ADIB Appoints Pedro Uria-Recio as Chief AI Officer

ADIB has appointed Pedro Uria-Recio as its new Chief AI Officer. He will lead the bank's AI strategy and support its Vision 2035 plan, which aims to make ADIB the world's most innovative Islamic bank.

Uria-Recio's responsibilities span customer experience, risk management, and operational efficiency. He will also build the AI capabilities, governance, and infrastructure needed to put those priorities into practice.

He brings more than 20 years of experience in technology, data, and AI. Uria-Recio joins ADIB from CIMB Bank in Malaysia, where he held the role of Chief Data & Artificial Intelligence Officer. At CIMB, he led the deployment of generative AI, agentic AI, and advanced analytics across Southeast Asia. Before that, he held senior positions at True Corporation, Axiata Group, and McKinsey & Company. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

ADIB Group CEO Mohamed Abdelbary said AI is a principal transformation enabler of the bank's strategy. “Pedro has deep expertise and a proven track record in AI, data, and technology,” Abdelbary said.

Pedro has deep expertise and a proven track record in AI, data, and technology,

Uria-Recio said Vision 2035 sets a clear and ambitious direction for ADIB. “AI will be a key enabler of delivering Vision 2035,” he said. His focus, he added, will be on turning AI potential into tangible outcomes for customers, colleagues, and the bank. In practical terms, that means pushing AI beyond proofs of concept and into products that can change how the bank serves customers and manages risk.

The appointment puts AI leadership at the executive level, a deliberate move for a bank whose operations are already heavily digital. More than 94 percent of ADIB's transactions run through digital channels, including its mobile banking platform, digital onboarding, and open banking ecosystem. That gives Uria-Recio a large base of digital touchpoints and customer data to draw on as he builds out the bank's AI agenda. It also means AI oversight will sit close to business decisions rather than inside a remote technology unit.

In his new role, he will need to define how ADIB evaluates and controls AI models, especially in areas like credit risk and fraud detection. Governance becomes harder when banks deploy generative AI and agentic AI, which can behave unpredictably. His mandate gives him formal authority to set those rules.

The hire is a signal of how Islamic banks are competing on technology. Vision 2035 sets a benchmark: becoming the world's most innovative Islamic bank. Appointing a chief AI officer from Southeast Asia, where generative AI and agentic AI have already moved into production at scale, gives ADIB a route to that goal. Uria-Recio's experience at CIMB and his prior work in telecoms and consulting give him a mix of industry and analytical backgrounds that fits a bank trying to embed AI across customer, risk, and operations.

ADIB serves more than 2.7 million customers. It added 125,000 new customers in the first half of 2026. The bank holds AED 304 billion in assets and operates across five markets, including Egypt, the United Kingdom, Qatar, and Iraq.