UAE retailers turn to AI agents to drive faster decisions and smarter automation

Price management

One of the most significant applications is price management, where retailers often struggle to analyse price elasticity across thousands of products and sales channels.

“Manual analysis of price elasticity across thousands of SKUs [stock keeping units] in multiple channels exceeds human capabilities,” says Yusuf. “AI agents can perform this analysis for each product individually, simulate the impact of planned changes on demand, and suggest adjustments that help protect margins.”

The technology is also being used to optimise markdown strategies and promotional campaigns. According to Yusuf, poorly timed promotions remain a major source of unnecessary costs for retailers, particularly when inventory levels fluctuate rapidly.

“A campaign-focused AI agent can manage promotions across both digital and physical channels, adapting communication to current inventory levels and market conditions,” he says.

Beyond retail, manufacturers across the Gulf are exploring similar automation strategies to improve procurement, inventory balancing and commercial pricing processes.

Inventory management has become a particularly critical issue for manufacturers operating in sectors such as industrial production, consumer goods and logistics, where shortages of raw materials can disrupt production lines while overstocking creates financing and warehousing costs.

“AI agents equipped with machine learning models can analyse demand patterns and operational signals,” says Yusuf. “Based on this data, they can forecast potential shortages and automate replenishment.”

In manufacturing environments, agentic AI is also being applied to commercial pricing, particularly for B2B sales teams managing complex quotations and fluctuating raw material costs.

“Traditionally, sales representatives prepare offers manually, often relying on outdated historical data,” says Yusuf. “Agentic automation of commercial pricing helps to save time by continuously monitoring production costs, raw material availability, market conditions and transaction history.”

According to UiPath, reducing quotation preparation times from days to minutes could provide Gulf manufacturers with a significant competitive advantage in industries where contract speed directly affects profitability. However, as organisations adopt increasingly autonomous AI systems, concerns around governance, transparency and cyber security are also intensifying.

Yusuf warns that many enterprises are now facing the rise of “shadow AI”, where employees use unapproved AI tools outside official governance frameworks.

“Just as shadow IT once emerged, shadow AI is now growing,” he says. “Employees use unregistered AI tools, making processes less transparent.”

Associated risks

The risks associated with AI agents are potentially far greater than those of traditional shadow IT because these systems can integrate directly with ERP platforms, process customer information and initiate transactions autonomously. “The consequences of oversight are significantly more serious than in the case of unauthorised spreadsheets,” says Yusuf.

The issue is becoming increasingly relevant as global and regional AI regulations tighten. The European Union AI Act is entering its enforcement phase, while Gulf organisations are preparing for stricter cyber security and data governance requirements associated with AI deployments.

According to Yusuf, companies deploying AI agents need a central governance layer capable of controlling permissions, enforcing policies and escalating exceptional cases to human supervisors. “A crucial concept for meeting regulatory requirements is decision provenance,” he says. “The ability to reconstruct the reasoning process of an AI agent, what data it used, which rules were applied, and where deviations from company policy occurred.”

For UAE organisations, the challenge is no longer whether to adopt AI agents, but how to deploy them responsibly at scale while maintaining operational control. “Organisations building this infrastructure today may not only get ahead of regulatory requirements, but also help define industry standards,” says Yusuf.

As AI adoption accelerates across the Middle East, retailers and manufacturers are increasingly treating automation not simply as a productivity tool, but as a strategic capability directly tied to resilience, competitiveness and growth.