A large GCC Retail & Investment Bank with a workforce of approximately 14,500, diversified retail, corporate, and investment banking operations across the UAE and wider GCC, and major digital transformation programmes underway engaged strategic advisory to reinforce board governance, strengthen leadership continuity, and establish disciplined oversight of transformation and technology risk.
The bank was navigating evolving regulatory expectations, accelerated digital adoption across financial services, and heightened stakeholder scrutiny. The Board and CEO identified the need for stronger governance frameworks, formal succession pathways, and a clear oversight approach for emerging technology and AI-enabled decisioning. The mandate had to settle what AI governance means at board level: who owns the decisions a system makes, what reaches the board, and where accountability escalates when something fails.
The advisory mandate focused on four priorities:
Assessed board and committee structures, decision rights, leadership effectiveness, and transformation oversight maturity, including an AI oversight lens.
Co-designed a succession and leadership readiness framework aligned to strategic priorities including risk, technology adoption, and regulatory expectations.
Built a tailored governance model for transformation initiatives, clarifying escalation protocols, risk thresholds, executive accountabilities, and AI/model oversight measures integrated into board reporting.
Facilitated sessions with the Board Chair, Nomination & Governance Committee, CEO, and executive leadership to embed frameworks into operating rhythm and decision cadence.
The engagement strengthened institutional resilience by:
Dr Kate Barker served as Strategic Advisor on Governance, Leadership Continuity, AI Oversight, and Transformation Oversight, working directly with the Board Chair, Nomination & Governance Committee, CEO, and Executive Leadership Team to embed readiness mechanisms aligned to enterprise priorities. The mandate was delivered under her Strategic Consulting practice, which she leads personally rather than through a staffed project team.
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