The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) published its Artificial Intelligence Survey 2025, finding that artificial intelligence use among Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) authorised firms increased to 52% from 33% in 2024, with generative AI (GenAI) adoption up 166%. The results also point to governance arrangements still maturing, with gaps in accountability and oversight persisting even where AI is material to business operations. The June 2025 survey covered 661 authorised firms (88% participation rate) across banking, capital markets, wealth and asset management, and fintech, with 345 firms reporting active AI use (up from 177 in 2024). Most use cases remain internal (79% focused on internal operations and internal systems and controls), while 21% of firms reported external-facing deployment such as customer engagement and sales; firms deploying AI across a considerable share of operations tripled year on year (41 to 121), and those describing AI as critical to at least one business area rose from 17 to 29. Many firms rely on third-party developers, and 60% run more than 90% of AI applications on cloud platforms, concentrated among major providers including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure. On governance, 70% of AI-using firms reported formal governance frameworks and almost 90% had assigned oversight responsibility, but 72 firms (21% of AI users) lacked clear accountability mechanisms; firms also reported demand for greater regulatory clarity, including clarification of how existing requirements apply to AI (526 firms), practical guidance (459), and harmonisation across UAE financial regulators (365). The DFSA indicated it will continue a risk-based supervisory approach and, in the coming months, will engage with firms and other regulators in the UAE and internationally to develop guidance and frameworks for responsible AI adoption.

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