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AI agents could become significant new invisible network users by the end of the decade, with 63 percent of smartphone users in the UAE expected to delegate everyday tasks to AI agents by 2030, according to new Ericsson ConsumerLab report.
The research indicates that 10 percent of the country’s respondents – double the global percentage – already leverage agentic AI capabilities to take care of tasks they would previously have performed themselves.
About 18 percent of smartphone owners in the UAE are considered AI super users, heavily engaging with multimodal AI. That number is projected to grow to about 46 percent by 2030, with 38% expecting to add AI on yet another device type, such as smart glasses, by this time. AI response time is 2.4 times more critical in driving network satisfaction for this discerning segment than for the average user.
Jasmeet Sethi, Head of Ericsson ConsumerLab, says: “UAE’s strong uptake of consumer AI points to network needs beyond active screen time. As AI processing becomes more distributed across devices and the cloud, and agents work in the background, reliable uplink and consistent responsiveness become increasingly important.”
The Ericsson ConsumerLab report, called an agentic life: How consumer AI usage is shaping future network needs, also highlights the role of communication service providers (CSPs) as the most trusted sources in terms of AI agent identity verification. This finding is crucial, as 54 percent of daily AI users in the UAE are strongly worried about fake AI assistants acting in their name.
Petra Schirren, President of Ericsson Gulf Region says: “The latest Ericsson ConsumerLab research shows that the number of AI super users in the UAE rises at a much faster rate than the global average. This testifies to the maturity of the country’s technology landscape as well as a strong appetite to embrace the latest innovations among its residents. The ongoing shift in consumer AI usage gives CSPs an indication of future network needs as multimodal AI raises the bar on connectivity and trust, enabling them to shape their strategies accordingly.”
The research tapped more than 43,000 current smartphone users aged 15-69 across 27 markets. Ericsson ConsumerLab says this is representative of about 1.7 billion smartphone users worldwide.
The markets surveyed were: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America. Access the full an agentic life: How consumer AI usage is shaping future network needs report via this link