Hexaware Secures Five-Year AI Innovation Partnership with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has appointed Hexaware Technologies as a strategic partner under a five-year framework to overhaul its technology operations. This deal signals a significant shift for multilateral financial institutions toward AI-native delivery models, prioritizing measurable efficiency gains and automated governance over traditional, resource-heavy IT outsourcing contracts.

What was announced

The five-year Strategic Partner Framework is designed to support the EBRD’s "Run-Change-Transform" technology portfolio. Central to this agreement is the bank’s Technology Blueprint, which seeks to modernize processes through AI, data analytics, and intelligent automation. Hexaware will function as an integrated component of the EBRD’s technology organization, utilizing both onshore and offshore delivery centers to provide enterprise-grade AI deployment.

The scope of the partnership covers a broad range of technical services, including software engineering, quality assurance, IT security, and identity and access management. It also encompasses cloud and data analytics, SAP application support, treasury risk operations, and the development of low-code and no-code solutions. Hexaware will deploy several proprietary AI frameworks to meet these objectives: RapidX for agentic software development lifecycle acceleration, Amaze for AI-powered data engineering, and Tensai Reasoning Ops for intelligent AIOps.

The partnership moves away from simple resource augmentation, focusing instead on measurable outcomes and fixed capacity. By establishing a continuous improvement engine, the bank aims to identify optimization opportunities and automate manual processes across its delivery model. This approach is intended to embed AI directly into the bank’s daily operations, ensuring that innovation is not a one-off project but a sustained feature of its technology infrastructure.

"The Strategic Parter Framework is about creating deeper partnerships that are aligned to outcomes yet constantly drive continuous improvement. We want our strategic partners operating as part of one team, no matter where they are based geographically. As an existing Partner, we’re pleased to strengthen and deepen our relationship with Hexaware and look forward to their innovation, capability and fresh thinking while helping us to deliver the objectives of our Tech Blueprint."

Simon Reeves, Director of Technology, EBRD.

The companies involved

Hexaware Technologies, listed on the NSE as HEXT, defines itself as a global AI-first digital and IT solutions company. The firm has pivoted its service delivery model to be "AI-native," focusing on automating the software development lifecycle and providing intelligent operations for large-scale enterprises. In the European market, the company has positioned itself as a partner for international financial institutions and multilateral development banks seeking to modernize legacy systems through automation and cloud-native architectures.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is a multilateral developmental investment bank. Unlike commercial retail banks, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies, focusing on projects that foster long-term economic growth and stability across Europe, Central Asia, and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean. Technology has become a central pillar of its strategy, as the bank seeks to improve its own internal efficiency to better serve its mission of supporting private sector development and infrastructure in its regions of operation.

What FF News has reported before

The EBRD has been aggressively pursuing a digital-first agenda over the last year. In October 2026, FF News reported that Cognizant Secures Five-Year AI Transformation Partnership with EBRD, a deal that mirrors the Hexaware framework in its focus on AI-led transformation. Beyond its internal technology, the bank has been active in supporting regional fintech and infrastructure. We covered how Aon and EBRD Expand Ukraine War Risk Insurance Facility to €150 Million to mitigate conflict-related risks. Additionally, the bank has supported the growth of payments infrastructure in the MEA region, as seen when Paymob Secures $35M Pre-Series C to Scale MEA Payments Infrastructure and AI Solutions, and fostered export growth through the QNB Egypt and EBRD Launch SME Champions Program to Accelerate Export Growth.

What this means

This announcement highlights the intensifying pressure on traditional IT service providers to move beyond "body shopping" and toward outcome-based AI integration. For multilateral banks, the stakes are high; they must balance the drive for innovation with rigorous governance and security standards. By selecting multiple strategic partners for similar five-year AI transformations, the EBRD is creating a competitive ecosystem where vendors must prove the efficacy of their "agentic" software frameworks in real-world environments. This moves the needle for the industry by demonstrating that even the most conservative financial institutions are now willing to integrate AI into core treasury and risk operations, provided the deployment is enterprise-grade and governance-compliant.