Artificial intelligence adoption is accelerating across the UAE’s financial sector, with more than 70% of firms in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) now using AI, according to the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). Generative AI is used by 64% of DIFC firms.
Mark Steward, chief executive of the DFSA, said adoption had increased from 30% and pointed to further work on frontier and agentic AI, cyber resilience and financial asset tokenisation.
Emirates NBD has allocated approximately 50% of its technology budget to AI over the past year and plans to maintain that level next year, said Neeraj Makin, the bank’s group head of strategy, analytics and venture capital.
The bank is developing more than 50 AI applications, including tools for fraud prevention and customer service. In a trial involving 4,000 debt collection accounts, AI delivered a 15% productivity improvement compared with employees, according to the announcement.
Mohammed Al Hakim, vice chairman of MultiBank Group and CEO of MB.io, said AI had improved trading and interbank financial operations. The group, which moved its operations from the United States to the UAE in 2021, recorded trading volumes of around $500B in a single month, he said.
Source: Zawya
