Elena Canorea
Communications Lead
Plain Concepts attended the Google Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2024, held at the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh in Kingdom Center, to discover in person the latest developments and the future of cloud computing. We give you all the details!
Google Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2024 Recap
In addition to all the new products and releases shared during the event, this year also marks a milestone in the region as it marks the first anniversary of Google Cloud in Saudi Arabia.
The event has been billed as a great opportunity to network with other industry peers, connect with Google Cloud leaders, and explore trends in AI, application modernization, collaboration, cloud data, open infrastructure, and security, all helping companies innovate faster and generate more impactful business results.
Through a great Keynote, announcements, live demos, practical skills challenges, and different approaches to the use and advancement of AI, the Google Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2024 is becoming a benchmark gathering for the region, despite its brief period of establishment in the area.
In his opening remarks, Bader Almadi, Country Manager for Google Cloud in Saudi Arabia, said, “This summit marks an important milestone in Google Cloud’s journey in Saudi Arabia. We are deeply committed to supporting the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals by empowering businesses, government entities, and individuals with the transformative power of cloud technology and AI. We are confident that together we can drive sustainable economic growth, create new opportunities, and establish Saudi Arabia as a global hub for digital innovation.”
For his part, Abdul Rahman Al-Thehaiban, CEO of Google Cloud for Turkey, the Middle East, and Africa, said, “Building on the momentum of our recent announcement with the Public Investment Fund to establish a global AI hub in Saudi Arabia, Google Cloud is dedicated to furthering the Kingdom’s position as a leader in technology innovation. We will continue to invest in infrastructure, introduce cutting-edge services and features, and foster a thriving ecosystem of partners and developers to unlock the full potential of Saudi Arabia’s dynamic digital landscape.”
After a morning of networking, the hour-and-a-half keynote presentation, and a lunch break, it was time for the talks. Divided into two tracks, the topics that were the focus of the talks were:
- The path to leadership for women in the technology sector.
- Data governance in the age of AI
- Latest Google Cloud tools for generative AI
- Google Open models and the Gemma family
- Reimagining the future of connectivity using beams of light
- Transforming cloud operations and design capabilities with Gemini Cloud Assist
- Empower API and integration environments with the AI-powered Apigee Platform
- Take large-scale AI from research to production with Google Cloud AI Hypercomputer
- Transform SAP workloads
- Turning data into rials and opening up new revenue streams with GCP
- Putting AI to work for sustainability
- Powering data analytics with Gemini on BigQuery
- Improving sales, marketing, and customer service with Gemini for Google Workspace
- How AI can transform the approach to security
- How to optimize IT costs
After an afternoon of interesting insights, tips, and practical use cases, it was time for networking and the event’s closing.
AI Opportunities Initiative for the Middle East and North Africa
Google is also committed to making the benefits of AI more accessible and inclusive for all in the Middle East and North Africa, the largest AI initiative in the region, which will provide essential AI skills, research funding, and access to useful AI products.
Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, plans to contribute $15 million, between this year and the end of 2027, through funding to organizations across the region to ensure that the opportunities created by AI reach everyone. As part of the AI Opportunities Initiative for MENA, they have launched a new Arabic language AI training curriculum under Google’s digital skills program “Maharat min Google” and Coursera to equip people with AI skills such as rapid engineering.
As part of the AI Initiative for the MENA region, they have introduced a new fund to support local university researchers in the region focusing on AI solutions for healthcare, climate change, education, and more. And they have also invested in training programs in Arabic to make it more accessible to all.
This event has been a great opportunity for Plain Concepts to continue building partnerships with industry leaders and to continue growing in technological expertise in new regions such as the Middle East. This is just the first step of many we have on the horizon to bring our expertise to the area and this market that has so much growth potential.
Next year we will be back to share new developments, which we are sure will be many, and tools that we have not even imagined yet.
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