Why some emerging-market banks are moving faster on AI

For years, the promise of artificial intelligence has circulated through the banking sector, trickling into strategy presentations, innovation labs and possible pilot projects.

Increasingly, however, across rapidly digitising markets in the Caucasus, Central Asia and parts of the Middle East, AI is fast moving beyond experimentation to become embedded in core institutional infrastructure.

While older, larger banks in Europe and North America often operate through layers of legacy systems accumulated over decades, some players in emerging markets may face fewer structural barriers when integrating AI into operations.

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (ABB Bank) is an example of how some emerging-market lenders are already integrating AI directly into operational systems to become more agile and scalable as a result.

Moving AI from pilot projects to core operations

While some banks are still treating AI as an experimental add-on, ABB Bank is already moving to integrate it across operational infrastructure, combining automation with ‘human-in-the-loop’ controls.

The initiative is expected to become one of ABB Bank’s core productivity drivers, improving delivery speed and operational efficiency while maintaining governance and human oversight.

Internal technology teams have delivered multiple proof-of-concept projects demonstrating measurable efficiency gains and faster delivery capabilities.

Currently, ABB Bank uses more than 180 AI models across 86 use cases.

Over the past three years, ABB Bank reports that AI-linked initiatives have generated AZN 50 million (€ 25,781,170) in value, while approximately 90 per cent of operations have become paperless.

As the bank develops its own local large language models, ABB Bank is also expanding its AI capabilities through investments in talent and computing infrastructure.

The bank is acquiring Dell GPU servers built on NVIDIA's HGX B200 platform, providing the computing power needed to train and run advanced AI models, as well as support high-performance computing applications.

With strategic investment into secure AI infrastructure, ABB Bank is demonstrating how banks can embed artificial intelligence beyond isolated use cases and into the very systems through which financial services are designed and delivered.

Redesigning banking around customer behaviour

Banking customer expectations are evolving.

Mobile banking is increasingly becoming the dominant mode of interaction for many consumers and businesses across rapidly digitising markets, reshaping how financial institutions think about digital services.

For ABB Bank, this means using AI to push the boundaries of what a banking platform can do, allowing for automated, contextual intelligence to support customers’ daily routines outside of traditional banking.

Through seamless e-commerce wallets, intelligent travel planning and personalised entertainment booking, the bank will connect financial capabilities directly with real-world experiences such as shopping and leisure.

In 2025, ABB Bank launched conversational AI assistants, AI-nur and AI-khan, as part of a broader attempt to redesign how customers interact with banking services. Rather than navigating traditional menus and interfaces, users carry out various banking operations through natural-language voice commands.

The AI assistants now help customers with card management and mobile payments, while also offering personal finance analysis based on customer spending patterns.

Since the launch of ABB Bank’s AI assistants at the end of 2025, they have facilitated more than 4 million interactions with customers.

The same logic is being applied across operational communications, with ABB Bank introducing a human-AI hybrid operating model to collect payments, automating voice calls and escalating complex cases to human specialists.

The model reflects the direction digital banking is taking, where conversational AI is no longer just a support tool but a crucial operational layer connecting customers directly to financial services.

A rapidly digitising regional market

The speed of digital transformation across parts of the Caucasus, Central Asia and the MENA region has created conditions that differ markedly from more mature banking markets.

Rapid digital adoption in countries such as Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan has pushed local banks to modernise quickly around mobile platforms, automated services and AI-enabled operations.

Without the same constraints faced by many larger and older financial institutions, these banks have been able to adapt more quickly to changing customer behaviour and digital-first banking models.

While questions around governance, transparency and responsible AI deployment continue to shape the global banking sector, regional leaders are increasingly offering examples of how AI can be embedded into operational infrastructure at scale.

For ABB Bank, integrating AI-driven 'Beyond Banking' services aligns with broader aims to redefine the boundaries of a modern super-app, transitioning from a financial tool to a comprehensive lifestyle companion.

As banking systems across emerging markets continue to modernise, ABB Bank’s strategy reflects how AI is increasingly becoming part of the institutional infrastructure underpinning growth, operational scale and long-term economic integration.

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