The UAE banking sector is looking to accelerate the adoption of agentic artificial intelligence

Dubai, 31 October / WAM / The Innovation Center of the Emirates Financial Institute, at its headquarters in Dubai, hosted a specialized workshop on artificial intelligence that lasted over two days, organized by the Emirates Banks Federation, as the umbrella body for the sector, and in cooperation with KPMG Middle East as a strategic partner and main advisor to the workshop.
The initiative came within the efforts of the Innovation Center at the Emirates Financial Institute to enable financial innovation, and with the aim of accelerating the pace of adopting responsible agency intelligence in the UAE banking sector.
Agent intelligence is a new category of smart systems capable of self-reflection and adaptive learning, which paves the way for a qualitative shift in how banks manage risks, prevent fraud, and provide banking experiences tailored to customer needs.
The workshop, which was hosted by the Innovation Center in Dubai, witnessed the participation of an elite group of executive leaders and innovation experts from the most prominent national banks, including First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NBD, Mashreq Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, and HSBC.
The sessions provided a space for cooperation, exchanging ideas, and designing prototypes for artificial intelligence-based solutions that respond to the sector’s renewed priorities in the areas of risk management, compliance, customer experience, and operational efficiency.
The workshop adopted the “hackathon” method, where the applications of agentic intelligence were explored through design thinking and practical experimentation, and work teams were formed to identify challenges, develop prototypes, and present them before a jury from the Innovation Center, the Union of Banks, the participating banks, and KPMG Middle East.
The evaluation focused on problem clarity, technical feasibility, governance frameworks, and potential commercial impact.
The participants relied on the KPMG Middle East Innovation System framework, which goes through the stages of challenge identification, idea generation, experimentation, and expansion, to create practical solutions that enable evaluating the feasibility of artificial intelligence applications and their impact on the business.
Marwan Abu Nawas Al Muhairi, Director General of the Institute, said that the Innovation Center was established to be a platform that brings together regulators, banks, and partners of the financial system to anticipate the future of financial services, and this initiative embodies our joint commitment to promoting responsible innovation and ensuring that emerging technologies such as agentic intelligence are used safely and efficiently in the banking sector.
Jamal Saleh, Director General of the UAE Banks Federation, said: Through initiatives such as these, we continue to consolidate the UAE’s position as a leading center in financial innovation and digital transformation, and the cooperation between the Federation of Banks, the Innovation Center and KPMG reflects the sector’s collective commitment to adopting artificial intelligence responsibly, and our goal is for innovation to serve individuals, build confidence, and enhance the long-term competitiveness of the financial system.
For his part, Jamal Hababa, Head of the Financial Services Sector at KPMG Middle East, said that agentic intelligence is redefining the concept of automation and decision-making in institutions, and with strong support from national investments in artificial intelligence, the Innovation Center at the Emirates Financial Institute is leading efforts to transform from concept to responsible practical application, and through design-based experimentation within strong governance frameworks, the banking system in the Emirates establishes a global standard for innovation and trust.
The initiative reinforces the UAE’s commitment to implementing the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031 through cooperation between regulatory authorities, banks and global partners. The results and ideas resulting from the workshop will also contribute to supporting future stages of innovation within the Innovation Center of the Emirates Financial Institute, thus consolidating the responsible transformation based on artificial intelligence in the UAE banking sector.

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