SARA ALZAABI (ABU DHABI)
Amid ongoing regional developments, financial experts said business continuity now means ensuring uninterrupted access to money while using AI to strengthen resilience, reliability and trust.
Hasan Fardan Al Fardan, CEO of Al Fardan Exchange, told Aletihad that continuity in financial services is closely tied to confidence and access.
“Given the current geopolitical situation, businesses today must adapt with agility while continuing to provide stability and reassurance to customers,” he said.
He said business continuity in financial services is fundamentally about uninterrupted access, noting that it ensures customers can “access and move their money seamlessly, without disruption, regardless of external conditions.”
Al Fardan stressed that this is even more critical in remittances, where transactions are often tied to urgent needs, noting that “in such moments, reliability becomes a direct extension of trust”.
He added that reliability is supported by strong operational planning, with “robust business continuity plans, ensuring our operations remain consistent, secure and fully compliant,” helping maintain stability even during disruptions. “Continuity is about removing uncertainty for the customer,” he noted.
On AI, Al Fardan said its value comes when embedded in operations. “Artificial Intelligence adds real value when embedded in core operations rather than treated as a standalone or experimental capability,” he said.
He said AI enables faster, more informed decision-making by processing “large volumes of data in real time".
Al Fardan added that it also strengthens compliance and oversight, noting: “AI is not about replacing human judgment. It is about strengthening the systems that support it.”
Sacha Haider, Chief Operating Officer of Astra Tech | botim, shared a similar view, noting the UAE has made continuity part of its financial infrastructure. “The UAE has set a global benchmark for business continuity. It is built into the fabric of financial infrastructure,” she said.
Haider explained that resilience means issues are contained before users feel them. “Continuity means resilient infrastructure by design, capable of absorbing pressure without allowing instability to reach the user,” she said, supported by “diversified partners, robust payment networks, and stable cross-border flows.”
She said AI plays a central role, noting that “AI-driven monitoring enables early anomaly detection, dynamic rerouting, and rapid resolution before issues escalate,” adding that “at this scale, continuity is trust”.
Haider said AI proves its value during disruptions. “The real test of AI comes in moments of stress, keeping payments flowing, detecting risk early,” she said. AI helps detect issues more quickly, addresses them earlier, and ensure services run more reliably.
Haider added that AI also improves accessibility. “AI should not only protect the platform, it should make financial services easier to use,” she said, highlighting tools that guide users in simple terms.
On building trust, especially among underserved users, she said: “Trust sits at the centre of every investment decision.”
Embedding services into familiar platforms helps adoption feel natural. “We embed financial tools into a platform people already use daily,” she said.
She added that accessible products, such as fractional gold investments, are key entry points. "For underserved segments, gold provides a natural entry point into investing,” she said.
Ultimately, she noted, trust grows through accessibility and results. “By allowing users to see tangible outcomes you reinforce trust over time,” she said, adding, “That trust becomes the foundation for long-term engagement.”