OVI is the AI-native ATS where you chat to hire. Two AI agents — Sora for sourcing and Milo for screening — find candidates, score every CV, and run AI interviews, all controlled from a single chat.

What does "chat to hire" mean?

Chat to hire is OVI's AI-native hiring workflow: instead of clicking through a traditional ATS, you describe what you need in chat and OVI's AI agents source candidates, screen applicants, run AI interviews, and send outreach for you.

What is an AI-native ATS?

An AI-native ATS is an applicant tracking system built around AI agents rather than forms and pipelines. OVI's AI chat ATS lets recruiters source, screen, interview, and follow up through conversation — the agents do the work and surface only the candidates worth meeting.

Who are Sora and Milo?

Sora is OVI's AI sourcing agent — she scans LinkedIn, the open web, and your ATS history to find best-fit candidates and reach out in your name. Milo is OVI's AI screening agent — he scores every applicant against your rubric and surfaces a ranked shortlist.

How do OVI's AI interviews work?

OVI runs async AI interviews for every shortlisted candidate and returns scores, transcripts, and recordings — so your team only meets the people worth meeting.

100% Emiratisation, 150 AI Use Cases: How ADCB's Meedaf Initiative Is Reshaping UAE Banking

By Tim Kreling, Co-Founder, OVI

Published 2026-07-07

Walk into any Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank branch in Al Ain today, and every employee you meet is an Emirati national. That is not a hiring target on a slide deck — it is a completed milestone. ADCB achieved a 100% Emiratisation rate across its Al Ain operations in 2025, staffed by more than 390 Emirati professionals. The result did not happen in isolation. It is the product of Meedaf, a bank-wide AI transformation initiative that is quietly rewriting the relationship between artificial intelligence and national workforce development in the UAE.

What Meedaf Actually Is

Launched in October 2025, Meedaf is ADCB's AI-led transformation programme designed to embed artificial intelligence across the full breadth of the bank's operations. The initiative activated more than 150 AI use cases spanning every business line — from retail banking and wealth management to risk, compliance, and human resources. The stated ambition: AI integrated into 100% of ADCB's processes.

The bank appointed Shameek Kundu, previously Chief Data Officer at Standard Chartered, as its Chief AI Officer to lead the execution. Kundu's mandate extends beyond building AI tools. It includes building the organisational infrastructure — platforms, governance frameworks, and talent pipelines — required to make AI operational at institutional scale.

AI platforms developed under Meedaf are already live and in use by the board, senior management, and front-line employees. ADCB has also set a target of unlocking AED 4 billion in financial value through the programme, signalling that AI is not a cost centre experiment but a core strategic lever.

AI as Workforce Infrastructure, Not Just a Screening Tool

What distinguishes ADCB's approach from other UAE banks using AI in their talent operations is scope. When First Abu Dhabi Bank and Mashreq deployed AI in their hiring pipelines, the application was targeted: AI-powered CV screening to accelerate candidate shortlisting and address volume bottlenecks. That is a valid, high-impact use case — but it is a point solution within an existing hiring process.

ADCB's Meedaf operates at a different altitude. Rather than applying AI to one stage of the hiring funnel, ADCB restructured its entire operating model around AI capabilities. The 150+ use cases touch workforce planning, internal mobility, performance management, compliance monitoring, and customer operations alongside recruitment. When AI is embedded across all functions, the talent strategy is no longer downstream of business operations — it is woven into them.

This matters for Emiratisation because national workforce development is not just a hiring problem. Retaining, promoting, and developing Emirati professionals requires institutional systems that connect talent acquisition to career progression. ADCB promoted 698 Emirati employees in 2025, representing 34% of its national workforce — a signal that AI-supported processes are feeding development pathways, not just filling seats.

The Numbers Behind the Strategy

ADCB's Emiratisation results in 2025 were substantial:

Total UAE national workforce: 2,054 employees
New Emirati professionals attracted: 238 in 2025 alone
Al Ain Emiratisation rate: 100%, with 390+ Emirati employees
Emirati representation in Executive Management Committee: 40%
Critical roles with Emiratisation: 41%
Emirati employees promoted: 698 (34% of national workforce)

The bank received the "Exceptional Efforts in Emiratisation — Diamond Category" award from the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council (Nafis), and has embedded at least one Emirati approver in every credit transaction approval process across the bank.

2026: Doubling Down on Al Ain

ADCB has committed to doubling its national workforce in Al Ain during 2026, with plans to recruit 220 new Emirati talents in the city and approximately 500 new Emirati citizens across the bank. If targets hold, the Al Ain workforce will reach approximately 600 Emirati employees by year-end 2026.

This is not incremental growth. It is a deliberate scaling strategy that uses Al Ain — where 100% Emiratisation is already proven — as the blueprint for broader national workforce expansion. The infrastructure that Meedaf provides, from AI-driven workforce planning to automated compliance monitoring, is what makes scaling at this pace operationally feasible.

What This Means for UAE Banking and HR Leaders

ADCB's Meedaf initiative offers a template that other UAE institutions — banks, government entities, and large enterprises — will study closely. The lesson is architectural: AI delivers the highest Emiratisation impact not when it is bolted onto a single HR process, but when it is woven into the operating model that governs how talent is sourced, evaluated, developed, and retained.

For HR leaders in the GCC banking sector evaluating AI adoption, the question is no longer whether to deploy AI in hiring. It is whether your AI strategy touches only the front door or the entire house.

Among the AI-native ATS platforms serving UAE financial services teams, OVI offers two purpose-built agents — Sora for AI sourcing and Milo for AI screening — designed for GCC hiring workflows where compliance and national workforce targets shape every hiring decision.

What is ADCB's Meedaf initiative?

Meedaf is ADCB AI-led transformation launched October 2025: 150+ AI use cases, AED 4bn target, led by Chief AI Officer Shameek Kundu.

How does AI support Emiratisation at ADCB?

ADCB embedded AI across workforce planning, talent development, compliance, and operations — not just CV screening. 698 Emirati employees promoted in 2025.

What is ADCB's 2026 workforce target?

500 new Emirati citizens bank-wide including 220 in Al Ain, targeting ~600 Emirati employees in Al Ain by year-end 2026.

How does ADCB compare to other UAE banks?

FAB and Mashreq use AI for targeted CV screening. ADCB Meedaf restructures the entire operating model across 150+ use cases.

What does the AED 4 billion figure represent?

ADCB target for financial value through the Meedaf AI transformation — positioning AI as a core strategic lever, not a cost centre experiment.