Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Qatar’s leading digital bank, has successfully participated in the BIG Quantum Hackathon Qatar 2025, a national event organized by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), hosted by Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), sponsored by the Ministry of Defense (MOD), and supported by knowledge partners QuantX and Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Bringing together major entities and leading organizations across key sectors, the Hackathon represents an important milestone in advancing Qatar’s capabilities in quantum technologies and accelerating the country’s digital transformation journey.

As part of the challenge structure, each participating organization developed a real-world use case relevant to its industry. QIB’s Data Science & AI team mentored group of students participating in hackathon on a pioneering AI use case titled: “Enhanced Retail Credit Risk Scoring using Quantum Machine Learning (QML).” The team demonstrated the potential of quantum-based algorithms to enhance credit evaluation models, improve risk segmentation accuracy, and unlock more efficient and data-driven decision-making.

Over the coming years, emerging quantum capabilities are expected to complement traditional modeling techniques. By integrating Quantum Machine Learning (QML) into their risk assessment pipelines, financial institutions will gain a competitive edge through more accurate, fair, and explainable credit decisions.

Commenting on the Bank’s participation, Mr. Constantinos Constantinides, QIB’s Chief Strategy & Digital Officer, said: “Exploring the potential of quantum technologies is a natural extension of QIB’s strategy to strengthen our digital and Artificial Intelligence capabilities. The BIG Quantum Hackathon enabled our teams to work closely with emerging quantum tools and evaluate their long-term relevance to financial services.”

Held for the first time in Qatar, the BIG Quantum Hackathon introduced practical applications of quantum computing across finance, energy, telecom, aviation, and defense. The event enabled cross-sector collaboration, knowledge exchange, and hands-on experimentation with next-generation quantum platforms. It also supports Qatar’s vision to build a strong and sustainable technological ecosystem aligned with Qatar National Vision 2030.

For more information, please visit: www.qib.com.qa