Artificial intelligence had been moving rapidly from experimentation into the core operating models of financial institutions, and the Middle East had emerged as an important market in that transition. Against this backdrop, IBM joined the 17th Middle East Banking Innovation Summit, MEBIS 2026, as Title Sponsor.
The summit was held on September 16 and 17 at Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai, bringing together more than 400 banking leaders and delegates, 60-plus speakers and more than 30 technology solution providers from across the Middle East and North Africa.
From AI Experimentation to Enterprise Adoption
The central conversation around AI in banking had been changing. Financial institutions were increasingly looking beyond pilots and proof-of-concepts towards deploying artificial intelligence securely, responsibly and at enterprise scale.
Generative AI, agentic AI, intelligent automation and predictive analytics had opened new possibilities across customer experience, fraud prevention, risk management, operations and decision-making. Yet technology alone did not determine which banks succeeded.
For highly regulated financial institutions, AI adoption also depended on trusted data, robust governance, cybersecurity, infrastructure and clear human oversight.
IBM’s participation at MEBIS reflected this broader challenge. Its enterprise AI and hybrid cloud capabilities were designed to help financial institutions modernise mission-critical systems while deploying AI in environments where security, resilience, data sovereignty and regulatory compliance were critical considerations.
According to an IBM Institute for Business Value CEO study, banking and financial markets CEOs expected AI to make nearly half of operational decisions without human intervention by 2030.
Shukri Eid, General Manager, IBM Gulf, Levant and Pakistan, said the banking industry had moved beyond asking whether it should adopt AI and was instead focused on how it could be implemented responsibly and at scale. The challenge, he noted, was building the trusted data, governance and infrastructure foundations necessary to turn AI investment into measurable business value.
A Regional Conversation on Banking’s Next Chapter
MEBIS 2026 brought together banking and technology leaders from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan.
That geographic diversity was significant. Although financial markets across MENA were developing at different speeds, institutions were confronting many of the same strategic questions: how quickly to modernise legacy systems, how to meet rising digital customer expectations, how to strengthen cybersecurity and fraud prevention, and how to build technology infrastructure capable of supporting increasingly intelligent financial services.
More than 20 sessions explored these issues alongside developments in digital banking, payments, data and intelligent banking, cloud infrastructure, automation, customer experience and cybersecurity.
Data remained a particularly important theme. As banks increased their use of AI, the quality, accessibility and governance of underlying data became increasingly important. At the same time, increasingly sophisticated financial crime required institutions to combine stronger fraud detection with faster, more intelligent responses.
17 Years of Banking Innovation
By its 17th edition, MEBIS had evolved alongside the region’s financial services sector, moving from the early days of digital transformation towards a stronger focus on AI-driven banking.
More than 500 pre-registrations had been confirmed for the 2026 summit, reflecting strong interest among regional banking professionals.
The event provided a platform for financial institutions, technology providers and industry leaders to examine not simply what was possible with emerging technologies, but how those technologies could translate into practical business outcomes.
For banks across MENA, that distinction had become increasingly important. The next phase of digital banking was not defined solely by adopting new technologies. It was shaped by how effectively institutions integrated AI, data, cloud, cybersecurity and human expertise into resilient business models.
With IBM as Title Sponsor, MEBIS 2026 placed that transition firmly at the centre of the regional banking conversation.
MEBIS 2026
September 16–17, 2026
Jumeirah Emirates Towers, Dubai
Visit the official MEBIS website
About IBM
IBM was a global provider of hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence and consulting solutions, serving clients across more than 175 countries. Its technologies and services supported digital transformation across industries including financial services, telecommunications and healthcare.
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