Emirates NBD will deploy OpenAI’s GPT models using in-country inference infrastructure in the UAE.

Both companies said this will make it the first bank in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to do so.

Banking is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the world. The sector has strict requirements on security, governance and compliance.

With in-country inference, financial institutions can adopt advanced AI at scale.

At the same time, they can support local regulatory expectations on data residency, privacy and operational resilience.

The bank plans to use the models in several areas. These include customer engagement on digital channels, risk and compliance analytics, knowledge-intensive workflows and employee productivity.

Emirates NBD will also connect the models to its internal systems, APIs and enterprise data.

This should help the bank develop new digital services faster and improve customer personalisation. Engineering and operational productivity are expected to rise as well.

Finally, the bank aims to strengthen risk monitoring and financial crime controls.

According to the companies, the deployment supports the UAE’s plan to build AI infrastructure.

It also supports efforts to speed up responsible AI adoption across strategic sectors.

Moreover, the move aligns with the UAE National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031.

“Through our collaboration with OpenAI and access to in-country in-ference in the UAE, we are embedding frontier AI capabilities directly into our operating model,”

said Miguel Rio-Tinto, Group Chief Digital and Information Officer at Emirates NBD.

“With this first-in-region approach, Emirates NBD is setting a benchmark for how financial institutions can deploy AI securely and responsibly at scale,”

said Farouk El Hamzawi, Head of Enterprise at OpenAI MENA.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News UAE, based on image by Emirates NBD, OpenAI via its Press Release and lifeforstock via Magnific.