Bahrain FinTech Bay unit partners with Shaffra on AI employees

Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB), through its sister company Innovate for Bahrain (I4BH), has announced an exclusive partnership with Shaffra, a GCC-born enterprise AI workforce platform. The announcement was made at Gateway Gulf 2026, the investment forum hosted by the Bahrain Economic Development Board.

Under the deal, I4BH becomes Shaffra’s partner in Bahrain and will bring its AI solutions to organisations across the public and private sectors. The two will also explore building new solutions on Shaffra’s platform for priority sectors, with scope to work together beyond Bahrain.

Shaffra offers “AI employees” that take on roles in customer service, sales, human resources, finance, operations and project management. It offers ready-made solutions such as AI Call Centers, AI Sales Centers and AI Project Managers, which fit into existing operations.

The AI employees learn from an organisation’s own policies and systems in Arabic and English. Each organisation deploys the AI on its own infrastructure, so its data stays under its control, and a governance layer sets roles, access and audit controls. Shaffra’s AI employees have helped enterprises and governments save more than 2 million work hours per month in 2025.

The partnership will enable AI adoption across key sectors of Bahrain’s economy, including financial services, government, telecommunications, healthcare, education, hospitality, retail and logistics.

The partnership also aligns with Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s ambition to advance digital innovation, strengthen economic competitiveness, and develop a knowledge-based economy across the public and private sectors.

Bader Sater, Chief Executive Officer of Bahrain FinTech Bay, said: “Gateway Gulf 2026 asks how global partnerships should be reimagined, and our answer is global technology with local delivery.”