- CBD is pioneering a large-scale rollout of Microsoft’s Copilot to over 800 employees
- As an early adopter of Microsoft Copilot, CBD’s Promptathon aims to harness the power of prompt engineering to drive internal efficiencies and enhance ‘ways of working’
Dubai, UAE; January 30, 2025: Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD), one of the UAE’s leading financial institutions, today hosted a Microsoft Copilot Promptathon event, partnering with the Microsoft Innovation Hub, aligning with the UAE’s vision to lead in the adoption and innovation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions. The event marks the beginning of CBD’s large-scale rollout of Microsoft’s Copilot to over 800 employees.
Facilitated by Microsoft along with CBD’s Data & AI team, the CBD Promptathon complements Dubai’s ‘One Million Prompters’ initiative, which aims to train one million individuals in AI prompt engineering. This strategic alignment with the governmental vision demonstrates CBD’s commitment to achieving Dubai’s ambition to serve as a global AI hub as well as to foster technological innovation in the financial sector.
“The current pace and measure of technological advancement is such that our industry will fundamentally change within a short period,” said Dr. Bernd van Linder, CEO of CBD. “The combination of AI, Open Finance, and soon Quantum Computing, will transform banking more profoundly than at any other time since the introduction of the ATM. Given this evolution, it is crucial that employees maximise the learning and development opportunities we offer to remain up to speed with the latest technological advances.”
During the event, the participants paired cross-functionally with members of CBD’s executive leadership team, including Dr. van Linder himself, to develop collaborative solutions for a current business challenge through advanced prompt engineering – the process of carefully designing and refining the instructions (or prompts) given to an AI system to get the most useful, accurate, or creative responses.
Through the innovative initiative, CBD is empowering its team to advance their skills in the use of Copilot, both in frequency and across multiple applications. The solutions developed at the Promptathon will be presented to CBD’s CEO and Microsoft’s UAE General Manager Naim Yazbeck to highlight the practical applications of AI and Copilot in banking.
Commenting on the initiative, Yazbeck said: “CBD’s commitment to AI adoption through the Promptathon reflects the potential and value Microsoft Copilot can bring to the banking and financial sector. This aligns with our own vision of empowering organisations to achieve higher levels of productivity and innovation through AI-driven solutions. By focusing on prompt engineering and empowering the team, CBD is setting new standards for AI integration in financial services.”
As one of the early adopters of Microsoft Copilot, CBD had organised an internal Promptathon last year, with the key outcomes including development of ‘Superprompts’ and designating ‘Prompt Ambassadors’ who have been engaging with their colleagues to share knowledge to drive behavioural change towards greater adoption of AI tools such as Copilot. With the current edition of the Promptathon, the largest of its kind, CBD aims to build more ‘Superprompts’ and ‘Prompt Ambassadors’, who will drive increased Copilot adoption across the organisation.
The further adoption of Copilot by over 800 employees will mark a significant milestone in CBD’s digital transformation, aligning with the ‘Dubai Universal Blueprint for AI’ framework. It will further position CBD as a key contributor to Dubai’s vision of seamless AI integration across industries. Microsoft Copilot is transforming the CBD business into a digital-by-design workspace for its employees, combining the power of AI with Microsoft 365 apps, Copilot is empowering CBD users to achieve more with unprecedented speed and efficiency.
The Promptathon follows a series of digital transformation successes by CBD, including the launch of award-winning digital banking platforms, the Green Growth Account featuring digital sustainability tracking, and strategic partnerships with fintech leaders. Building on this momentum, CBD has strengthened its AI capabilities through a strategic agreement with PwC Middle East to accelerate AI adoption across the bank’s operations.
About Commercial Bank of Dubai
Commercial Bank of Dubai (DFM: CBD) was established in 1969 by an Emiri Decree issued by the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum. Today, one of the leading banks in the UAE, CBD offers innovative and bespoke personal banking and business banking services, through state-of-the-art digital banking platforms, branches and ATM network.
Over the decades, CBD has transformed into a progressive banking institution, supported by strong financial fundamentals. Today, CBD offers a wide range of retail and commercial banking products and services.
