Senior Vice President, IT Strategy and Governance at QNB Group, Jouhara Mohammed Al-Adsani
Doha, Qatar: QNB Group, the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) is advancing a forward‑looking innovation agenda focused on scaling AI‑driven capabilities, enhancing digital banking ecosystems, and accelerating fintech partnerships. This includes expanding cloud‑enabled platforms, adopting advanced analytics, and progressing AI use cases through structured governance forums, said an official.
Speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of the Web Summit Qatar 2026, Senior Vice President, IT Strategy and Governance at QNB Group, Jouhara Mohammed Al-Adsani, highlighted the bank’s achievements and future outlook.
“QNB continues to innovate, streamline operations, prioritise growth, build new applications and deliver added value to our stakeholders while playing an active role in delivering QNV 2030,” she said.
Al-Adsani added the Group remains committed to elevating customer experience by further digitising customer journeys, expanding virtual service models, and enhancing personalisation through data‑driven insights. Continued enhancements to mobile banking, self‑service channels, and seamless cross‑border digital services reflect QNB’s focus on convenience, accessibility, and intuitive experiences.
As a Diamond Sponsor of Web Summit Qatar, QNB shares the country’s ambition to build a knowledge-based, diversified economy. “This year as part of the innovation showcase we have a multiple initiatives which include AI‑powered avatars and virtual assistants, emphasising customer interaction modernisation.”
Explaining QNB’s journey of digital transformation Al-Adsani noted that QNB’s digital transformation has been driven by a simple strategic imperative: as stakeholder behaviour, payments and capital flows across the region became increasingly digital, scale alone was no longer enough.
To remain the region’s leading bank, QNB had to redesign how it runs its infrastructure, serves customers, and connects into the global financial system, not just digitise existing processes.
By combining financial expertise with forward-looking innovation, QNB is positioning itself as a catalyst for a smarter, more inclusive digital economy — transforming banking from a traditional service into a driver of sustainable growth for the region.
Through partnerships with Microsoft, Apple, Google, Visa, Mastercard, and global innovators, QNB ensures technology adoption with global digital banking leaders, the official said.
Al-Adsani pointed out that QNB’s IT strategy leverages cloud for agility, scalability, and operational excellence, and AI for automation, personalisation, and enhanced security. Together, these technologies transform customer touchpoints, streamline operations, and support QNB’s position as a digital banking leader in Qatar and across the region.
Replying to a query about how the Group is continuously investing in advanced technologies to detect, prevent, and defend against evolving cyber threats, she said “Cybersecurity is fundamental to our operations. Our security operating model is fortified by cutting-edge technologies and a governance structure that ensures continuous improvements to defend against emerging cyber threats.”
Commenting on the Group’s alignment with the country’s national vision, she said, QNB’s governance framework is designed to reinforce the four pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030 — Economic, Social, Human, and Environmental Development. This alignment is explicitly reflected in QNB’s sustainability strategy, which is built upon sustainable finance, sustainable operations, and beyond‑banking initiatives that support long‑term national development goals.
QNB’s sustainability commitments are directly tied to QNV 2030 and national strategies such as the Qatar National Environment and Climate Change Strategy.
“At QNB, transformation is not change for its own sake. It is about building the capabilities that allow us to support Qatar’s economic diversification agenda, done by enabling new business models, faster innovation, and a more resilient financial ecosystem,” the official added.
Al-Adsani further said, “We redefine governance by integrating risk, technology, and regulatory oversight into a single, cohesive framework—supported by structured methodologies to ensure that every digital initiative is evaluated for resilience, control effectiveness, and regulatory adherence from inception to implementation.”