Abu Dhabi, UAE — 11 December 2025 — The Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) has been named Best Financial Education Initiative at the MENA Fintech Awards 2025, held during Abu Dhabi Finance Week and presented by the MENA Fintech Association in partnership with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).
The award recognises CFTE’s tangible contribution to advancing financial education and workforce readiness across the region — combining thought leadership, large-scale programme delivery, and long-term collaboration with governments, regulators, and financial institutions.
Over the past year, CFTE has demonstrated measurable impact in the Middle East by:
Delivering over 100 education programmes across the region
Training more than 4,000 professionals, spanning financial institutions, regulators, government entities, and fintech ecosystems
Publishing influential research, including the AI-fication of Talent and AI Literacy in Financial Services white papers, shaping how organisations understand the impact of AI on jobs, skills, and workforce design
Together, these initiatives have helped institutions move beyond AI experimentation toward structured capability building, at a time when AI adoption is accelerating faster than workforce readiness.
Building AI-Ready Talent for a Transforming Financial Sector
As the Middle East accelerates its investment in digital finance and artificial intelligence, the challenge facing organisations is no longer access to technology — but readiness of people, skills, and institutions.
CFTE’s work addresses this gap by focusing on:
AI literacy and workforce transformation, not just tools
Practical, industry-led education, grounded in real-world use cases
Scalable delivery, aligned with national priorities and regulatory environments
Its programmes span AI in finance, digital payments, fintech innovation, regulatory technology, and future workforce design, supporting learners from board and C-suite level through to early-career professionals.
This recognition comes at a time when the Middle East is making deliberate, long-term investments in talent and capability to support its technology-driven growth. What matters most is not how fast technology advances, but whether people and institutions are ready to apply it effectively. We are proud to contribute to this journey, and grateful to be building from Abu Dhabi alongside partners who share this long-term vision
“From the beginning, CFTE’s mission has been simple but ambitious: to help people thrive in a digital and AI-driven world. This award recognises our commitment to accessible, industry-driven, and human-centred education — and to translating profound technological change into confidence, capability, and opportunity for learners and institutions alike.”
Regional Delivery and Partnerships
CFTE’s Middle East activities are led from Abu Dhabi, where the organisation established its regional presence through a partnership with ADGM Academy. Since then, CFTE has worked closely with governments, central banks, regulators, and financial institutions to deliver practical, industry-led education aligned with national transformation agendas.
“This award reflects the collective effort behind CFTE’s work in the region — from research and programme design to delivery at scale. We are proud of the impact achieved with our partners across the Middle East, supporting organisations in developing future-ready workforces across leadership, regulation, innovation, and delivery.”
About CFTE
The Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) is a global education platform focused on building AI-ready and future-ready talent for financial services. With hubs in London, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore, CFTE works with governments, regulators, financial institutions, and industry experts to deliver education, research, and frameworks that bridge technology adoption with workforce readiness.
CFTE has trained professionals in over 100 countries and continues to support large-scale workforce transformation across the global financial ecosystem.
