Sovereign AI infrastructure: Emirates NBD deploys OpenAI in UAE

Emirates NBD and OpenAI announced an enterprise collaboration that will make Emirates NBD the first bank in the MENA region to deploy OpenAI’s GPT models using in-country inference infrastructure in the UAE. The bank will use the models across digital customer engagement, risk and compliance, knowledge-intensive workflows and employee productivity.

Emirates NBD will connect OpenAI’s models with its internal systems, APIs and enterprise data. This will support new digital services, customer personalization, engineering and operational productivity, as well as risk monitoring and financial crime controls.

Sovereign AI infrastructure for UAE banking

Banks operate in one of the world’s most highly regulated industries, where security, governance and compliance are non-negotiable. In-country inference can support data residency, privacy and operational resilience while helping financial institutions meet local governance and regulatory requirements.

“This ensures we can innovate at speed while maintaining the highest standards of governance, security and regulatory alignment. AI is not an experiment for us, it is a core capability that will define how we build, serve and scale,” said Miguel Rio-Tinto, Group Chief Digital and Information Officer at Emirates NBD.