As enterprises across the Middle East accelerate their AI adoption strategies, technology leaders face a critical challenge: transforming ambitious AI projects into measurable business outcomes. While organizations are eager to embrace the potential of agentic AI and autonomous digital labor, questions around data readiness, governance, cybersecurity, and talent continue to dominate boardroom discussions.
In this exclusive conversation with Enterprise IT World MEA, Mohammed Alkhotani, Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Middle East at Salesforce, shares his perspective on the opportunities and risks shaping the region’s digital future. From AI governance and cyber resilience to sovereign cloud strategies and workforce readiness, Alkhotani explains why trusted data has become the cornerstone of successful digital transformation.
What is the single biggest technology challenge Middle East enterprises are facing today?
Without question, the biggest challenge is the gap between AI ambition and data reality.
Across the region, virtually every boardroom conversation includes AI. Organizations want to deploy AI at scale, automate workflows, improve customer experiences, and drive productivity. The challenge, however, is that many are trying to build modern AI capabilities on top of fragmented and legacy data environments.
For CIOs and business leaders, access to AI is no longer the problem. AI tools are widely available. The real challenge is organizing, unifying, and governing proprietary enterprise data so that AI systems can operate effectively and responsibly. If customer records exist in one application, operational telemetry in another, and transaction histories in a third, AI lacks the context it needs to generate reliable outcomes.
Organizations often focus on the AI layer because it is visible and exciting. Yet the real differentiator over the next few years will be the quality of the underlying data foundation. AI is only as strong as the data it can access. Enterprises that invest now in creating trusted, unified data architectures will gain significant competitive advantages, while those that delay will struggle to move beyond pilot projects and experimentation.
Has AI become a business enabler or a new source of risk for organizations in the region?
The answer is both, and the balance depends entirely on governance.
AI is arguably the most important business enabler of this generation. We are now moving beyond AI systems that simply answer questions toward agentic AI—intelligent digital agents capable of taking autonomous actions within business workflows. The appetite to deploy these technologies across the GCC is remarkable.
At the same time, the risks increase as autonomy expands. If an AI agent can make decisions or execute tasks independently, organizations must be absolutely certain about the data it can access, the actions it is authorized to take, and where human oversight exists.
The difference between an asset and a liability comes down to trust. When organizations deploy AI as an isolated add-on tool without governance, security, and accountability mechanisms, risk grows rapidly. However, when AI is embedded within a trusted platform where data is protected, prompts are secured, actions are auditable, and governance controls are applied consistently, it becomes a sustainable competitive advantage.
The future belongs to organizations that can scale AI responsibly, not simply deploy it quickly.
“Treat trust as a growth strategy, not a compliance cost. The organizations that will lead the next three years are those building trusted data foundations today.”
— Mohammed Alkhotani, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Middle East, Salesforce
What keeps CIOs and CISOs awake at night in 2026 cybersecurity, compliance, talent shortages, or AI governance?
The most pressing concern is not one of those issues individually it is the intersection of all four.
AI adoption is moving at extraordinary speed. Business units are often experimenting with new AI tools independently, sometimes without the full visibility of IT and security teams. That creates complex challenges for governance and risk management.
For CISOs, one of the nightmare scenarios is an autonomous AI agent making a business decision based on sensitive personal information that it should never have accessed in the first place. Governing digital labor is fundamentally different from governing traditional software.
Leaders are asking entirely new questions. Who is the AI agent interacting with? Can every decision be explained to regulators and auditors? Do we have the right people capable of assessing the model’s reasoning and behavior? Can we establish accountability when autonomous systems make decisions?
These questions touch cybersecurity, compliance, talent, and governance simultaneously, which is why they have become such critical leadership concerns.
How prepared are Middle East organizations to defend against AI-powered cyberattacks and deepfake threats?
The encouraging news is that awareness across the Middle East is very high. Governments, regulators, and enterprises are investing seriously in cybersecurity. Countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia have established strong national cybersecurity frameworks and continue to set an impressive pace globally.
However, there remains a readiness gap.
Our research indicates that organizations in this region often express extremely high confidence in AI technologies, sometimes even higher than their global peers. Yet confidence does not always align with operational maturity.
AI-enabled threats such as deepfakes and sophisticated social engineering attacks are particularly dangerous because they target people rather than systems. Traditional security tools can only address part of the challenge.
Organizations need a broader strategy that incorporates verified digital identity, strong governance, layered security controls, and clearly defined human oversight for high-stakes decisions. The region is unquestionably moving in the right direction, but closing the gap between confidence and capability should be a priority.
Are enterprises prioritizing innovation too aggressively at the expense of resilience and security?
In some cases, yes, and it is understandable.
Organizations are facing intense pressure to innovate quickly. When the market is moving rapidly, governance and security can sometimes be viewed as obstacles rather than enablers.
I believe that perception is fundamentally incorrect.
Resilience is not the opposite of innovation. In fact, resilience is what enables innovation to scale safely and sustainably. The organizations succeeding today are not choosing between speed and security. They are embedding governance, trust, and resilience directly into the foundation of their technology environments.
When security is designed from the start, innovation can move faster because teams have confidence in the platforms and processes supporting them. The alternative adding governance and security controls later is always slower, more expensive, and less effective.
How is the growing demand for data sovereignty and sovereign cloud reshaping regional IT strategies?
This trend is reshaping technology strategies at a fundamental level.
Across the Middle East, particularly within government entities and highly regulated industries, data residency has become a core requirement rather than a preference. Organizations increasingly expect assurance that data remains within national borders and is handled according to local regulations and standards.
Importantly, I would encourage technology leaders to view data sovereignty as an opportunity rather than a restriction.
Trust plays a crucial role in digital transformation. When citizens, customers, and stakeholders know that their information is stored and governed locally, confidence in digital services increases. Higher trust leads to broader adoption and faster innovation.
As a result, sovereign cloud strategies are becoming integral to long-term technology planning across the region.
What is the most critical technology skill gap organizations need to address immediately?
The greatest shortage is not necessarily technical expertise it is applied AI fluency.
Organizations need professionals who can bridge business objectives and technological capabilities. The most valuable talent today is often the individual who understands both the business challenge and how technology can solve it safely and effectively.
This hybrid capability remains scarce, which is why workforce development must become a strategic priority.
Technology alone will not unlock AI value. The ability to identify meaningful use cases, govern implementation responsibly, and align outcomes with business goals requires people with cross-functional expertise. Increasingly, the limiting factor in AI success is not technology availability but organizational capability.
That is why investments in education, learning platforms, and university partnerships have become so important across the industry.
Which industries are leading digital transformation in the Middle East, and which are still catching up?
Government and public-sector organizations are setting the benchmark not only regionally but globally.
The level of digital service delivery across many Middle Eastern governments has transformed citizen expectations. Experiences such as renewing licenses, accessing public services, or completing administrative processes digitally and efficiently have become the norm.
Banking, financial services, and telecommunications are also leading due to competitive pressures and digitally savvy customer bases.
What is particularly interesting is the progress among small and medium-sized businesses. Historically, SMEs were considered slower adopters of advanced technologies. Today, however, access to enterprise-grade AI capabilities is becoming increasingly democratized.
As barriers to entry fall, smaller organizations are beginning to accelerate their digital transformation journeys and compete more effectively with larger enterprises.
What is the biggest mistake organizations make when investing in AI, cloud, or cybersecurity initiatives?
The most common mistake is starting with technology rather than the business objective.
Too many organizations begin by purchasing a tool or launching an isolated pilot project. Twelve months later, they possess impressive demonstrations but little measurable business impact.
What is often missing is the hard work required beneath the surface: establishing a strong data foundation, implementing governance structures, managing organizational change, and designing for scale.
Another recurring challenge is treating AI as a standalone technology initiative rather than a fundamental operating model transformation. Organizations sometimes postpone conversations around trust, governance, and accountability until a problem emerges.
Success requires the opposite approach. Start with the business problem, build the right data and governance framework, and then use technology to deliver scalable outcomes.
If you could give one strategic recommendation to Middle East CIOs and CISOs for the next three years, what would it be?
Build everything on a foundation of trusted, unified data. Embed governance from day one. Then scale agentic AI deliberately and responsibly.
If I were to distill it to one fundamental principle, it would be this: trust should be viewed as a growth strategy, not merely a compliance requirement.
The leaders who will define the next phase of digital transformation are not necessarily those deploying the most AI the fastest. They are the organizations building trusted data environments, establishing strong governance frameworks, and investing in people with the same commitment they invest in technology platforms.
Ultimately, resilience and innovation are not competing priorities. Resilience is what makes sustainable innovation possible. Those who recognize that relationship today will be the ones leading tomorrow.
