The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is at a pivotal moment in its financial services evolution. As banks and financial institutions seek to modernize, the adoption of cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has become a top priority. Yet, many organizations are still in the early stages of this journey, facing challenges around legacy systems, regulatory compliance, and the need for personalized customer experiences at scale.
Publicis Sapient, a global leader in digital business transformation, is at the forefront of this shift. Through its deep partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and recent achievement of the AWS Financial Services Competency, Publicis Sapient is uniquely positioned to help MENA financial institutions accelerate their transformation, unlock new business value, and deliver the next generation of banking experiences.
Publicis Sapient’s global strategic collaboration agreement with AWS marks a new era for enterprise IT modernization in the region. By combining Publicis Sapient’s SPEED framework—Strategy, Product, Experience, Engineering, and Data & AI—with AWS’s advanced cloud and generative AI services, the partnership delivers:
This collaboration is not just about technology—it’s about business impact. MENA banks can now leverage proven, scalable solutions to reduce costs, improve agility, and create differentiated customer experiences that drive loyalty and growth.
Publicis Sapient’s AWS Financial Services Competency recognizes its ability to deliver large-scale, data- and AI-led digital transformation for banks, insurers, and capital market firms. The company’s approach is built on:
Bodhi is an enterprise-ready AI/ML platform built on AWS, designed to help banks deploy and scale generative AI use cases securely and responsibly. Leveraging Amazon SageMaker and Amazon Bedrock, Bodhi offers a wide selection of large language models (LLMs), robust data protections, and responsible AI principles. This gives MENA banks the confidence to innovate while meeting stringent regulatory and security requirements.
Sapient Slingshot, built on Bodhi, is an AI-powered platform that streamlines the software development lifecycle and accelerates the modernization of core banking systems. By automating code migration, testing, and deployment, Slingshot helps banks reduce time-to-market and operational risk, enabling them to respond faster to market changes and customer needs.
The partnership between Publicis Sapient and AWS is already delivering tangible results for financial institutions globally and in the MENA region:
For example, a leading wealth management firm worked with Publicis Sapient to migrate its contextual search platform to AWS, enabling real-time financial data insights for over 20,000 advisors and reducing search response times by 80%. Another global financial institution leveraged Bodhi on AWS to automate the creation of localized marketing collateral, reducing content creation costs by up to 45%.
Publicis Sapient’s commitment to the MENA region is reflected in its growing leadership presence and investment in local talent and partnerships. By combining global expertise with deep regional insight, Publicis Sapient helps banks and financial institutions:
With a proven, repeatable approach and a portfolio of AI-powered tools and platforms, Publicis Sapient is enabling MENA banks to move from vision to reality—faster and more securely than ever before.
The cloud applications market in the Middle East is growing rapidly, with annual spending on digital transformation across the region set to top $58 billion by 2025. As regulatory support for innovation increases and economic diversification accelerates, the time is now for MENA financial institutions to embrace cloud and AI-powered transformation.
Publicis Sapient and AWS offer the expertise, technology, and track record to help banks lead this transformation—delivering the agility, security, and personalized experiences that define the future of financial services in the region.
Ready to accelerate your bank’s digital transformation? Discover how Publicis Sapient and AWS can help you build the future of banking in MENA.