Al Fardan Chief Says Agentic AI Banking Platform Is in Final Security Checks

The platform is completing security testing ahead of its launch, Al Fardan told a panel at the Dubai Family Wealth Summit, held on the fourth day of Dubai Future Finance Week. He did not give a name, launch date or say which regulator would oversee it, according to the agency's account of the session.

The remarks put one of the UAE's long-established family groups among the companies trying to move banking from apps that users operate themselves to software agents that complete tasks for them. Al Fardan linked the project to his own career in the technology industry, including work with global companies, which he said shaped his view of innovation and digital transformation. He also described his family's use of a trust structure designed to keep its businesses together and avoid fragmentation as responsibilities pass between generations.

On the same panel, titled "The Evolution of Family Businesses: Growth, Transformation and Competitiveness", Qatr Al Nada Bin Ghatti of Binghatti Holding said the property developer's institutional development had gone hand in hand with widening its funding sources and tapping global debt markets. Entering those markets required stronger governance, more transparency and more advanced corporate standards, she said, and the group has added independent board members.

Binghatti's portfolio is split into three segments: mainstream residential, luxury and ultra-luxury property, she said, adding that ultra-luxury units and branded residences make up only about 1% of the total number of units. The group aims to expand outside Dubai into other emirates before considering regional and international markets, with possible interest in the UK, she said. Family members joining the business must meet clear criteria on competence and merit, and ownership should be kept separate from executive management, she added.

Zayed Al Khayat, managing director of Al Khayat Investments, told the session that diversification is one of the main ways family companies limit the risk of depending on a single sector, and that decisions to enter new industries or countries should rest on detailed financial studies and an assessment of risk and expected returns. Expansion, he said, should not be a goal in itself.

No timetable was given for either Al Fardan's banking platform or Binghatti's move beyond Dubai.