Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank has appointed Pedro Uria-Recio as chief AI officer, a new leadership role tied to the bank's Vision 2035 strategy, FF News reported. The mandate covers responsible AI deployment across the group, with a focus on customer experience, risk management, operational efficiency and staff tools.

The bank said more than 94 per cent of its transactions are conducted through digital channels, that it serves more than 2.7 million customers, and that it added 125,000 customers in the first half of 2026. Mohamed Abdelbary, group chief executive of ADIB, said artificial intelligence is one of the principal transformation enablers of the bank's strategy and its ambition to become the world's most innovative Islamic bank.

Uria-Recio joins from CIMB Bank in Malaysia, where he served as chief data and artificial intelligence officer and led generative AI, agentic AI and advanced analytics work across Southeast Asia. For AI vendors, the signal is direct: ADIB is turning AI from a digital experiment into a named leadership function with governance, infrastructure and scale responsibilities.