Dell study says EMEA AI rollout hit by security concerns

Dell Technologies has released findings from its Modern Enterprise Readiness Study 2026, which points to growing obstacles as organisations across EMEA try to expand AI use.

The survey covered 1,500 business and IT decision-makers in EMEA as part of a global sample of 2,950 respondents across 35 countries. In the UK, it included 150 business and IT leaders.

The results suggest many organisations have moved beyond early AI experiments and are now grappling with operational, regulatory and infrastructure issues that are limiting wider deployment. Across EMEA, 64% of IT leaders said their infrastructure was not ready for production-scale AI and analytics workloads, while 55% said security and compliance concerns had already slowed or delayed AI deployment.

Those pressures appear to be more acute in the UK. Among UK respondents, 84% said running AI, workplace and data centre modernisation in silos created severe operational challenges, compared with an EMEA average of 69%.

Another 61% of UK decision-makers said they lacked a clear, unified roadmap across AI, data and security, compared with a regional average of 46%. The study also found 77% of UK respondents wanted partners to demonstrate clear business impact and risk management before moving ahead with new AI projects, versus 66% across EMEA.

Partner shift

Economic conditions are also shaping how organisations buy technology. The study found 80% of EMEA leaders said macroeconomic conditions were making them more selective about technology investments.

That caution is driving a preference for supplier consolidation. Some 81% said they would prefer to meet more of their technology needs through a single strategic partner, while 77% said they were shifting investment towards partners with the scale, ecosystem and supply chain needed to move modernisation and AI efforts from pilot stage to production.

The figures suggest a move away from fragmented technology estates and isolated projects. Instead, respondents pointed to demand for more integrated planning across infrastructure, security, data and workplace systems.

Workplace systems

The research also highlights the role of end-user devices in AI adoption. Across EMEA, 86% of organisations said AI PCs and modern endpoints would play an important role in their future workplace strategy.

At the same time, 79% said outdated devices limited their ability to adopt new technologies, including AI-based applications, while 92% said modern devices improved collaboration and workforce productivity.

This puts workplace refresh cycles closer to the centre of AI planning than in earlier phases of digital transformation, when device upgrades were often treated separately from infrastructure and data strategy.

Security focus

Cybersecurity emerged as another central issue in the survey. Across EMEA, 88% of business and IT leaders said they expected security to be included in every proposal from a strategic technology partner, rather than handled separately.

Meanwhile, 91% said integrated data protection and cyber recovery were important criteria when assessing infrastructure platforms. The findings also showed 73% expected their use of managed security services to increase over the next two to three years.

Regulatory obligations and concerns about business continuity are pushing cyber resilience higher up the agenda, at the same time as organisations try to widen the use of AI tools that depend on sensitive data and more complex infrastructure.

Steve Young, Senior Vice President and UK & Ireland Managing Director, Dell Technologies, said: "Businesses are entering the next phase of AI adoption. The focus is shifting from exploring what's possible to connecting the infrastructure, data, security and workplace technology needed to turn AI into real business value at scale. Organisations that build these foundations today will be the ones that lead tomorrow. At Dell Technologies, we're helping customers take the next step, transforming AI ambition into business advantage through secure, modern and scalable technology solutions."

The survey covered organisations in financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, energy and utilities, and the public sector, suggesting these issues extend across industries rather than being concentrated in one segment.

Across the results, the common thread is less about initial interest in AI and more about the practical conditions needed to operate it at scale. The data suggests infrastructure readiness, security requirements, governance and supplier strategy are becoming as important as the AI tools themselves.