Ericsson: 63% of UAE Users Expect to Use AI Agents by 2030

A new report by Ericsson finds that 63% of UAE smartphone users expect to delegate tasks to AI agents by 2030, raising new demands for network performance and security.

The report, An Agentic Life: How Consumer AI Usage Is Shaping Future Network Needs, highlights that UAE consumer interest significantly outpaces the global average of 38%.

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Adoption has already begun. Around 10% of UAE respondents currently use agentic AI to perform tasks they would previously have handled themselves—twice the global proportion, according to Ericsson.

The Growing Role of AI Agents

Unlike conventional chatbots that primarily respond to prompts, AI agents can carry out tasks on a user's behalf, such as scheduling activities, comparing products, and managing recurring purchases.

As these systems become more widely used, they could generate additional network activity even when people are not actively interacting with their phones. That creates new demands for reliable connectivity, responsive networks, and sufficient capacity to handle exchanges between devices, cloud systems, and AI services.

Ericsson's research found that 18% of UAE smartphone users are already AI super users, meaning they engage heavily with multimodal AI. The company projects this share could rise to around 46% by 2030.

Network Requirements for Future AI

For this group, network responsiveness is particularly important. Ericsson found that AI response time is 2.4 times more influential in determining network satisfaction among UAE AI super users than among the average user.

Jasmeet Sethi, head of Ericsson ConsumerLab, said growing consumer AI adoption would create network requirements beyond traditional screen-based activity. This makes reliable uploads and consistent response times increasingly important.

The research also points to AI spreading across more devices. Around 38% of UAE respondents expect to use AI on another type of device by 2030, including products such as smart glasses. This could extend AI interactions beyond smartphones and increase the number of connected devices involved in everyday activities.

Connectivity Opportunities and Security

For telecom operators, that shift creates an opportunity to support new services while preparing networks for changing traffic patterns and more demanding applications. Petra Schirren, president of Ericsson's Gulf Region, said the UAE's rapid adoption of consumer AI offers operators an indication of how connectivity expectations could evolve.

Alongside network performance, the report highlights concerns about identity and digital security. Fifty-four per cent of daily AI users surveyed in the UAE said they were strongly worried about fake AI assistants acting in their name.

The findings identify communication service providers as the most trusted sources for verifying AI-agent identities. That could create a role for telecom operators beyond connectivity, including helping users establish whether an agent is legitimate and strengthening trust in services that act on their behalf.

Why it Matters to MENA

The report draws on responses from more than 43,000 smartphone users aged 15–69 across 27 markets. For UAE operators, the findings point to two priorities: preparing networks for increasingly AI-driven usage and developing safeguards that help customers trust the agents acting on their behalf.

For AI providers and startups, better connectivity and identity verification could also become important parts of delivering reliable consumer services. If these expectations translate into widespread use, AI technology could become a significant source of network activity by 2030.