups and model inferences in seconds. As a result, traditional workplace networks face challenges with reliability, bandwidth availability, and latency. Specifically, seventy-eight percent of respondents reported reliability issues, while seventy-three percent cited latency concerns.
Capacity Constraints and Wi-Fi Bottlenecks
The study indicates that agentic AI workloads will drive the highest individual AI network traffic increase of approximately 126 percent. Meanwhile, half of the surveyed IT leaders identified Wi-Fi networks as the primary bottleneck for these workloads. Consequently, ninety-four percent of organizations have accelerated their plans to modernize their existing network infrastructure.
However, budget limitations remain a significant barrier to these modernization efforts for many local enterprises. In the UAE, forty-two percent of respondents say budget constraints limit their modernization capabilities to a great extent. In addition, fifty-one percent of leaders report being limited to some extent by financial allocations.
Expanding Attack Surfaces and Security Risks
The expansion of AI network traffic also introduces severe cybersecurity challenges for enterprise IT departments. Notably, ninety-one percent of surveyed organizations struggle to keep up with the expanding digital attack surface. Moreover, eighty-nine percent of respondents state that AI-related threats are already causing actual damage to their operations.
Furthermore, sixty-six percent of IT leaders believe that these security threats are evolving faster than their ability to adapt. Meanwhile, fifty-four percent of respondents admit they lack adequate visibility into AI-related traffic flows across their networks. This visibility gap makes it difficult to detect and mitigate potential security breaches in real time.
The Path to Network Modernization
To address these challenges, organizations must prioritize infrastructure upgrades to support their long-term digital strategies. Mohannad Abuissa, Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer of Solutions Engineering at Cisco MEA-TRC, commented on the findings.
“Our study shows that while UAE enterprises display remarkable ambition to adopt AI, particularly agentic AI, and the networks to support it, the underlying network infrastructure must continue to evolve at the same pace.”
Mohannad Abuissa, MD & CTO, Solutions Engineering, Cisco MEA-TRC
Ultimately, the study concludes that network resilience, observability, and adaptive security are essential for functioning AI systems to support the digital economy. Therefore, treating network modernization as a prerequisite will help organizations protect their investments and deliver measurable business value.
