Implementing or expanding artificial intelligence has become the top priority for UAE commerce leaders, according to new Salesforce research, as AI assistants increasingly influence how consumers discover products and begin their shopping journeys.
The UAE findings from Salesforce’s fourth State of Commerce report show businesses responding to the rise of AI-driven discovery by adapting content, improving product data and increasing their visibility across the information sources used by AI platforms.
AI now ranks ahead of expanding the customer base, adapting to changing buyer behaviour, expanding omnichannel capabilities and improving data quality and management as the leading priority for UAE commerce organisations.
The findings suggest that AI is moving from experimentation toward a more central role in commerce strategy, while simultaneously exposing weaknesses in the data and omnichannel infrastructure required to support that transition.
AI search begins reshaping product discovery
One of the biggest changes identified by Salesforce is occurring at the beginning of the customer journey.
Globally, the use of agentic search as the first step in shopping journeys increased 200% year on year. Traffic referred from AI chats increased between 150% and 428% across every quarter measured.
The trend indicates that some consumers are increasingly beginning product discovery by asking questions through AI assistants rather than relying exclusively on conventional search engines.
For commerce businesses, that changes how digital visibility needs to be approached. Product information must increasingly be structured not only for websites and traditional search engines but also for conversational interfaces capable of generating direct answers and recommendations.
62% of UAE businesses optimise for conversational queries
UAE organisations are already changing their digital strategies in response.
Salesforce found that 62% have created or optimised content for conversational and question-based queries.
Another 61% have improved the quality of their product content, while the same percentage have worked to increase their presence across third-party sources.
More than half, 58%, have submitted data feeds directly to AI search platforms.
Businesses are also beginning to optimise specifically for the way consumers communicate with generative AI systems. Some 37% have optimised product descriptions for natural language, while 31% monitor how their brands appear within AI-generated responses.
These activities point toward an emerging layer of commerce optimisation focused specifically on visibility within AI-generated experiences.
Unified data improves AI outcomes
Salesforce’s findings also demonstrate the relationship between AI performance and underlying customer data.
Among UAE organisations that have unified their customer data, 48% reported improved outcomes from AI and automation.
Another 47% reported stronger alignment between sales, marketing and commerce teams, while 46% achieved more consistent pricing and contract application.
Unified data was also associated with customer-facing improvements. Some 43% reported higher conversion rates, while an equal proportion improved customer retention and loyalty. Another 41% said they were able to resolve customer issues faster.
The findings reinforce the importance of data integration as companies move toward more automated and AI-enabled customer experiences.
Omnichannel fragmentation remains a major obstacle
Despite rapid AI adoption, Salesforce identified significant weaknesses in the underlying commerce infrastructure of UAE businesses.
Among B2B organisations, ordering channels operating across separate systems were the most commonly reported omnichannel failure point, affecting 44%.
A lack of real-time inventory synchronisation affected 37% of businesses.
Another 35% were unable to recognise customer information consistently across channels, while the same proportion reported complicated or inconsistent returns and exchanges.
Inconsistent pricing and promotions across channels affected 33%.
Only 1% of UAE multichannel organisations said they experienced no significant omnichannel breakdowns.
These findings indicate that companies looking to build sophisticated AI-powered commerce experiences still face substantial integration challenges across their existing systems.
AI ambitions increasingly depend on commerce infrastructure
The contrast between aggressive AI adoption and persistent omnichannel fragmentation represents one of the report’s most important findings.
AI assistants can help customers discover products and increasingly automate parts of the purchasing journey, but the quality of those experiences ultimately depends on accurate product, inventory, pricing and customer information.
If those systems remain fragmented, businesses risk introducing intelligent interfaces on top of inconsistent underlying data.
Salesforce Middle East SVP and GM Mohammed Alkhotani said UAE businesses are already moving from ambition toward implementation.
“Our commerce leaders are not waiting to see what AI search becomes. They are already reshaping how customers find them, and they are doing the harder work of connecting their data, so the experience actually delivers,” he said.
Why this matters
Salesforce’s research suggests AI is beginning to alter not only how UAE businesses operate but how customers discover them. With agentic search growing rapidly and 58% of surveyed UAE businesses already submitting data directly to AI search platforms, visibility within AI-generated experiences is emerging as a new competitive consideration for commerce companies.
At the same time, the finding that only 1% of multichannel organisations report no significant breakdowns shows that AI adoption cannot be separated from the less visible work of integrating customer, inventory, pricing and commerce systems.
Editor’s note
The most significant shift highlighted by Salesforce is the potential movement from search optimisation toward AI discovery optimisation. If more consumers begin purchasing journeys by asking an AI assistant what to buy, brands will need to understand not only how they rank in search results but whether AI systems can accurately discover, interpret and recommend their products. UAE businesses appear to be responding quickly, but their ability to capitalise on that transition will depend heavily on the quality and connectivity of the data underneath their AI experiences.
