Business Desk :
Only 11 percent of banks in Bangladesh are fully prepared with IT infrastructure to adopt AI-powered cybersecurity solutions, while the remaining 89 percent are not yet fully ready, Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) unveiled recently in a report.
Titled “Adoption of AI in Cybersecurity Management of Banks: Bangladesh Perspective,” the report shows that 69 percent of banks consider themselves partially prepared, with basic systems and awareness in place but needing significant improvements. Another 11 percent are mostly prepared, indicating advanced readiness with some remaining technical or operational gaps. In contrast, 6 percent of banks are poorly prepared and 3 percent not prepared at all.
BIBM Managing Director Mohammad Ali said top-tier banks like BRAC Bank, City Bank, and Pubali Bank are leading in IT modernization and are ready to deploy AI-driven cybersecurity tools. However, many mid-level and financially stressed banks remain focused on recovering defaulted loans, leaving technology upgrades a lower priority.
The report also highlights a lack of AI integration in disaster recovery planning, with 95 percent of banks relying on manual exercises. Adoption of AI for critical areas such as fraud detection, anomaly detection, and threat intelligence is still limited, with most banks in the early or trial stages. Only a small number of institutions have started using AI extensively, indicating that widespread implementation remains years away.
A key challenge slowing AI adoption, the report notes, is the absence of clear regulatory guidelines for AI in cybersecurity, which limits banks’ confidence in scaling up AI deployment. Experts warn that without stronger guidance and investment, Bangladeshi banks may struggle to protect themselves against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
