MEBIS 2026 explores AI and the future of banking

The 17th Middle East Banking Innovation Summit (MEBIS) concluded in Dubai after two days that convened more than 400 banking and technology leaders to examine how artificial intelligence is reshaping financial services. MEBIS 2026 focused on the operational realities of AI inside banks, the rise of agentic systems, and cross-cutting issues such as cybersecurity, data governance, cloud modernization and real‑time payments.

"What stood out at MEBIS 2026 was how quickly the conversation around AI has matured. We are no longer talking about AI as one technology initiative among many. It is beginning to influence almost every part of the bank, from how customers are served to how decisions are made, risks are managed, and operations are run," said Shail Bisht, Regional Director, Expotrade Middle East.

From assistants to agents: the big questions

One of the summit’s most discussed sessions, "From AI Assistants to AI Agents: Autonomous Banking, Governance and Trust," assembled senior AI, digital and innovation leaders from Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Zand, Commercial Bank International, Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Mashreq. Panelists debated the transition of generative AI beyond chatbots and copilots into agents capable of executing tasks, orchestrating workflows and supporting decisions—while flagging complex challenges around governance, accountability and human oversight.

Speakers repeatedly returned to practical constraints that institutions must address now to prepare for agentic banking: establishing trusted data foundations, modernizing cloud infrastructure, defining privileged access for non‑human users, and embedding security controls for AI systems.

Program highlights and broader themes

MEBIS 2026 framed AI not as a single initiative but as an enabler intersecting multiple transformation priorities. Day 1 sessions included "AI, GenAI and Intelligent Automation in Middle East Banking," "What Does AI Make It Possible for a Bank to Become?", "Data, AI & Intelligent Banking" and "Building the AI‑Ready Bank." Other recurring topics across the two days were customer experience, fraud prevention, Open Finance and core banking platform modernization.

• Recognition: Noman Rasheed, Chief Information Officer at Dubai Islamic Bank, and Norman Tambach, Group CFO at Mashreq, were honoured for their leadership in banking transformation.
• Leadership presence: Jamal Saleh, Director General of the UAE Banks Federation, delivered a welcome address and received a special recognition for the federation’s support of the summit.
• Industry support: IBM served as Title Sponsor, contributing perspectives on AI, transformation and the future of financial services to the programme.

Outlook: governance, security and workforce readiness

Organisers and participants signalled that the immediate priority for banks is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to embed it safely and effectively. That will require strengthened AI governance frameworks, new cybersecurity approaches to protect non‑human privileged access, and workforce strategies to ensure human oversight where it matters. Participants left MEBIS 2026 with a clear mandate: accelerate investments in trusted data and cloud platforms, define rules and accountability for agentic systems, and integrate security and compliance into AI deployment from day one.