Something consequential appears to be happening in the way businesses buy and sell. Artificial intelligence, long used to surface recommendations, flag anomalies, and generate reports, is beginning to execute. It can help place orders, complete transactions, manage inventory, and shape customer experiences in real time, within frameworks defined and supervised by humans.

This emerging model, known as agentic commerce, is no longer a distant ambition for senior business leaders in the UAE. It is beginning to take shape as organizations explore how AI agents may move beyond advice towards action while seeking to maintain clear controls, accountability, and consumer trust.

The shift is significant because it has the potential to redefine how commercial decisions are made and executed. Workflows that were once sequential and human-led are beginning to be reorganized around systems that can anticipate, decide, and act within set boundaries. For businesses, this can change the pace of execution, the structure of accountability, and the way customer value is delivered.

The report, Agentic Commerce: Market Insights and Outlook for the United Arab Emirates, commissioned by Visa and conducted by Fast Company Middle East in partnership with Probity, surveyed C-suite executives, functional heads, and transformation leaders across retail, consumer products, travel and hospitality, and financial services. It reveals a market that appears increasingly committed, but appropriately cautious.

Set against the UAE’s advanced digital infrastructure and continued focus on AI and digital transformation, the findings point to a market actively preparing for a new phase of commerce – one that is expected to be faster, more personalized, and more secure.

A Concept Gaining Ground

Agentic commerce remains a relatively new concept for many UAE organizations. Almost a third of respondents, 29.4%, described themselves as quite or very familiar with it, while more than 70% reported limited or unclear familiarity.

Yet awareness is only part of the story. Beneath it sits a strong interest: 59.1% of respondents said they are interested or very interested in learning more. The concept is beginning to surface in boardroom conversations, even where the terminology has not fully taken hold.

Among organizations already familiar with agentic commerce, the outlook is more forward-looking. Digitally mature businesses are more likely to view it not simply as smarter search or better recommendations, but as a structural shift in how commerce is designed and operated.

From Evaluation to Action

In some cases, interest is quickly translating into activity. When asked about autonomous purchasing – where AI agents can make purchasing decisions or complete transactions within approved parameters – 58.7% of organizations said they are already exploring or piloting such systems.

A further 29.3% have defined timelines in place, either preparing to launch pilots within six months or planning implementation over the next one to three years. Only 2.9% report full deployment, reflecting the market’s early stage rather than a lack of ambition.

Taken together, the data points to controlled acceleration. Organizations are testing and learning rather than waiting. That caution is deliberate. Agentic systems are generally intended to support consequential decisions with limited real-time human intervention, which places governance at the center of adoption. For many enterprises, building governance before scaling is not hesitation, it is strategy.

Growth Is Driving Adoption

For some UAE businesses, agentic commerce is not primarily a cost-efficiency tool. It is increasingly positioned as a growth engine.

The strongest priorities identified by leaders are customer loyalty and retention, at 33.3%, followed by revenue growth, at 27.7%, and customer acquisition, at 16.6%. Operational efficiency ranks lower, reinforcing the view that AI-led commerce is being treated as a front-end business driver rather than a back-office optimization tool.

Expected benefits reflect that orientation: higher conversion rates, improved customer satisfaction, stronger sales performance, and targeted operational efficiencies.

Trust as the Catalyst for Scale 

Despite the momentum, something is holding some organizations back, and it is not a shortage of engineers or tools. When asked to identify the key factors that could prevent them from adopting agentic commerce, UAE leaders ranked data privacy and security first, at 24.5%. An unclear return on investment or business case followed at 13.7%, while concerns around losing brand control or customer relationships stood at 8.8%.

Capability constraints ranked far lower. Lack of skilled talent stood at just 1.9%, while limited access to scalable AI tools or partners came in at 4.9%.

The data suggests the constraint is not technological readiness and more about trust, governance, and confidence in how these systems will operate at scale.

Organizations appear capable of building and testing agentic systems. Going forward, what they will likely require is the governance foundations to scale them responsibly – from privacy and data protection to accountability, auditability, customer consent, spending controls, and risk management.

Expectations around impact are accelerating as well: 68% of UAE business leaders believe agentic commerce will become disruptive within two years. But scaling will likely depend on proof rather than promise. Leaders point to the need for real-world case studies, measurable ROI, clearer benchmarks, and regulatory guidance to move adoption from early experimentation to enterprise scale.

The Inflection Point Is Here

The survey suggests the UAE is already building toward agentic commerce in a measured, deliberate way. The next phase will not be defined simply by who moves fastest, but by who can show that agentic systems can be trusted, protecting consumer data, maintaining brand integrity, operating within regulatory bounds, and delivering measurable value.

That is a demanding standard and one that may offer is a competitive advantage for organizations that meet it.

The businesses that establish credible governance frameworks, pilot with discipline, and demonstrate clear evidence of impact will help define what agentic commerce looks like in the UAE and, potentially, beyond.

The UAE report is the first in a three-market research series commissioned by Visa and conducted by Fast Company Middle East in partnership with Probity. The full report, Agentic Commerce: Market Insights and Outlook for the United Arab Emirates, is available here.

This material is provided ‘AS-IS’ and intended for informational purposes only.

Visa neither makes any warranty or representation as to the completeness or accuracy of the information within this document, nor assumes any liability or responsibility that may result from reliance on such information. The Information contained herein is not intended as investment or legal advice, and readers are encouraged to seek the advice of a competent professional where such advice is required.