The survey, conducted across 44 countries, also highlights the depth of the UAE’s digital engagement, with the country ranking first globally in government digital service usage at 53%. More than three-quarters (76%) of UAE respondents say their latest online government transaction delivered a better experience than their typical private-sector interaction, reinforcing the strength of the country’s digital government ecosystem.

This strong digital foundation is increasingly extending into AI adoption, where 82% of UAE respondents reported using AI weekly. High levels of usage are accompanied by relatively positive attitudes toward AI in government, with 53% of UAE respondents believing its benefits outweigh the risks, compared with 49% across the GCC and 36% globally. At the same time, greater exposure to AI is bringing a broader set of considerations into focus for citizens. While GCC citizens remain more optimistic about AI in government than their global peers, overall optimism has declined by 21% since 2024.

This evolution points toward a more hybrid model of service delivery. GCC citizens increasingly favor AI for simpler services while retaining human involvement for more complex interactions, which assures a shift that reflects greater awareness of both the opportunities and considerations associated with AI. At the same time, only around 4% of GCC respondents prefer human-only services with no AI support, compared with almost one in ten globally.

“The UAE’s strong digital government experience reflects years of investment in making public services more accessible, seamless, and responsive to citizens’ needs,” said Rami Mourtada, Partner & Director, Digital Transformation, BCG. “As AI becomes more embedded in public services, governments have an opportunity to build on this foundation with more AI-enabled experiences and process re-engineering to continue focusing on quality and convenience. This next phase will be about deploying AI where it creates clear value, while maintaining human expertise for more complex citizen needs.”

GCC Citizens Embrace the Next Generation of AI-Enabled Services

The BCG report also reveals strong appetite among GCC citizens for the next generation of AI-enabled government services. The region is the most AI-receptive globally, with 79% of citizens open to AI-centered government interactions, compared with 66% globally. Notably, three of the four most strongly supported AI applications in government are agentic use cases, signaling a healthy launchpad for governments to explore services that can move beyond providing information to supporting or completing actions on citizens’ behalf.

This openness is already evident across practical applications: 82% are comfortable with AI providing 24/7 access to information and services; 81% with AI supporting government customer-service agents; 79% with AI detecting fraud and automatically following up; and 78% with AI identifying services citizens qualify for and taking action on their behalf. [SM3] [GU4] Yet citizens are not calling for AI alone. Preference for “AI for simple services, people for complex ones” has risen nine percentage points to 50% over the past two years, reinforcing a hybrid model that combines AI-enabled speed and availability with human judgment for more complex or higher-stakes interactions.

This opportunity builds on a strong track record in digital government service quality. In 2026, the GCC remained the only surveyed region where a majority of citizens rated government digital services above those of the private sector, at 72%. However, private-sector experiences are gaining ground: the net share of GCC respondents rating government services above private-sector services declined from 75% in 2024 to 69% in 2026. The shift creates both a learning opportunity and an impetus for governments to continue innovating as citizen expectations evolve.

As governments move toward more advanced AI-enabled services, citizen AI literacy will be equally important. GCC respondents with expert-level AI proficiency are around four times more likely than those without AI experience to believe that the benefits of AI in government outweigh the risks.  At the same time, greater familiarity with AI is sharpening citizens’ expectations around how it is deployed. Job loss (33%) and accuracy (28%) now rank as the leading concerns, underscoring the importance of pairing AI literacy with safeguards that are visible and relevant to citizens.

“The GCC has a strong opportunity to translate its digital leadership into the next generation of AI-enabled government services,” said Dr. Lars Littig, Managing Director & Senior Partner, BCG. “As citizens become more familiar with AI, building literacy and trust will be critical to sustained adoption. The opportunity is to move forward with AI in ways that reflect how citizens want to engage, expanding automation and agentic capabilities where they create value, while retaining human judgment and embedding responsible safeguards where they matter most.”

Six Priorities for the Next Generation of Digital Government

To build on the region’s digital progress and maximize the potential of AI in government services, BCG’s report outlines six priorities for GCC governments:

1. Rethink core services with AI, redesigning them end to end rather than layering AI onto existing processes.
2. Learn from private-sector innovation as digital experiences improve and citizen expectations evolve.
3. Embed responsible AI through governance, testing, and safeguards that strengthen citizen trust.
4. Build the hybrid model citizens want, using AI for simpler interactions while retaining human expertise for complex or high-stakes needs.
5. Expand agentic AI services beyond information toward services that can support complete journeys and act on citizens’ behalf.
6. Advance AI literacy to build citizen understanding, confidence, and informed adoption.

Together, these priorities can help GCC governments build on a decade of digital progress and translate citizens’ openness to AI into the next generation of public services. By combining strong digital foundations with responsible AI adoption and continued access to human expertise, the region is well positioned to deliver services that are more proactive, personalized, and responsive to citizens’ evolving needs — while sustaining the trust that will be critical to long-term adoption

To access the full BCG Digital Government Citizen Survey2026, visit the link here.

How is the shift towards cloud-native core banking changing the way financial institutions in the GCC approach technology modernisation?

The biggest change is that banks are moving away from the idea that modernisation has to mean replacing everything at once.

In the GCC, we’re seeing more interest in a progressive approach, introducing new products, capabilities or customer journeys while continuing to use existing systems where they still make sense. Cloud-native and composable architecture makes that much more practical.

Unlike systems that are simply moved from on-premises infrastructure into the cloud, cloud-native architectures are designed so that capabilities can be deployed, updated and scaled more independently. This allows institutions to upgrade selected areas without having to tie every change to a large transformation programme.

GCC institutions also have to consider regulatory requirements, data governance and local market needs. It is not simply about moving systems to the cloud. Banks need to decide where data and capabilities should sit, how they are governed and how the overall environment remains resilient.

What are some of the key technology limitations of legacy core banking systems that GCC banks are looking to overcome today?

There are a few challenges that come up quite consistently.

The first is speed. Many legacy platforms were designed around batch processing, so getting a current view of the customer or making decisions in real time can be difficult.

The second is fragmented data. Customer information and banking capabilities can sit across different systems for deposits, lending, payments, cards and other services. That creates complexity and makes it harder to deliver a consistent customer experience.

The third is product agility. With heavily customised and hard-coded systems, launching a new product or changing an existing one can take months.

And finally, there is integration. When every new fintech, payment provider or ecosystem partner requires another point-to-point integration, the technology environment becomes harder to manage.

For GCC institutions, the challenge is not simply to replace an old system. It is to reduce dependencies and create a more flexible foundation that makes integration, localisation and regulatory change much easier to manage.

Fimple takes an API-first approach to core banking. How does this architecture help financial institutions integrate emerging technologies and third-party services more efficiently?

In an API-first architecture, integration is part of the platform from day one rather than something added afterwards.

At Fimple, core banking capabilities such as accounts and deposits, lending, payments and limits can be accessed through APIs. That makes it much easier for financial institutions to connect channels, fintech partners, wallets, payment providers and other services.

These services are designed to be accessible and reusable. Instead of building a completely different integration every time a new partner comes in, institutions can use the same underlying architecture and governance model.

This approach is particularly relevant in the GCC because every market has its own ecosystem and local requirements. Banks need the flexibility to connect to local payment infrastructures, regulatory services and fintechs without rebuilding their core every time.

As banks increasingly adopt AI and automation, what role does a modern core banking platform play in enabling these technologies at scale?

AI is moving from something that sits around the bank to becoming part of how it operates.

Today, many institutions already use AI for functions like customer assistants, fraud detection, document processing or analytics. However, scaling AI requires a strong foundation underneath it.

AI needs access to accurate and timely data, clearly defined business rules and secure ways to interact with banking capabilities, with the right controls and human oversight.

At Fimple, we see the next step as agentic AI interacting with banking capabilities through secure APIs and controlled workflows. An AI agent could, for example, support an onboarding process, assist with servicing, or work within a lending or payment process while the bank still controls what the agent is allowed to do.

The goal is not simply to make a core banking platform AI-enabled. The real opportunity is to build a platform that is AI-ready by design.

How important is interoperability in the GCC financial ecosystem, particularly as banks, fintechs and digital financial platforms become increasingly connected?

Banks, fintechs, wallets, payment providers and digital platforms across the GCC are becoming more connected, and customers expect their experiences to work together.

For financial institutions, that means the ability to work securely with partners is becoming a business capability, not just an IT requirement.

There is also an important GCC dimension here. The GCC may be viewed as one market from a broader economic perspective, but each country has its own regulatory environment, payment infrastructure and requirements. Institutions need a common foundation that can still accommodate those differences.

This is where composable, API-led architecture can help. Institutions can connect capabilities, launch new propositions and adapt to local requirements without redesigning the entire banking platform each time.

Ultimately, interoperability gives financial institutions the flexibility to participate in the wider ecosystem rather than trying to build everything themselves.

The global minimum tax, known internationally as Pillar Two, was agreed by more than 140 countries and jurisdictions through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It requires the largest international groups to pay at least 15% tax on profits earned in every country where they operate, with any shortfall, known as a top-up tax, becoming payable. The UAE adopted it through Cabinet Decision No. 142 of 2024, effective for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2025, and collects the shortfall on UAE profits locally rather than ceding it abroad.

The rules apply only to groups with worldwide revenue of at least EUR 750 million, approximately USD 860 million, in two of the previous four years. Many UAE businesses have concluded this places them safely outside. Dhruva identifies four points at which a transaction changes that assessment.

The first is scale. When two groups combine, their revenues are assessed together. A buyer with EUR 500 million of revenue acquiring a business with EUR 300 million enters the regime on completion, though neither neared the threshold alone.

“The threshold test is where most boards are caught out,” said Nimish Goel, Leader, Middle East Dhruva, A Ryan LLC Affiliate. “Two mid-sized businesses, each outside the regime, combine and find themselves inside it from day one. This is routinely delegated to the finance function when it belongs with those setting the price. Established at screening stage, the analysis costs little. Discovered after signing, it is hard to reverse.”

The second is timing. The tax is calculated annually on a country-wide basis and does not divide when ownership transfers, so a business being sold stays within the seller’s figures until legal completion, whenever the buyer assumes commercial risk. Completing on the first day of a financial year removes the problem.

The third is visibility. A group’s UAE companies are assessed together rather than individually, so a target cannot be evaluated in isolation.

“A business has no tax position of its own while it remains inside a seller’s group,” said Bhakti Thakker, Partner, Mergers and Acquisitions and International Tax at Dhruva, A Ryan LLC Affiliate. “The rate is an average across every company the seller holds in that country, so the buyer is pricing something it cannot fully see. Companies in the same country may also be required to settle one another’s liability, which a warranty does not address. The contract needs a defined section on who prepares the calculation, who bears the cost, and how it settles once figures are final.”

The fourth is the acquisition premium. Where a buyer pays more than the accounting value of a business, part of that cost is ordinarily written off over time, reducing taxable profit. The global minimum tax rules largely disregard those write-offs, leaving taxable profit higher than expected.

Two further developments narrow the margin. The allowance groups receive for genuine operations in a country, based on employment costs and physical assets, reduces annually by design, from 9.6% and 7.6% respectively in 2025 to 9.4% and 7.4% in 2026, and 5% each by 2033. A transitional simplification sparing some groups the full calculation ends for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027.

Ownership structure is decisive for sovereign wealth funds and private equity investors. Government bodies fall outside the rules, but that status does not extend to the companies they hold, and where investments sit beneath a holding company that is not a government body, the whole group is in scope.

Dhruva recommends four steps ahead of any transaction. Buyers should test the combined revenue threshold when a target is first identified, not during contract negotiation, and model the tax as a cash cost in financial projections, allowing for the reducing allowance. Sellers should prepare tax records for inspection in advance, since a position that cannot be evidenced invites a price reduction. Both should review insurance cover, which frequently excludes a risk already identified during due diligence. “Businesses that address this early are negotiating from a position of information. Those that do not are negotiating on assumption,” concluded Bhakti.

The partnership was formalized during a signing ceremony attended by senior leaders from Al Masraf, Sukoon Insurance and Sukoon Takaful, marking an important milestone in the Bank’s efforts to strengthen its offerings and provide customers with more comprehensive financial solutions through trusted partners.

Under the strategic partnership, Sukoon Insurance and Sukoon Takaful will join hands with Al Masraf, enabling the Bank to offer customers access to a range of insurance and takaful solutions designed to meet the evolving protection needs of individuals and businesses.

The collaboration brings together Al Masraf’s established banking platform and customer relationships with Sukoon’s extensive insurance expertise and distribution capabilities. It reflects a shared commitment to delivering greater choice, convenience and value to customers while supporting their broader financial wellbeing.

Fuad Mohamed, Chief Executive Officer of Al Masraf, said: “Our partnership with Sukoon Insurance and Sukoon Takaful reflects our commitment to building an ecosystem of trusted partners that enables us to offer our customers more complete financial solutions.” 

He continued: “Insurance and protection are an important part of long-term financial wellbeing, and through this collaboration, we are bringing together the strengths of leading organizations to provide greater choice and convenience to our customers. We look forward to building a strong and successful partnership with Sukoon as we continue to enhance the overall customer experience at Al Masraf.”

Ahmad Yousuf, Chief Retail Banking Officer of Al Masraf, said: “This partnership is an important step in bringing greater choice and convenience to our customers by making relevant insurance and takaful solutions more accessible through their strategic relationship.”

He added: “Sukoon’s strong market expertise and customer-focused approach make them a valuable partner for Al Masraf, and we look forward to working closely together to deliver solutions that are simple, relevant, and aligned with our customers’ needs.”

With operations spanning all Emirates in the UAE and Oman, Sukoon Insurance is among the UAE’s leading insurance providers. Sukoon serves businesses and individuals through a broad distribution network comprising branches, brokers, agencies, e-commerce platforms and a dedicated call centre.

Sukoon Takaful PJSC is one of the UAE’s leading takaful providers. The company provides general and family takaful solutions designed to meet the protection needs of individuals and businesses, supported by a strong capital base and disciplined approach to risk.

Commenting on the partnership, Hammad Khan, Interim CEO and Chief Financial Officer at Sukoon Insurance, said, “We are pleased to partner with Al Masraf as this collaboration reflects our shared commitment to help customers access protection solutions through convenient and trusted channels. By combining Al Masraf’s strong customer relationships and banking expertise with Sukoon’s insurance capabilities, we aim to deliver greater value, broader choice and an enhanced customer experience for individuals and businesses across the UAE.”

He added, “Alongside Sukoon Insurance’s product offering, our subsidiary Sukoon Takaful will provide Shariah-compliant takaful solutions to Al Masraf customers, enabling us to deliver a comprehensive suite of protection solutions tailored to different customer preferences and needs.”

Ahmed Abushanab, Chief Executive Officer of Sukoon Takaful, said, “Partnering with Al Masraf is an important opportunity to bring accessible Sharia-compliant Takaful solutions to more customers. As Al Masraf marks 50 years of serving its customers, we are pleased to join them during this significant milestone as we build a partnership focused on providing relevant protection solutions that support customers’ financial needs and offer greater peace of mind.”

The signing ceremony brought together senior representatives from both organizations. Representing Sukoon were Hammad Khan, CFO & Interim CEO, Sukoon Insurance; Ahmed Abushanab, CEO, Sukoon Takaful; Aditya Kulkarni, Executive Vice President, Head of Distribution UAE; Ashish Kumar Singh, Head of Bancassurance and Affinity; Dexter Fernandes, Head of Bancassurance Distribution and Partnership; and Mostafa Adel, Head of Bancassurance Distribution and Partnership.

Representing Al Masraf was Fuad Mohamed, Chief Executive Officer; Ahmad Yousuf, Chief Retail Banking Officer, Shaimaa Higazy, Products Unit Head; and Rojeh Ghassan, AVP Products unit. The strategic partnership reinforces Al Masraf’s focus on expanding its financial services ecosystem and developing partnerships that support customers across their broader financial journeys. 

Through the collaboration with Sukoon Insurance and Sukoon Takaful, Al Masraf will continue to explore opportunities to enhance its customer offering and deliver relevant insurance and takaful solutions to its customers.

-END-

About Al Masraf

Founded in 1976, under Federal Decree No. 50, signed by His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Al Masraf (Arab Bank for Investment & Foreign Trade) is a trusted UAE financial institution with a distinguished legacy of supporting trade, investment and economic development. Built on long-standing relationships, deep market expertise and a commitment to personalized service, the Bank serves corporations, businesses, individuals and families through tailored financial solutions designed to meet their evolving needs.

Guided by its promise of “Empowering Future Legacies,” Al Masraf is advancing a new phase of growth focused on deepening client relationships, enhancing banking experiences and delivering future-ready financial solutions. As a progressive, connected and trusted financial partner, the Bank combines proven expertise with responsible innovation to create lasting value for clients, support sustainable prosperity and contribute to the UAE’s long-term economic ambitions.

The Bank delivers integrated banking solutions through its Wholesale Banking and Retail Banking franchises, combining sector expertise, relationship-led Corporate and Financial Institutions coverage, transaction banking, financing, capital solutions and risk management capabilities to support clients’ growth ambitions and contribute to the UAE’s economic development.

For more information, visit www.almasraf.ae.

About Sukoon Insurance

Established in 1975, Sukoon Insurance PJSC (“Sukoon”) – a public stock company – is among the leading insurance providers in the UAE. Sukoon provides a range of comprehensive insurance solutions for motor, life, health, and general (property, energy, engineering, aviation, marine, and liability) needs to its 1.6 million insured members. Sukoon’s operations span across Oman and all Emirates in the UAE.

Sukoon is committed to providing outstanding insurance solutions which help create and protect wealth and wellbeing. The Dubai-based company stays true to its vision by serving businesses and individuals with a team of over 700 professionals through an intensive distribution network of branches, brokers, bancassurance partners, agencies, e-commerce platforms, and a dedicated call centre.

In 2025, Sukoon registered gross written premiums (GWP) of AED 7 billion. With a solvency ratio of 275 percent and exemplary ratings from Standard and Poor’s (A rated) and Moody’s (A2 rated), it clearly demonstrates its financial soundness, robustness in risk management processes, effective governance, and ability to serve its clients effectively in the long run.

At its core, the Company is customer-centric, with a keen devotion towards providing exceptional services. Its priority has always been to build long-term relationships with its clients with their delight as its non-negotiable objective.

Put simply, Sukoon wants to continue reinforcing its position as a reference for other insurers in the region for exemplary customer service.

Most people hear the word “debt” and think of stress, bankruptcy and sleepless nights. It is the villain of personal-finance books and the scapegoat of every economic crisis. But after years of building ventures and, at Revona, structuring financing for developers and corporates every day, I have come to see debt very differently.

Debt is not merely a burden to be minimised. It is one of the most elegant, powerful and, yes, contradictory ideas humanity has ever invented.

That distinction matters especially now. Higher rates have made the cost of debt more visible, while a wall of maturities is turning yesterday’s cheap money into tomorrow’s refinancing decision. The response should not be to romanticise leverage. It should be to become more exacting about the work debt is asked to do.

Debt Is Older Than Money Itself

Long before coins and banknotes, communities ran on credit: promises recorded on clay tablets and in shared memory. Debt is, at its core, a technology for moving value through time. It lets tomorrow’s income fund today’s ambition. When a developer borrows to build a tower, or a founder raises venture debt to extend runway, they are pulling the future forward. That is not recklessness; it is one mechanism through which economies compound.

But the debt debate often starts in the wrong place. There is no magic ratio at which prudent borrowing becomes recklessness. A debt ratio is a snapshot; the real story is what the money is financing, whether cash flow can carry it and whether the borrower has time to adapt when conditions change. That is why the quality of the investment, the maturity profile and the resilience of the balance sheet matter more than the headline number alone.

In the architecture of the modern economy, debt does something even more subtle. It reduces the cost of financial oversight, helps create money through the banking system and smooths the path of economic growth. Every mortgage, every credit facility and every bond issue is a small act of coordinated trust between strangers. Trust, priced and packaged, is what capital markets actually trade.

The Debt That Never Dies

The numbers tell a more precise story than the usual rhetoric. Global debt reached a record nearly $353 trillion by the end of March 2026, according to the Institute of International Finance. That figure covers public, corporate and household debt. At the same time, the global debt-to-GDP ratio stood at about 305%, broadly stable since 2023. A record stock of debt, in other words, does not by itself tell us whether borrowers can carry it; the relationship between liabilities, income, assets and refinancing capacity does.

Nor should a stable global aggregate be mistaken for an all-clear. The IIF reported that debt in mature markets edged lower in the first quarter, while debt in emerging markets excluding China rose to a record $36.8 trillion. Debt is never one homogeneous thing. Its burden depends on who owes it, in what currency, at what rate, for how long, and against which cash flows.

The immediate market test is refinancing. The OECD expects governments and companies to borrow $29 trillion from bond markets in 2026 — 17% more than in 2024 and roughly double the amount ten years ago. Much of that activity is not fresh expansion; it is the constant work of renewing obligations. The OECD estimates that 78% of OECD government borrowing in 2026 will refinance existing debt. That is why the calendar can matter as much as the headline debt total.

The U.S. Lesson: Borrowing Can Stabilise Growth

The United States makes the point in unusually stark terms. The Office of Management and Budget’s fiscal-year-end measure of federal debt held by the public — the debt outside federal government accounts — rose from 25.2% of GDP in FY1981 to 99.5% in FY2025.

That is a profound change, but it was not a straight line and it cannot be explained by one White House. The ratio fell from 46.8% in FY1992 to 33.7% in FY2000, then rose through the financial crisis and jumped during the pandemic. The chart shows presidential terms as chronology, not as a scorecard: a fiscal year spans two calendar years, and debt reflects Congress, inherited commitments, recessions, interest costs and emergencies as well as executive choices.

Figure 1. U.S. federal debt held by the public as a share of fiscal-year GDP. Source: Office of Management and Budget, Historical Tables, Table 7.1 (FY2027 release). Debt is measured at fiscal-year end. Administration bands identify the president in office on that date; they do not attribute causation.

The more useful lesson is not that a larger debt stock automatically produces prosperity. It is that, when private demand collapses, borrowing can prevent a deeper contraction. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the major pandemic laws enacted in 2020 increased real GDP by 4.7% in 2020 and 3.1% in 2021, relative to an implied no-legislation baseline.

That is a concrete example of debt financing acting as a bridge: preserving household income, business liquidity and state and local services at a moment when the alternative was a sharper fall in economic activity.

But bridges must lead somewhere. CBO also projected that the additional debt would raise borrowing costs and reduce output and national income over the longer term. The point is not to celebrate the size of the U.S. debt pile. It is to recognise that borrowing can be a positive driver of growth when it is targeted at a productive investment or a defined emergency — and that its value erodes when cash flows, repayment capacity and the economic return are treated as afterthoughts.

The Beautiful Contradiction

Debt is a paradox, and that is precisely what makes it beautiful. It is simultaneously:

The same instrument that funds a hospital can sink a household. The same leverage that lets a developer sell units before completion can, if mispriced, freeze an entire market. Debt does not care about intentions; it amplifies what is already there. Good projects can become great. Weak projects can fail faster. That amplification is the whole point.

The Revona Angle: Debt as Craft, Not Gamble

This is exactly where Revona operates, and why I find this space so compelling as a builder. If debt is a powerful but indifferent amplifier, the real value lies not in whether a client borrows, but in how the debt is engineered: the rate, the loan-to-value, the tenor, the covenants and the match between an asset’s cash flows and the facility that finances it.

Those are not cosmetic details. A lower headline rate can be a poor bargain if it comes with a refinancing date that arrives before the asset can reliably generate cash. A high loan-to-value ratio may look efficient until a change in valuations removes the borrower’s room for error. A fixed rate can buy time, but it does not eliminate the economics of refinancing.

That final distinction is becoming more important. The Federal Reserve reported in 2025 that long-term, fixed-rate liabilities had softened the initial pass-through of higher rates for large public companies. Yet about 15% of investment-grade bonds and 27% of high-yield bonds were due to mature within one to three years. The protection was real; it was also time-limited.

The OECD has similarly warned that, as higher long-term rates lead borrowers to issue at shorter maturities, near-term interest costs may fall while near-term refinancing risk rises.

At Revona, we treat financing as a craft. We map a client’s full balance sheet, identify untapped equity and structural inefficiencies, and match their profile against the lending criteria of more than sixty banks and institutions to find the optimal structure, not simply the fastest “yes.”

For developers, well-structured off-plan financing can mean buyers are pre-approved during construction, sales accelerate and project cash flow improves. Debt, structured properly, stops being merely a cost of doing business and becomes a competitive advantage.

The failures we associate with debt — the crashes, defaults and horror stories — are more often failures of structure and underwriting than evidence that debt is inherently flawed. They arise when there is too much leverage against too little cash flow; when short-term money funds long-term assets; when currency, revenue and debt-service obligations do not match; or when no one has stress-tested the downside.

The instrument gets blamed for the craftsmanship.

The Takeaway

Debt is usually framed as financial pressure and bankruptcy risk, but its role in the modern economy runs far deeper. It is a centuries-old technology for turning trust into growth, a nearly $353 trillion river of contractual claims, and a mirror that reflects the discipline — or indiscipline — of whoever wields it.

The world’s most sophisticated companies and governments do not avoid debt. They engineer it. As builders and investors, that should be our posture too: respect the contradiction, master the structure and let leverage do what it was invented to do — move the future forward.

AJ is a venture builder. Revona is a financing partner and portfolio manager providing institutional-grade credit and debt financing solutions for developers and corporates.

PATRIZIA, a global investment manager in real assets, has announced the appointment Hassan Awada as Senior Executive Officer (SEO), MENA. Based in ADGM, the international financial centre of the UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi, Awada will lead the continued growth of PATRIZIA’s business across the MENA region, with a focus on deepening relationships with institutional investors and strategic partners and providing access to PATRIZIA’s international real assets investment platform.

Awada brings over 20 years of experience advising institutional investors across the full investment lifecycle, including origination, structuring, execution and asset management. Prior to joining PATRIZIA, he held senior roles at Kroll, Cornerstone Capital, Gleacher Shacklock, PwC and EY.

Konrad Finkenzeller, Head of Client Division at PATRIZIA, commented: “The Middle East is a key strategic region for PATRIZIA, and we continue to see strong demand from investors for direct exposure to high-quality real estate and infrastructure opportunities globally. Hassan’s appointment strengthens our presence on the ground and enhances our ability to deepen relationships with regional investors and connect them with PATRIZIA’s global investment platform.”

Hassan Awada, SEO MENA at PATRIZIA, added: “Real assets have long underpinned Middle Eastern economies and will continue to play a central role in the region’s growth. Meeting increasingly sophisticated investor needs requires tailored, strategic solutions. With its global platform and 42-year track record, PATRIZIA is well positioned to deliver. Our focus will be on building long-term partnerships with investors across the region and supporting their access to PATRIZIA’s global investment capabilities, aligned with their strategic priorities and long-term objectives.”

Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief Market Development Officer, ADGM, said: “This appointment reflects the firm’s strong growth trajectory in the Middle East and its commitment to expanding from Abu Dhabi. It also underscores ADGM’s role as a leading international financial centre, enabling firms to establish and scale their regional presence from the capital.”

With EUR 17.5 billion in Living assets under management, PATRIZIA is one of Europe’s largest residential investment managers and continues to grow its platform across major urban markets. The firm is currently delivering new housing across a number of European markets, including Germany, UK & Ireland, Spain and Belgium, reflecting the scale of its European platform. Alongside Living, PATRIZIA is expanding its infrastructure platform across energy, digital and smart city assets, supporting the transition to low-carbon and connected economies while delivering long-term, resilient returns for investors.

Fimple established its Dubai presence in October 2025 and has grown from zero to five GCC customers in 12 months. The region now accounts for close to a fifth of its global customer base of more than 35 financial institutions across 10 countries, making it the company’s fastest-growing region.

The company has also opened an office in Riyadh and plans to expand its customer and delivery presence across the GCC, serving institutions with teams based within the region.

Fimple’s regional growth comes as the UAE continues to advance its ambitions across Islamic finance and financial technology. Under the UAE Strategy for Islamic Finance and Halal Industry, the country aims to increase local Islamic bank assets from AED 986 billion to AED 2.56 trillion by 2031. (Source: UAECabinet.ae)

Dubai is also advancing its ambitions in AI-enabled financial services, with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) announcing plans in 2026 to become the world’s first AI-native financial centre. (Source: Dubai Media Office/DIFC)

“The UAE is an important market for Fimple because financial institutions here are moving quickly on both Islamic finance and new technology,” said Amr Kandel, GCC Country Manager and Product Director at Fimple. “Banks want to launch products faster, respond to local market needs and modernise without having to change everything at once. The growth we’ve seen in our first year shows there is real appetite for that.”

Islamic finance is a key driver of Fimple’s growth in the GCC. The platform enables financial institutions to run conventional and Islamic finance within the same system, with a range of Sharia-compliant financing and investment structures built into its product engine.

Fimple’s regional customers include Mawarid Finance, a UAE Islamic finance provider that entered into a strategic agreement with Fimple in June 2026.

As banks look to move AI from pilot projects into wider use, Fimple says the underlying core banking infrastructure is becoming increasingly important.

“Banks are already experimenting with AI, but the systems underneath need to be ready for it,” Kandel said. “If the core can’t provide the right data or connect easily with new technology, AI can get stuck at the pilot stage. That’s why the core matters.”

Fimple has built three banking AI agents covering independent audit report processing, customer intelligence from official notices and risk screening across official sources. The agents operate on the Fimple platform with human approval required for each action and full traceability. Further agents are planned as part of the company’s 2026–2027 roadmap.

According to Fimple, it implements a full working core in three to six months on average. Its composable architecture also enables financial institutions to connect selected modules to existing systems rather than replacing their entire core infrastructure at once.

“The GCC has become our fastest-growing region in just one year, and we expect to double our customer base here,” said Mücahit Gündebahar, CEO and Co-founder of Fimple. “We are growing our team and presence in the region so we can support customers locally as we expand across the GCC.”

Fimple will participate as a Gold Sponsor of Seamless Middle East 2026, taking place from Sept. 22–24 at Dubai World Trade Centre. The company will exhibit at stand G64, with Kandel delivering the session “Beyond the AI Hype: Why the Future of Banking Depends on an AI-Ready Core” on Sept. 23 at Stage 1, Fintech Forum.

Al Masraf has signed a strategic agreement with Moody’s, a global provider of financial intelligence and risk assessment, marking an important step in strengthening the Bank’s risk management and credit capabilities through enhanced data, insights and technology.

The agreement was formalized during a signing ceremony held in Abu Dhabi, bringing together senior leadership from Al Masraf and Moody’s. The collaboration reflects both organizations’ commitment to leveraging advanced intelligence and risk expertise to support informed, data-driven decision-making in an increasingly complex financial environment.

As risks become increasingly interconnected and the financial landscape continues to evolve, access to timely, reliable and actionable intelligence is becoming essential for financial institutions. Through its combination of data, intelligence, risk expertise and technology, Moody’s helps organizations better understand interconnected risks.

The partnership will further support Al Masraf’s continued focus on strengthening its risk management framework, enhancing credit decision-making and building resilient, forward-looking capabilities that support sustainable growth.

Commenting on the occasion, Fuad Mohamed, CEO of Al Masraf, said: “At Al Masraf, we believe that sustainable growth is built on the strength of our ability to understand risk, anticipate change and make informed decisions. Our collaboration with Moody’s represents an important step in advancing our risk and credit capabilities through deeper intelligence, data and technology.”

He continued: “As the financial landscape continues to evolve, partnerships of this nature enable us to strengthen our resilience, enhance decision-making and create greater value for our customers and stakeholders. We look forward to building on this collaboration as we continue to shape a more agile, intelligent and future-ready Al Masraf.”

“We are delighted to partner with Al Masraf on an important step in modernizing its corporate lending operations. By bringing greater automation, efficiency, and insight to the credit journey, Moody’s is helping the bank build a future-ready operating model that enables faster, better-informed lending decisions, strengthens governance, and enhances risk management.” said Wael Jadallah, Managing Director, Head of Asia Pacific and Middle East at Moody’s.

Senior representatives from both organizations attended the signing ceremony.

Representing Al Masraf were Fuad Mohamed, Chief Executive Officer; Moataz Khalil, Chief Wholesale Banking Officer; Safeya Almarzooqi, Chief Credit Officer; Mirel Baila, Acting Chief Operating Officer; Rohit Kumar, Chief Risk Officer; and senior representatives from the Bank’s Wholesale Banking, Credit, Risk, Information Technology, Islamic Banking, Corporate Banking, Project Management and Business Management functions.

Representing Moody’s were Wael Jadallah, Managing Director, Head of Asia Pacific and Middle East; Brendan Gavaghan, Senior Director, Middle East; Raghavendra Katagade, Director, UAE; Blaine Connan, Director, UAE; Ali Abdullah, Director, UAE; and Anand Thirunellai Radhakrishnan, Senior Director, Middle East & Europe.

The agreement underscores Al Masraf’s commitment to continuous innovation and adopting advanced capabilities that strengthen its ability to navigate an evolving risk environment, while supporting the Bank’s broader ambition to deliver sustainable growth and enhanced value to its customers and stakeholders.

With the dirham pegged to the US dollar and UAE investors exposed to global markets, decisions made by the Federal Reserve and the US government can influence local borrowing costs, liquidity, and investment
sentiment. Michael Smirnow, Chief Investment Officer, Arabian Capital Gulf
After the global financial crisis, U.S. authorities tried to stimulate the economy primarily through monetary measures: the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to zero and launched quantitative easing (QE) for the first time, purchasing assets to provide market participants with liquidity. As a result, the Fed’s balance sheet grew to USD 8 trillion by 2021. However, between 2008 and 2020, the U.S. economy did
not experience rapid growth, and inflation regularly remained below the target level. Everything changed in 2020, when the government entered the stimulus fray for the first time in many years. While the Fed’s accommodative monetary policy primarily helped large banks and market participants, at the onset of
the pandemic the U.S. government began distributing money to households and increasing budget expenditure across nearly all areas. Compared with monetary measures, these fiscal stimulus measures proved to be a significantly more powerful tool for stimulating the economy; however, they increased
government debt by the aforementioned 61%. Against this backdrop, we expect the next few years to be shaped primarily by fiscal stimulus, with
government action, rather than the Federal Reserve, becoming the key factor for investors. Indeed, while the private sector ran large deficits before 2008, the deficit now lies with the government, while private-sector indebtedness is declining. In the years following the pandemic, the largest government deficits coincided with the strongest growth in financial markets. This is unsurprising, since a public-sector deficit becomes private-sector income. This dynamic enabled the U.S. economy to remain resilient in 2023-2024 despite the Fed’s record pace of interest-rate increases. Whichever U.S. political party is in power will continue along this path;

Trump is also doing the same through legislation known as the “Big Beautiful Bill.” As long as inflation in the United States remains under control, this race will continue.
The current balance between monetary and fiscal stimulus vividly illustrates this argument. On the one hand, the U.S. Federal Reserve is adopting an increasingly neutral stance and is clearly in no hurry to cut interest rates or introduce new stimulus programmes. On the other hand, the Treasury is entering the fray: as yields on long-term U.S. bonds confidently exceed 5%, the Treasury has launched a program to buy back its long-term debt. In effect, this gives the bond market the same kind of stimulus the Fed previously delivered.

Thus, the balance of power is changing, but the direction remains the same: the United States still needs accommodative monetary conditions. If these are not achieved through monetary measures, they will be achieved through fiscal ones.
(Arabian Gulf Capital (AGC) holds a Category-1 Investment Firm license issued by the Central Bank of Bahrain and provides tailored investment solutions to individual, corporate, and institutional clients.)

As GCC businesses expand into new markets and increasingly complex supply chains, traditional credit assessment is giving way to a more predictive approach. In this interview with Mohamad Jomaa, CEO and Country Manager for GCC and Egypt at Coface, we explore how real-time data, AI and early-warning intelligence are helping CFOs anticipate payment risk, protect working capital and make more confident decisions across customers, suppliers and markets.

What is driving the shift from relationship-based credit decisions to predictive credit intelligence among CFOs in the GCC?

Relationships remain fundamental to business in the GCC and will continue to be. What has changed is the speed at which companies are expanding into new sectors, markets, and supply chains. As organizations grow beyond their traditional networks, finance leaders need additional tools to assess customers, suppliers, and partners they may not know well.

Today’s CFOs are increasingly complementing business relationships with data-driven insights. They need greater visibility not only into credit risk, but also into supply chain dependencies, corporate ownership structures, payment behavior, and potential vulnerabilities across their ecosystem.

Predictive intelligence provides that forward-looking perspective. It helps businesses make faster and more informed decisions, strengthen due diligence processes, identify opportunities, and anticipate risks before they impact cash flow, operations, or growth plans.

What trends are you currently seeing in payment delays and corporate defaults across the UAE and Saudi Arabia?

The overall economic outlook in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia remains positive, supported by ambitious investment programs and continued economic diversification. At the same time, businesses continue to face uneven market conditions across sectors.

Drawing on Coface’s unique experience as a global trade credit insurer, we monitor payment behavior, claims activity, and credit events across millions of companies worldwide. What we are seeing today is not necessarily a significant increase in corporate failures, but rather signs of pressure on working capital in specific industries.

Payment delays have become more common in sectors exposed to longer project cycles, margin pressure, or supply chain disruptions. For finance leaders, the challenge is distinguishing between temporary liquidity constraints and deteriorating credit quality. This is where access to real-time payment data and early warning indicators becomes particularly valuable.

How can better credit intelligence improve cash flow, working capital, and overall financial resilience?

Better intelligence enables businesses to make more informed decisions across the entire customer and supplier lifecycle. By combining financial information, payment behavior, sector analysis, ownership data, Country Risk Assessments, Sector Risk Assessments, and ongoing monitoring, organizations gain a much clearer view of both risk and opportunity.

This has a direct impact on cash flow and working capital. Businesses can identify signs of financial stress earlier, reduce exposure to overdue accounts, prioritize collections efforts, and allocate credit more effectively. Access to real-time information and early warning indicators allows companies to act before issues translate into cash flow challenges.

Increasingly, however, financial resilience is not only about customer risk. It is also about understanding vulnerabilities across the supply chain. A disruption involving a key supplier, contractor, or logistics partner can have a significant impact on operations, costs, and liquidity. Better intelligence provides greater visibility into these critical dependencies, helping organizations identify concentration risks, assess the financial health of strategic partners, and strengthen business continuity planning.

As companies expand into new markets and engage with new customers, suppliers, and partners, they need confidence in who they are doing business with. Access to reliable data on ownership structures, financial health, payment behavior, sector outlooks, and country risk helps organizations make better-informed decisions and reduce uncertainty when entering new commercial relationships.

. What warning signs should finance leaders monitor before extending credit to new customers or entering unfamiliar markets?

Financial statements remain important, but they only tell part of the story. Finance leaders should also evaluate payment behavior, ownership structures, management stability, sector outlooks, supplier concentration, and exposure to geopolitical or regulatory risks.

One of the most valuable early warning indicators is a deterioration in payment behavior. In many cases, companies begin showing signs of financial stress long before it becomes visible in published financial statements.

Similarly, supply chain concentration risks should not be overlooked. A business may appear financially sound while remaining highly dependent on a small number of customers, suppliers, or projects. Understanding these dependencies is an increasingly important component of due diligence.

Effective credit decisions require a broader assessment of the business ecosystem rather than focusing solely on traditional financial metrics.

This is why a combination of company information, payment behavior, Country Risk Assessments, Sector Risk Assessments, and supply chain intelligence is increasingly becoming an essential part of the decision-making process.

How are AI and predictive analytics changing the way organizations assess credit risk and make financing decisions?

Financial statements remain important, but they only tell part of the story. Finance leaders should also evaluate payment behavior, ownership structures, management stability, sector outlooks, supplier concentration, and exposure to geopolitical or regulatory risks.

One of the most valuable early warning indicators is a deterioration in payment behavior. In many cases, companies begin showing signs of financial stress long before it becomes visible in published financial statements.

Similarly, supply chain concentration risks should not be overlooked. A business may appear financially sound while remaining highly dependent on a small number of customers, suppliers, or projects. Understanding these dependencies is an increasingly important component of due diligence.

Effective credit decisions require a broader assessment of the business ecosystem rather than focusing solely on traditional financial metrics.

This is why a combination of company information, payment behavior, Country Risk Assessments, Sector Risk Assessments, and supply chain intelligence is increasingly becoming an essential part of the decision-making process.

What sectors in the GCC are showing the strongest opportunities, and where are the highest risks based on your data?

Our outlook combines insights from Coface’s payment experience data, claims observations, Country Risk Assessments and Sector Risk Assessments. Together, these provide a comprehensive view of the opportunities and vulnerabilities shaping the business environment across the GCC.

We continue to see attractive opportunities in sectors supported by economic diversification strategies, digital transformation, infrastructure investment, logistics development and the energy transition. These areas are benefiting from sustained investment, strong policy support and growing regional demand.

At the same time, businesses operating in sectors facing tighter margins, elevated input costs, project execution challenges or longer payment cycles require closer monitoring. What is important to remember is that risk is rarely uniform across an entire sector. Performance can vary significantly from one company to another depending on its financial strength, competitive positioning, customer base and exposure to broader supply chain dynamics.

Looking ahead, how do you see the role of predictive intelligence evolving within corporate finance over the next three to five years?

Over the next three to five years, predictive intelligence will become an integral component of decision-making across finance, procurement, sales, treasury, compliance, and risk management functions.

We expect companies to move beyond using intelligence solely for credit assessments and begin embedding it throughout the business. This includes supplier selection, customer onboarding, supply chain management, compliance checks, investment decisions, and strategic planning.

The organizations that will be most successful are those that can combine technology, data, and human expertise to obtain a holistic understanding of their business ecosystem.

In an increasingly interconnected world, success will depend not only on knowing who you do business with, but also on understanding the risks and opportunities across the entire value chain. Access to reliable, forward-looking intelligence will therefore become a key competitive advantage, helping companies grow confidently while remaining resilient in a rapidly changing environment.