From artificial intelligence projects to an AI-native bank: UAE’s Islamic Bank ruya goes live with agentic AI in production
ruya, the UAE’s digital-first Islamic community bank, and Magure, a UAE-headquartered enterprise AI company, announced a long-term strategic partnership to make ruya an AI-native bank one where intelligence is woven into how the bank serves customers, runs operations and manages risk, rather than bolted on as isolated projects.
We didn’t set out to run AI projects we set out to build a bank where intelligence is part of the foundation,” said Christoph Koster, CEO of ruya. “As an ethical, Shari’ah-compliant bank, we hold ourselves to a high standard on how technology treats our customers and their data. This partnership lets us move fast on AI without ever compromising on that. Everything runs inside our own environment, governed end to end, with a UAE partner who shares our ambition for this country.”
The announcement follows the partnership’s first production milestone: three agentic AI use cases are now live at ruya, designed and delivered by Magure. Business customers opening an account with ruya now experience seamless onboarding and quick turnaround for account opening; a digital journey in which agentic AI handles document analysis, verification checks and case summaries, while ruya’s team focuses on decisions, not paperwork. Behind the scenes, several other everyday transactions are processed faster and more accurately. Each workflow keeps a human reviewer in the loop; every decision that matters remains with a person.
Critically, the entire capability runs inside ruya’s own private cloud: open-source large language models, fully integrated with the bank’s systems, with the bank retaining full ownership and control of its AI capability. No personally identifiable information ever leaves the bank’s infrastructure.
“Every bank is buying AI. Very few are built for it,” said Akhil Koka, CEO of Magure. “ruya is that rare digital-first bank, with no legacy core to fight, and leadership willing to make intelligence part of the foundation rather than a project on the side. What’s live today isn’t a pilot or a demo. It’s production AI doing real work inside a regulated bank, every day.”
From AI Projects to an AI-Native Bank
Most banks buy AI one project at a time each use case is a separate build, with governance and controls reconstructed every time. ruya has taken a different path: a single governed AI fabric, built on Magure’s flagship platform MagOneAI, serving every layer of the bank customers, operations, risk and compliance and employees.
Under the partnership, the three live use cases become the first of a bank-wide portfolio. The roadmap spans collections, compliance, credit support, a customer AI assistant, personalization and customer analytics and RuyaAI – a secure, private assistant grounded in ruya’s own knowledge for every employee. For customers, this roadmap means the same intelligence extending across everyday banking: faster resolutions, more personalised service and a bank that responds day and night. Because each new use case is configured on the same governed platform, new capabilities reach production in weeks, not months, and every action is auditable by design.
“The hardest part is behind us: the platform, the governance and the sovereign foundation are in place,” Koka added. “From here, every new capability ships on rails that already exist. This is a long-term partnership, and we’re just getting started.”
“Our customers, the UAE’s entrepreneurs, SMEs, families and communities feel this as a bank that simply moves faster and knows them better,” said Christoph Koster, CEO, ruya. “Accounts opened in a fraction of the time, transactions processed without delay, service that doesn’t sleep.That is what AI should mean for banking: invisible where it should be, and accountable everywhere.”
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Magure is a UAE-headquartered, DIFC-registered enterprise AI company in Dubai, with delivery centres in India and a presence in the USA. Its flagship platform, MagOneAI, is the sovereign enterprise agentic AI platform for building, deploying, and governing AI agents in production on your own infrastructure, with any LLM. Magure serves 80+ enterprise customers across government, financial services, healthcare, and large conglomerates, with 60+ AI deployments in production. Technology and deployment partners include NVIDIA, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Oracle, and Huawei. Certified to ISO 9001, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, and SOC 2 Type II.
Headquartered in Ajman and launched in 2024, ruya (Ruya Islamic Community Bank LLC) is a fusion of innovative technology and the enduring principles of Islamic banking, designed for individuals and businesses alike. Licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE as a Specialised Bank, ruya delivers a seamless digital banking experience built on robust security and intuitive design. Guided by the pillars of fairness, transparency, and social responsibility, ruya is deeply rooted in the community supporting families, entrepreneurs and small businesses while fostering financial literacy and inclusion through open-door branches that serve as hubs of education and support. ruya is also proud to be Great Place to Work® Certified, a testament to its inclusive culture and employee-first values.
