Mashreq and IBM Pilot Agentic AI to Revolutionize Software Engineering in Digital Banking

Mashreq is piloting IBM Bob, an enterprise AI-powered software engineering platform, to automate its integration engineering and accelerate software delivery. For fintech professionals, this move signals a shift toward "agentic AI" in the back office, aiming to slash manual coding hours and improve the resilience of digital banking ecosystems across the MENA region.

What was announced

Mashreq has launched a pilot of IBM Bob to explore how agentic AI can assist its integration teams throughout the software development lifecycle. The initiative focuses on solution design, planning, development, code review, and production troubleshooting. Early results from the pilot indicate a 60-70% reduction in the time required for integration design and troubleshooting. Tasks that previously took two to three hours of manual effort are now being completed within minutes.

The bank’s modern integration platform currently serves as the backbone for its digital banking, instant payments, and cross-border transactions, processing an average of 650 transactions per second. To support this volume, Mashreq is also utilizing IBM Context Forge, which is based on the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This technology allows AI agents to securely access enterprise integration knowledge, API specifications, and architecture standards. Currently, the bank manages approximately 4,000 requests per month from AI agents to its connected digital banking and enterprise systems.

The technical foundation of this transformation involves a suite of cloud-native technologies, including IBM Cloud Pak for Integration, IBM MQ, IBM App Connect, IBM API Connect, Red Hat OpenShift, and Confluent. The pilot is being conducted in collaboration with IBM and GBM Dubai to modernize the platform that underpins Mashreq’s multi-country operations. The bank is also exploring the potential for on-premises deployment of IBM Bob to handle mission-critical use cases that require local data residency and specific regulatory compliance.

"As we continue to advance our digital-first strategy, we are investing in technologies that help our engineering teams move faster while maintaining the resilience and quality our customers expect. Through our pilot with IBM Bob, we're seeing how agentic AI can help simplify complex integration engineering, accelerate delivery and improve developer productivity. As we continue our AI journey, we're also evaluating how these capabilities can transform software engineering and operations across the enterprise."

Mohamed Abdel Razek, Group Head of Technology, Transformation and Information at Mashreq.

The companies involved

IBM is a global provider of enterprise technology and consulting, listed on the NYSE. The company has become a central figure in the fintech sector's shift toward hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence, with FF News featuring the firm in 39 previous reports. Its current strategy emphasizes "agentic AI"—systems capable of autonomous action within defined workflows—rather than simple generative text models.

Mashreq is one of the leading financial institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Known for its digital-first approach, the bank has been a frequent subject of FF News coverage, appearing in 27 stories. It operates a complex digital ecosystem that spans multiple countries and requires high-performance connectivity for its retail and corporate banking arms. GBM Dubai, represented in this project by Interim General Manager Muralidharan Rajagopalan, provides local technology expertise to help regional organizations implement global platforms. Other key figures in this deployment include Santosh Vaidya, Head of Payments and Digital Services at Mashreq, and Shukri Eid, a Technology Executive at IBM.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed IBM’s expansion of AI and infrastructure across the Middle East and Africa. Recently, the publication covered how EBank and IBM Partner to Scale AI-Ready Data Governance in Egypt, highlighting a similar focus on cloud-native integration. IBM’s security credentials in the region were also noted when AAIB Bolstered Digital Security with IBM Safer Payments Integration in Egypt.

Mashreq has also been active in automating its core business lines, as seen when Traydstream and Mashreq Expanded Their Partnership to Automate Global Trade Finance. Additionally, IBM’s broader infrastructure moves were detailed in the report IBM Boosts Digital Asset Security with Swift Ledger Integration and On-Premises Deployment, which mirrors the on-premises exploration currently being undertaken by Mashreq.

What this means

This announcement marks a transition in how the banking industry perceives artificial intelligence. While much of the initial hype focused on customer-facing chatbots, the real "needle-moving" efficiency is found in the engine room of the bank. By applying agentic AI to integration engineering, Mashreq is addressing the primary bottleneck of modern banking: the complexity of connecting disparate legacy and digital systems. If a 70% reduction in design time becomes the industry standard, legacy institutions will face immense pressure to modernize their middleware or risk being outpaced by more agile, AI-augmented competitors. It also raises critical questions for the sector regarding the future role of junior developers as routine coding and troubleshooting tasks become increasingly automated.