Businesses in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, Turkey and Africa (CEEMETA) region are not just experimenting with AI; they’re busy scaling the technology at pace, says Mohammed Amin, senior VP for the region at Dell Technologies, who emphasises AI-driven speed as the new benchmark in business.
Companies that build and deploy AI quickly, supported by intelligent infrastructure, will shape the region’s digital economy, says Amin.
“Historically, intricate regulations and cross-border operations slowed businesses down. AI changes that. CEEMETA markets are already racing ahead, with countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Poland and Turkey accelerating national AI strategies over the last 18 months.
“We now see workflows resolved in seconds as hyper-automation replaces manual processes. Government departments in the Gulf use AI to streamline operations, while customer service centres in Poland and South Africa cut resolution times with generative AI and real-time data. Even complex tasks like financial modelling are now performed almost instantly.”
Amin points out that much of the region’s enterprise infrastructure was not designed for the demands of modern AI and cloud strategies and is under pressure from the explosion of unstructured data – which AI thrives on.
“This data, growing 55% annually, must be analysed, governed and secured. In 2026, enterprises will embrace hybrid strategies to meet these demands. Critical data and high-value AI workloads will remain on-premises for security and cost control. The cloud will provide scale and flexibility for less sensitive tasks. This balanced approach gives organisations options, allowing them to choose the right infrastructure for each workload based on performance, cost and control.”
Amin believes this year, enterprises will adopt hybrid strategies: critical data and high-value agents will remain on-premises for security and cost control, while the cloud will handle scale and flexibility for less sensitive workloads.
“AI PCs will push inference and decision-making to the edge, reducing latency and keeping sensitive data local,” he adds.
The Dell Technologies executive also predicts rapid token adoption in the region will reshape the full technology stack.
“Across CEEMETA, enterprises are experiencing a dramatic surge in token consumption – the 'fuel' behind every AI interaction. In financial hubs like the UAE, a single AI request can now trigger dozens of processes, touching APIs, identity checks, compliance systems, databases and more. Each step generates tokens, and as volumes climb, they place new demands on the entire technology stack: storage, networking, compute, security and governance.
“Token growth is now outpacing the expansion of raw compute power. This means organisations need more than just advanced GPUs – they need high-bandwidth networking, robust storage and seamless orchestration to unlock the full performance of agentic and generative AI. Those who optimise for this stack will be best positioned to deliver reliable, secure and scalable AI experiences as the technology landscape continues to evolve.”
Amin adds that micro LLMs will bring AI to the edge.
He says centralised AI is evolving into a more distributed model, where large models and micro LLMs work together to bring intelligence everywhere.
Micro LLMs require less power, explains Amin, a critical advantage in a region with rising energy costs – and can operate at the edge where data is created.
“This shift is a game-changer for industries in remote or low-bandwidth locations, like mining in Africa or manufacturing in Poland.”
AI and cyber security
2026 will be the year AI and cyber security converge to become inseparable, Amin continues.
“As AI becomes embedded in every part of a business, cyber security emerges as a defining challenge. The CEEMETA region is already one of the world's fastest-growing targets for cyber attacks, and threat actors are using generative AI to scale their efforts. To counter this, organisations will adopt hybrid environments and zero-trust architectures to keep sensitive AI workloads secure. AI PCs and edge devices will act as frontline defenders, mitigating threats locally.”
Robotics is undergoing a dramatic redefinition thanks to AI, he adds.
“Instead of programming a robot for a specific task, you can now give it a goal and let it learn through experience. These AI-powered robots are moving beyond the factory floor to take on repetitive or dangerous work that humans shouldn't have to do. The shift to physical AI is already under way. The enterprises that deploy purpose-built, AI-enabled robotics will operate at a speed and scale that today’s automation cannot match.”
According to Amin, the race to integrate AI across CEEMETA is accelerating, and 2026 will reward the businesses that run fast, move responsibly and build AI into the very fabric of their operations.
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