National Bank of Bahrain takes business staff from problem to prototype in a three-day AI programme

You have sat through awareness sessions that end when the slides stop. Someone explains what generative AI can do, the room nods, then everyone returns to their desk with no new capability. National Bank of Bahrain decided that was not enough. Under its AI@NBB initiative, the bank recently delivered an AI Enablement Programme in partnership with Reboot Coding Institute, taking colleagues through the complete software development lifecycle using modern AI tools. The three-day programme gave business users and designated AI Champions hands-on exposure to ideation, development and deployment of applications relevant to the bank's market and operational environment.

What happened

The programme was delivered under a strategic memorandum of understanding between NBB and Reboot Coding Institute. Each session was designed as a focused environment where teams could collaboratively develop solutions around genuine organisational requirements. Through AI-assisted practical exercises, participants gained a deeper understanding of the technical, design and governance considerations involved in creating viable solutions. The goal was to equip them to serve as AI enablers within their departments, so they can identify operational opportunities and help build proofs of concept.

Hend Mahmood, Group Chief Human Resources Officer at NBB, said, "As the nature of work continues to evolve, our responsibility is to ensure our people can evolve with it. Investing in AI skills is therefore central to how we prepare the organisation for the future. We want colleagues across the business to enrich their professional judgement with new technical confidence, thereby enabling them to enhance performance by responsibly applying novel capabilities."

Ali Ghuloom, Group Head of Technology & Enterprise Architecture at NBB, who leads the bank's AI agenda, added, "Scaling AI requires capacity-building beyond the core team. Colleagues closest to a business challenge are invaluable in clarifying priorities and judging whether a proposed solution will work in practice. By giving them a more active role in building and prototyping solutions, we are bringing innovation closer to the people who understand the business challenges best and creating a stronger bridge between actual requirements and technical delivery."

Why the full cycle matters

Yanal Jallad, Managing Director at Reboot Coding Institute, remarked, "For non-technical professionals, one of the most valuable outcomes is understanding how decisions across product design, software architecture, data, security, and testing affect the final application. Taking them through the entire development cycle within a guided challenge makes those connections tangible and gives them a shared language for collaborating with engineering and product teams."

That shared language is the point. When business users understand how a feature request cascades through architecture, data pipelines, security reviews and testing, they can frame requirements more precisely and judge feasibility more accurately. The programme does not turn them into engineers. It gives them enough technical confidence to participate in scoping conversations, evaluate vendor claims and work with technical teams to advance suitable ideas.

The wider talent strategy

The AI Enablement Programme is one component of NBB's dedicated AI Talent Strategy, which encompasses structured workforce learning, targeted development for AI Champions, a Central AI Team, cross-functional AI Squads and leadership enablement. Together, these elements are intended to foster scalable expertise across the group and enable business functions to participate directly in its transformation.

The bank is developing departmental enablers who can identify operational opportunities, create informed proofs of concept and work with technical teams to advance suitable ideas. That approach distributes innovation capacity beyond a central function and places practical capability in the hands of people who understand the business challenges best.

What this means for L&D

Most organisations treat AI literacy as a one-way briefing: here is what the technology does, now go use it. NBB's programme inverts that model. It takes non-technical colleagues through the decisions that shape an application (product design, software architecture, data handling, security and testing) and lets them experience how those choices constrain or enable a solution. The result is not just awareness but judgment: the ability to frame a problem in terms a technical team can act on, to distinguish a viable proof of concept from a wishful demo, and to participate in scoping conversations with enough confidence to challenge assumptions.

For learning and development leaders, the lesson is that capability building works when it mirrors the work. If your people need to collaborate with engineers, give them a shared language. If they need to evaluate vendor tools, walk them through a build cycle so they know which questions to ask. If they need to prototype solutions, put them in a room with real requirements and let them fail fast in a guided environment. Awareness sessions have their place, but they do not build the muscle to move from idea to deployment. NBB's programme does, and that is why it matters.

Sources:

• Biz Bahrain, 20 October 2026