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Welcome to Xchange by Money20/20 Middle East – where money meets ideas 

Bold thought:

AI won’t break finance in the Middle East – because regulators are shaping it before it scales.

Snapshot

In Saudi Arabia, the UAE and beyond, the conversation about AI in finance has a new focus: how do we deploy this without losing trust? 

And that shift began with the regulators. In Dubai, the DFSA’s latest AI survey showed something unusual for a major financial hub: more than half of firms are using AI, but most are keeping it internal. That isn’t because they lack ambition (far from it) – it’s because they’re waiting for clearer guardrails on accountability and model governance. 

Riyadh is taking a similar, but perhaps even sharper approach. The Saudi Central Bank’s regulatory sandbox has become a ‘regulator-in-the-room’ environment, where fintechs test new models (including AI-enabled ones) under strict limits on scale, customer exposure and risk. 

Across the Middle East, we’re seeing that AI is welcome; but only if it sits on top of a healthy layer of trust. 

Voices

Amith Rajan (Head of Wholesale Digital Banking, Mashreq & CEO, NeoVentures):

“Open finance, digital assets and AI innovations, supported by progressive regulations, have accelerated the shift in banks and fintechs from product-led, individualistic models towards ecosystem partnerships and platform plays. 

“AI is further accelerating this evolution, with its most immediate impact evident in potentially massive efficiency gains across technology and other functions, while also unveiling new opportunities to drive revenue growth and deliver deeper, hyper-personalised customer experiences.”

(Connect with Amith on LinkedIn)

What to watch and do

• Watch: How DFSA follows up its AI survey with deeper guidance on model governance and customer-facing deployments. We expect to see clarity leading us to the next wave of adoption.
  
• Watch: SAMA’s next sandbox cohort. The more AI-driven players it approves, the more we understand Saudi Arabia’s risk appetite and supervisory priorities.
  
• Do: Map where AI touches your compliance stack. In the GCC, the winning fintechs will be the ones whose innovation and supervision move in alignment.

Further reading…

• DFSA AI Survey – DFSA, 2025
• SAMA Regulatory Sandbox Framework – Saudi Central Bank
• AI Applications in Web3 SupTech & RegTech – ADGM FSRA/ADGM Academy/NUS, 2025

We want your take

Where do you see the next AI-supervised breakthrough happening – risk, payments, lending, or somewhere we’re not even looking yet?

Open this newsletter on LinkedIn and share your perspective in the comments for a chance to be featured in a future edition of Xchange by Money20/20 Middle East.

Catch you next week,
The Money20/20 Middle East Team