NBB Advances Enterprise AI Transformation Through AI@NBB

TDT | Manama

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The National Bank of Bahrain Group (NBB Group), comprising the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) and Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB), continues to progress with its Artificial Intelligence (AI) transformation under the umbrella of AI@NBB, its enterprise-wide initiative to scale AI responsibly and deliver measurable value.

Over the course of its AI transformation, NBB Group has focused on building the foundations required for wider adoption. These include piloting AI applications, establishing its institutional AI roadmap, enabling technical foundations, introducing secure enterprise AI tools, delivering initial use cases, and defining the operating model for organization-wide integration of the technology. With those elements instituted, the next stage will extend execution across customer service, employee productivity, risk management, and operational resilience.

The progress is already visible in a number of applications, including NBB's AI-powered customer services virtual assistant, cybersecurity response mechanisms, internal audit and legal AI capabilities, alongside agentic policy and documentation management and select HR processes.

To govern AI implementation, NBB Group has established an enterprise AI strategy and prioritisation framework that assesses AI opportunities against business value, feasibility and appropriate control requirements. Its federated operating model combines centralised oversight with business ownership: a dedicated AI function sets Group-wide direction and standards, AI Champions identify and shape relevant opportunities within their areas, and cross-functional AI Squads bring together the required disciplines to advance approved initiatives. Delivery is supported by secure cloud and data foundations, with each use case subject to defined controls, human oversight, and measurement against agreed outcomes.

As NBB Group broadens execution, it is also expanding its collaboration with Bahrain-based ARRAY Innovation as a specialised partner supporting distinct areas of implementation. Building on a relationship first announced in November 2024, ARRAY is providing specialist engineering expertise and knowledge transfer to help strengthen internal operational capabilities, with the Group retaining ownership of its AI strategy and business outcomes.

Commenting on the announcement, Usman Ahmed, Group Chief Executive Officer of NBB, said, "AI adoption is one of the most significant and strategic enablers in our drive towards continuous improvement of customer experience, operating efficiency and risk management. Our approach has therefore been deliberate, with investment directed towards clearly defined outcomes. As implementation advances, we will continue to evaluate progress against the value created for our customers, colleagues, the Group, and Bahrain's economy."

By synthesising business ownership, secure infrastructure, workforce readiness, and specialist expertise into one operating model, NBB Group has established a controlled route from identified market need to wider institutionalisation. This framework will guide the next stage of AI@NBB as the Group continues to make banking faster, safer and more customer-centric through responsible AI deployment.