Experts at AIDC Reveal Roadmap for Next-Gen Smart Banking Infrastructure
Industry leaders stressed that banking infrastructure now represents the backbone of the digital economy, with today’s priority shifting beyond business enablement toward ensuring operational continuity amid rapidly evolving cyber and systemic threats.
The insights came during a high-level strategic panel titled “Financial and Banking Infrastructure in the Coming Years,” held as part of the AIDC conference at Cairo ICT. The discussion brought together top technology innovators to examine the structural transformations reshaping the banking industry and the opportunities and challenges created by emerging technologies.
Speakers highlighted the need to build infrastructure that is not only strong but also intelligent and adaptive by leveraging artificial intelligence for real-time fraud prevention and data-driven credit scoring, adopting zero-trust security architectures, and preparing early for quantum-computing threats that could compromise traditional encryption.
Panel moderator Mahmoud Ashmawy, CTO of eFinance, opened the session by noting that modern infrastructure extends far beyond hardware and software. It now encompasses resilience, continuity, and advanced security as foundational pillars.
Mohamed Al-Mofty, CEO of ICT Misr, emphasized AI’s central role in reshaping financial services, explaining that its value lies in enabling institutions to act with greater speed, precision, and intelligence. He highlighted real-time fraud prevention, automated KYC enabled by digital identity, and data-driven credit scoring that empowers SME financing as key use cases now transforming the sector.
Bart Stewart, Managing Director at Washington-based WB Engineering, underscored interoperability as the greatest structural challenge facing the financial ecosystem. He explained that banks, fintechs, and government platforms often work within isolated systems and stressed the need to break these silos to build a unified and seamless payments network. He added that the sector must now embrace zero-trust architecture, prepare for quantum-computing threats capable of breaking today’s encryption, and ensure cloud-ready infrastructure that enables fast integration through APIs and reduces dependence on legacy systems.
Islam Monji, Senior Solutions Architect at HPE Aruba Networking, delivered insight into the role of intelligent networks as the foundation of every financial institution. He identified high availability, security, and flexibility as the three defining challenges of modern banking networks. He explained that availability requires designs with no single point of failure, such as regional mesh architectures. He added that zero trust must extend deep into internal networks to authenticate every connected device, and that AI-driven networking is increasingly crucial for predicting issues, enhancing performance, and supporting rapid adaptation to business needs. Monji also noted the importance of edge computing to process data locally in remote branches, reducing latency and improving customer experience.
Experts agreed that the future of banking infrastructure in Egypt and the wider region depends on integrating AI, zero-trust models, quantum-resilient systems, and intelligent network design to build a financial ecosystem that is efficient, secure, resilient, and fully prepared for the challenges of the next decade.
Cairo ICT 2025, held from 16 to 19 November under the patronage of the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr. Amr Talaat, takes place at the Egypt International Exhibition Center under the theme “AI Everywhere” with the participation of more than 500 exhibitors. The event includes five major platforms: PAFIX for digital payments and financial inclusion, AIDC for AI and data centers, Connecta for youth and digital entertainment, Innovation Arena, and Cyber Zone for cybersecurity. Joining the event are leading government bodies and major institutions including the Ministry of Communications, the Central Bank of Egypt, FRA, NTRA, ITIDA, Egypt Post, the Arab Organization for Industrialization, and the Future of Egypt Authority as guest of honor. Sponsors include Dell Technologies, eFinance, WB Engineers+Consultants, CIB, Huawei, Orange Egypt, EgyptAir, Egypt Trust, Mastercard, Medar, Fortinet, Salesforce, Benya Group, Khazna, NBE, AAIB, Bank of Alexandria, Shaker Group, ICT Misr, IoT Misr, Network International, and Meinhardt.