Cohesity studies reveals GenAI Adoption in response to compliance requirements is increasing, but also outpacing Risk Readiness

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 10 November 2025 — A new global study by Cohesity, the leader in AI-powered data security, reveals that UAE organisations are entering a new phase of cyber maturity. Having achieved world-class compliance with national data regulations, many are now discovering that compliance alone does not ensure business continuity when disruption strikes.

Cyberattacks Expose the Limits of Compliance

According to the research, Risk Ready or Risk Exposed: The Cyber Resilience Divide, 59% of UAE organisations experienced a material cyberattack in the past year. Of these, 96% reported revenue loss and 69% lost customers.

Cohesity research published in October 2025 indicated that while 66% of UAE companies say they are fully compliant with national data protection laws, the findings reveal that compliance alone cannot prevent disruption or guarantee rapid recovery. Cohesity studies show that increasingly UAE business is correctly identifying that the ability to restore data integrity and operations swiftly is becoming the real measure of resilience.

Johnny Karam, Managing Director and Vice President, International Emerging Regions, Cohesity, said: “The UAE has built one of the world’s strongest frameworks for data compliance and sovereignty, from the Personal Data Protection Law to national AI ethics guidelines,” he said. “But compliance is only half the equation. The next frontier is resilience, and proving you can recover fast, maintain trust, and continue operating when everything is on the line. While compliance assures confidence true resilience ensures business survival.”

GenAI Acceleration Outpaces Risk Readiness

The UAE’s rapid digital transformation and early adoption of GenAI are reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace. Yet 91% of UAE business leaders admit that GenAI is advancing faster than their ability to manage new risks. While 44% express confidence in their resilience strategies, only 6% of organisations globally have reached full resilience maturity.

This widening gap between innovation and preparedness is creating a new kind of exposure, one where automation and data intelligence must evolve as fast as AI innovation itself. The UAE’s leadership in digital transformation and AI ethics must now extend to embedding resilience into every layer of operations.

Gregg Petersen, Regional Director for the Middle East, at Cohesity said the results show a decisive shift in how organisations define cyber maturity.

“Enterprises across the UAE are racing ahead with GenAI adoption across all aspects of business, and while there are significant benefits that Gen AI can deliver to all data security aspects other aspects of the overall cyber resilience maturity within organisations hasn’t kept pace,” he said. “A genuinely mature cyber resliency stance today is not just about faster restoration, it’s about ensuring data integrity, protecting reputation, and preserving customer confidence. By embedding AI with appropriate consideration and guardrails into every layer of data security, Cohesity helps organisations close that gap, so recovery becomes instant, coordinated, and complete.

Resilience as a Competitive Advantage

The study concludes that resilience is becoming the new benchmark for leadership confidence and financial health. As AI continues to reshape business models, organisations that automate recovery and unify data protection will not only reduce downtime but also strengthen stakeholder trust and long-term growth.

Cohesity continues to work with public and private sector organisations across the Middle East through its AI-powered Cohesity Data Cloud, helping them transform resilience into a measurable business advantage — ensuring that when disruption strikes, recovery is fast, secure, and complete.

ENDS

About the Research

Findings are based on a survey of 3,200 IT and security decision makers commissioned by Cohesity and conducted by Vanson Bourne in September 2025. Respondents represent organizations in the US, Brazil, UK, Germany, France, UAE, Australia, South Korea, Japan, India, and Singapore. The organisations had 1,000 or more employees and came from a range of public and private sectors.

Respondents were provided with the NIST definition of cyber resiliency at the start of the survey: “The ability to anticipate, withstand, recover from, and adapt to adverse conditions, stresses, attacks, or compromises on systems that use or are enabled by cyber resources. Cyber resiliency is intended to enable mission or business objectives that depend on cyber resources to be achieved in a contested cyber environment.”

About Cohesity
Cohesity protects, secures, and provides insights into the world’s data. As the leader in AI-powered data security, Cohesity helps organisations strengthen resilience, accelerate recovery, and reduce IT costs. With Zero Trust security and advanced AI/ML, Cohesity Data Cloud is trusted by customers in more than 140 countries, including 70% of the Global 500. Cohesity is also backed by industry leaders such as NVIDIA, Amazon, Google, IBM, Cisco, and HPE. 

Cohesity is certified as a Great Place to Work in multiple countries. Follow Cohesity on LinkedIn and visit www.cohesity.com to learn more. 

Media contact:
The Alto Agency on behalf of Cohesity in the Middle East
Cohesity@thealtoagency.com