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UAE digital bank ruya deploys agentic AI, targets AI-native future
UAE digital-first Islamic bank rolls out agentic AI in production through a partnership with Magure, aiming to embed artificial intelligence across operations, risk management and customer service
- PUBLISHED: Tue 18 Aug 2026, 4:03 PM
Dubai-based Islamic digital bank ruya has launched agentic artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in production and unveiled a long-term partnership with UAE enterprise AI company Magure as it seeks to transform itself into what the companies describe as an AI-native bank.
The move comes as banks across the UAE and wider Gulf accelerate investments in AI to improve efficiency, automate routine processes and enhance customer experience, while regulators place increasing emphasis on governance, transparency and oversight of emerging technologies.
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According to the companies, three agentic AI use cases are already live at ruya, supporting business account onboarding and transaction-processing workflows. The technology is designed to handle document analysis, verification checks and case summaries, allowing employees to focus on decision-making rather than administrative tasks.
“We didn’t set out to run AI projects, we set out to build a bank where intelligence is part of the foundation,” said Christoph Koster, chief executive of ruya. “As an ethical, Shari’ah-compliant bank, we hold ourselves to a high standard on how technology treats our customers and their data.”
A key feature of the initiative is that the AI infrastructure operates within ruya’s private cloud environment, with the bank retaining ownership and control of its AI systems. The partners said no personally identifiable customer information leaves the bank’s infrastructure.
The deployment reflects a shift from isolated AI projects toward a broader platform approach. Rather than developing separate systems for individual use cases, ruya plans to use a common AI framework powered by Magure’s MagOneAI platform across customer service, operations, compliance, risk management and internal employee functions.
“Every bank is buying AI. Very few are built for it,” said Akhil Koka, chief executive of Magure. “What’s live today isn’t a pilot or a demo. It’s production AI doing real work inside a regulated bank, every day.”
Under the roadmap outlined by the two companies, future applications are expected to include collections management, compliance support, customer-facing AI assistants, personalisation tools, customer analytics and an internal assistant known as RuyaAI for employees.
The initiative has also been designed to align with the UAE’s ambitions to become a global AI hub and with the Central Bank of the UAE’s expectations around responsible AI use in financial services. The companies said the platform incorporates human oversight, governance controls, audit trails and role-based access mechanisms to ensure accountability in decision-making.
“The hardest part is behind us: the platform, the governance and the sovereign foundation are in place,” Koka said. “From here, every new capability ships on rails that already exist.”
Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Ajman, ruya operates as a specialised bank licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE and focuses on digital-first Islamic banking services for individuals and businesses. Magure, a DIFC-registered AI company headquartered in Dubai, serves more than 80 enterprise customers and has over 60 AI deployments in production across sectors including government, healthcare and financial services.
