#UAE #financialservices - AI use among firms regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the regulator of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), has more than doubled over the past two years. In the DFSA’s third annual AI survey, 71 percent of respondents said they have used at least one form of AI in 2026, up from 52 percent in 2025 and just 33 percent in 2024. Generative AI use rose to 67 percent from 22 percent in 2024. Some 53 percent of DIFC registered companies are testing or deploying AI agents, but only 14 percent have deployed them.
SO WHAT? - Most DIFC firms now use AI, but few use it widely, seem to be the key findings from the DFSA’s latest report. Nearly three-quarters of adopters registered in the zone still run AI in only a limited are of business operations. Governance also seems to be behind:, with only 61 percent of adopters having an AI governance framework, and 41 percent keeping a register of AI use cases. The DFSA uses the results in its supervision of the financial centre, so firms with weak records of what AI they run should perhaps fix that first.
KEY POINTS:
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has released its latest annual AI survey of AI usage. The research found that 71% of respondents using at least one form of AI in 2026, against 52% in 2025 and 33% in 2024. Adoption has more than doubled since the survey began in 2024.
Generative AI use rose from 22% of respondents in 2024 to 48% in 2025 and 67% in 2026. Among firms using AI, 94% now use generative AI.
Firms expect more. In 2026, 84% of respondents expected their AI use to grow over the next three years, compared with 75% in 2025 and 54% in 2024.
The share of adopters using AI across a considerable part of a business area rose from 23% in 2024 to 39% in 2026, yet 74% still run some applications in only a small share of a business area.
Some 91% of its users apply generative AI to functions such as HR, legal or finance. Use in audit, compliance and risk rose from 39% to 52%, while client-facing use edged up from 33% to 36%.
Some 75% of generative AI users say that they use third-party applications, up from 65% in 2025. Among adopters, 73% run 91% to 100% of their AI applications on cloud platforms, up from 62%.
The DFSA warns that third-party and cloud reliance can add data-security, service-continuity and concentration risks. The authority reminded firms that they remain responsible for understanding these dependencies and for governance, security, monitoring and recovery arrangements.
Among DIFC AI adopters, 61% have an AI governance framework and 53% have organisational policies on AI use, with another 28% developing them. Some 41% keep a register of AI use cases and 31% are building one.
Monitoring after deployment ranges from formal reporting to informal, ad hoc arrangements. The DFSA will use the findings in its risk-based supervision, including its annual technology and cyber-risk self-assessment and its review of material AI use.
ZOOM OUT - In April 2026, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) announced plans to become the world’s first AI-native financial centre, projecting $3.5 billion in economic value and 25,000 jobs. The plan covers AI in its legal and regulatory systems, rules for AI agents and robotics, and a full-stack AI campus. In October, DIFC’s Dubai AI Campus set 2030 targets of more than 1,000 AI companies and over 5,000 skilled jobs. It has drawn over 500 companies since it launch in May 2024, which have raised more than AED 1 billion ($270m).
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Source: DFSA
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