The smartphone users in the UAE are expected to rely on artificial intelligence agents to carry out everyday tasks by 2030, as the technology increasingly moves beyond answering questions to performing activities on behalf of users, according to a new Ericsson ConsumerLab report.
The study found that 63 per cent of UAE smartphone users are expected to delegate daily tasks to AI agents by the end of the decade, signalling a shift in how consumers interact with digital services.
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According to the report, titled An Agentic Life: How Consumer AI Usage Is Shaping Future Network Needs, 10 per cent of respondents in the UAE already use agentic AI capabilities to complete tasks they would previously have handled themselves.
This is twice the global figure of 5 per cent, highlighting the UAE’s relatively strong adoption of emerging AI technologies.
AI super users could more than double by 2030
The report identified 18 per cent of UAE smartphone owners as AI super users, referring to consumers who make extensive use of multimodal AI technologies.
That proportion is projected to rise to approximately 46 per cent by 2030, indicating a significant expansion in advanced AI adoption.
Meanwhile, 38 per cent of respondents expect to use AI on an additional type of device, such as smart glasses, by the end of the decade.
The findings suggest that AI interactions could increasingly take place across multiple devices rather than being limited to smartphones.
AI to reshape mobile network demands
As AI agents increasingly perform tasks in the background, they could become a new category of largely invisible network users, generating demand for connectivity even when consumers are not actively using their devices.
The research found that AI response time is 2.4 times more important in determining network satisfaction among UAE AI super users than among average users.
Jasmeet Sethi, Head of Ericsson ConsumerLab, said the country’s growing adoption of consumer AI is creating connectivity requirements that extend beyond traditional screen-based activity.
“UAE’s strong uptake of consumer AI points to network needs beyond active screen time,” Sethi said.
He explained that as AI processing becomes more distributed between devices and cloud infrastructure, reliable uplink connectivity and consistent network responsiveness will become increasingly important.
More than half concerned about fake AI assistants
Despite growing adoption, concerns about security and identity verification remain significant.
The report found that 54 per cent of daily AI users in the UAE are strongly concerned about fake AI assistants acting in their name.
The research also identified communication service providers as the most trusted sources for verifying the identities of AI agents.
The findings suggest that telecommunications companies could play an increasingly important role in ensuring trust and security as AI agents become more integrated into everyday digital activities.
UAE AI adoption outpaces global average
Petra Schirren, President of Ericsson Gulf Region, said the UAE is witnessing faster growth in advanced AI adoption than the global average.
She attributed the trend to the maturity of the country’s technology landscape and consumers’ willingness to embrace emerging innovations.
Schirren said the changing patterns of consumer AI usage provide telecommunications operators with insights into future network requirements, particularly as multimodal AI increases expectations for connectivity, responsiveness and trust.
Survey covers 43,000 smartphone users
The Ericsson ConsumerLab research surveyed more than 43,000 smartphone users aged between 15 and 69 across 27 markets, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United States, the United Kingdom, China and India.
According to Ericsson, the research represents approximately 1.7 billion smartphone users worldwide.
The findings indicate that as AI agents become increasingly capable of handling tasks independently, mobile networks may need to support a growing volume of automated activity alongside conventional smartphone usage.
Source: Khaleej Times