Banking transformation in action: Emirates NBD
Emirates NBD in the United Arab Emirates presented the incredible transformation work they have accomplished.
As part of the Qorus-Infosys Finacle Banking Innovation Awards 2026, we selected a few of the banks whose projects impressed us the most. Among them, Emirates NBD in the United Arab Emirates presented the incredible transformation work they have accomplished.
What transformation strategy has your organization led in recent years?
Emirates NBD has led a bold transformation to become an AI-driven bank, redefining how banking is delivered on a scale not only at country level but regionally.
The vision is built around “intelligent, real-time and seamless banking”, powered by advanced analytics, AI and GenAI to embed data-driven decisioning across the enterprise.
Key pillars include:
• Business Model: Shift from product-led to ecosystem-led banking, integrating payments, wealth (44% AUM growth) and digital platforms (94% digital onboarding).
• Operating Model: Implemented “self-serve everything” at scale with 93% services and 98% transac-tions automated, driving efficiency and scalability.
• Technology: Built a unified, platform-led architecture (ENBD X, Liv, EI+) with AI, analytics, and real-time capabilities enabling rapid innovation and 95%+ STP rates.
• Customer Experience: Delivered seamless omnichannel journeys and record NPS of 57 (previously 48), with 94% digital onboarding and reduced friction across journeys.
• Workforce & Culture: Upskilled teams across segments and products, embedding a culture of owner-ship, discipline, and customer obsession, supported by AI tools and frontline empowerment.
This transformation positions Emirates NBD not only for regional excellence but also compete at a global level.
What prompted this strategic transformation?
Emirates NBD’s transformation was driven by rapid shifts in customer behaviour, intensifying competition, and long-term growth ambitions. Digital adoption accelerated significantly, with >90–95% of sales now conducted digitally and 1.7 million monthly active users, signalling a structural move away from branch-led banking.
At the same time, rising competition from fintechs and global banks offering seamless, cross-border experi-ences highlighted capability gaps, particularly in servicing global expatriate population—a segment highly rele-vant to the UAE market.
Internally, the Bank sought to modernise legacy infrastructure and improve speed to market, reducing onboarding times to ~8 minutes while enabling scalable, platform-led delivery.
These factors prompted a strategic shift to reposition Emirates NBD as a customer-centric, digital-first, and globally connected bank, capable of delivering integrated, end-to-end experiences and capturing greater life-time customer value.
What have been the most significant changes implemented, and how were they led?
Emirates NBD delivered a bold, enterprise-wide transformation across technology, organization, and culture.
Technologically, the Bank scaled a platform-led, AI-driven model, deploying 40+ generative AI use cases and achieving ~95% digital sourcing, accelerating processes by ~70% while redefining customer journeys through ENBD X.
Organizationally, it accelerated international expansion, highlighted by a USD 3bn investment in RBL Bank (In-dia) and growth across key regional and global corridors.
Culturally, ENBD strengthened its future-ready workforce, advancing Emiratisation and achieving 44% female representation.
Leadership enabled these shifts through a clear digital-first vision, strong governance, and disciplined execu-tion—aligning innovation, talent, and scale to position ENBD as a globally connected, innovation-led bank.
What unique or key transformation practices do you follow to ensure success?
Emirates NBD combines Agile delivery, ecosystem partnerships, and cloud-scale platforms to drive rapid, enterprise-wide transformation.
• Agile & DevOps at Scale: Established 30+ Agile squads and DevOps operating model, improving deliv-ery speed, engineering efficiency (+32%), and reducing defects (–80%)
• AI-led Continuous Innovation: Deployed 40+ GenAI use cases and scaled AI capabilities to accelerate processes by up to 70%, enhancing productivity and customer engagement
• Cloud/Platform (PaaS-enabled) Architecture: Built 100% cloud-native architecture with 20K+ con-tainers, 150M+ API calls daily, and 2,000+ APIs, enabling scalable, API-first innovation and open bank-ing capabilities
Agile is embedded as ENBD’s operating model—driving speed, scale, and measurable business outcomes.
How has your workforce been engaged and transformed through this journey?
Emirates NBD’s transformation was powered by a comprehensive people strategy focused on talent, leadership, and culture.
• Recruitment & Talent Development: The Bank embedded AI-driven recruitment and expanded Emirati-sation, strengthening participation across all levels and building a future-ready national talent pipeline.
• Upskilling & Capability Building: Significant investment in digital, data, and AI training, supported by a new Learning Experience Platform with ~95% workforce adoption, enabling employees to thrive in a rapidly evolving environment.
• Leadership Development: Launch of the Global Leadership Rotation Programme and structured mobil-ity frameworks, alongside 800+ promotions and role moves, building agile, globally capable leaders.
• Culture & Engagement: Strong focus on wellbeing, inclusion, and CODE (Collaboration Ownership Drive and Enterprise) values, supported by recognition programmes and initiatives such as the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and Speak Up framework.
Together, these initiatives created a highly engaged, future-ready workforce driving sustained performance.
What measurable outcomes demonstrate the success of your transformation?
Emirates NBD’s transformation has delivered clear, measurable outcomes across financial performance,
customer experience, operational efficiency, and workforce and ESG impact.
• Performance Gains: AED 24 Bn net profit (+4% y-o-y) becoming UAE’s most profitable bank, AED 1,164 Bn Assets (+14% y-o-y), AED 658 Bn Gross Loans (+20% y-o-y), digital wealth AUM nearly tripling and trading volumes increasing 4x
• Customer Impact: Achieved highest NPS of 56 (+8 points vs previous year) and reduced complaints (31% less)
• Operational Efficiency: AI-driven transformation delivered 30%+ reduction in processing times, en-hancing speed and scalability
• Employee Engagement & Capability: Contributed 160k hours contributing under Exchanger Volunteer Programme and the group consisting of 35k+ employees across 108 nationalities
• ESG & Culture Outcomes: Ranked #1 Middle East Bank with 36 LEED Platinum and Gold certifications, successfully placed and listed the world’s first Sustainability-Linked Financing Sukuk by Emirates Is-lamic, fully aligned with International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Guidelines
Overall, Emirates NBD has translated transformation into tangible gains in growth, customer experience, efficiency, and organisational capability at scale.
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