UAE builds world’s first sovereign financial cloud infrastructure
UAE Central Bank partners with G42’s Core42 on landmark fintech platform
#UAE #fintech – The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has partnered with G42 Group subsidiary Core42 to build the world’s first sovereign financial cloud services infrastructure (SFCSI). The platform provides a dedicated, AI-powered cloud ecosystem for the UAE’s entire financial sector. The initiative forms part of the CBUAE’s wider Financial Infrastructure Transformation programme, with the goals of securing data sovereignty, accelerating financial innovation, and positioning the UAE as a leading global hub for secure digital financial services.
SO WHAT? – This is a significant milestone not just for the UAE but for financial regulation and infrastructure globally. No central bank has previously built a dedicated sovereign cloud ecosystem of this scale and scope for an entire national financial sector. By embedding AI, real-time analytics and regulatory oversight directly into the country’s financial backbone, the CBUAE is establishing a new benchmark for how governments can assert sovereign control over critical digital infrastructure whilst simultaneously driving innovation and competitiveness.
Here are some key points regarding the sovereign infrastructure:
Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) and G42 Group subsidiary Core42 have agreed to build the world’s first sovereign financial cloud services infrastructure, a centralised, isolated and highly secure cloud ecosystem purpose-built for the UAE’s entire financial sector, marking a pivotal moment in fintech globally.
The agreement was signed in the presence of CBUAE Governor H.E. Khaled Mohamed Balama, underscoring the strategic importance of the initiative at the highest levels of the UAE’s financial and regulatory leadership.
The sovereign financial cloud services infrastructure (SFCSI) forms a core pillar of the CBUAE’s Financial Infrastructure Transformation programme, a broader strategic initiative designed to establish the UAE as a world-leading hub for secure, innovative and digitally advanced financial services.
Data sovereignty and cybersecurity are central to the platform’s design. The SFCSI has dedicated and isolated infrastructure engineered to protect sensitive financial data, guard against cyber threats, and ensure the continuous availability of critical financial services across the country.
Advanced AI and real-time analytics are embedded throughout the platform, enabling intelligent automation, deeper operational insights and more informed decision-making for licensed financial institutions (LFIs) operating across the UAE.
The SFCSI provides a unified multi-cloud management environment, allowing financial institutions to administer all their cloud services within a single integrated framework, improving operational efficiency and reducing complexity across the sector.
The platform is designed to scale, allowing regulated financial institutions to expand their use of sovereign cloud and AI capabilities over time without compromising national regulatory control or data governance standards.
Core42 brings proven sovereign cloud and AI enablement expertise to the partnership, having been built specifically to deliver full-spectrum AI infrastructure solutions and operating as a key technology execution arm within the wider G42 group.
ZOOM OUT – The development of the SFCSI is one of the most ambitious in a series of coordinated moves by the CBUAE to embed AI and sovereign technology across the UAE's financial system. Last year, the Innovation Hub of CBUAE-backed financial education and research organisation Emirates Institute of Finance (EIF) launched an AI initiative to explore banking use cases, signing MOUs with global banking giant HSBC, UAE community bank Al Maryah Community Bank, and G42 group companies Core42 and Presight. CBUAE has also formed a joint venture between with Presight to develop and maintain critical financial market infrastructures including the UAE's Central Bank Digital Currency systems and instant payments platform Aani.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Read more about UAE Central Bank digital transformation:
CBUAE issues AI consumer protection guidance (Middle East AI New
UAE finance institute partners to explore banking use cases (Middle East AI News)
UAE central bank, Presight form AI fintech joint venture (Middle East AI News)