LEAP 2025 Riyadh: Summary of the Highlights

With the theme of “Towards New Worlds,” LEAP 2025 kicked off at this flagship event that brings together world leaders in technology and innovation from February 9-12 at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Centre in Saudi Arabia.

The event brought together more than 680 startups, more than 1,000 speakers, more than 1,800 global brands, and more than 170,000 visitors. Plain Concepts did not want to miss any detail of the event and we have traveled to Riyadh to tell you all about it.

On the first day of the conference, investments and projects totaling more than $14.9 billion were announced in the artificial intelligence sector to consolidate Saudi Arabia’s position as a leading global player in shaping the digital future.

These investments aim to foster the development of digital skills, support the growth of emerging technology companies, and encourage innovation within the country.

Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Abdullah Alswaha, emphasized that “These initiatives are critical to empower the technology sector and accelerate Saudi Arabia’s transition to an innovative economy driven by artificial intelligence. They are also aligned with the goals of Vision 2030.”

Some of the main initiatives that will receive these funds will be focused on:

• Groq & Aramco Digital: to expand AI-driven cloud computing.
• Alat & Lenovo: to create an advanced manufacturing and technology center based on artificial intelligence and robotics and establish Lenovo’s regional headquarters in Riyadh.
• Google: plans to launch a global AI hub in the region to meet regional and international demand through investment in AI infrastructure.
• Qualcomm: introducing the ALLaM language model in Qualcomm AI Cloud, along with ALLaM AI PC, powering cloud-based AI solutions.
• Alibaba Cloud: an AI empowerment program in partnership with Tuwaiq Academy and STC to train local talents and support a sustainable digital future.
• Databricks: a $300 million commitment to platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solutions to foster data engineering and AI expertise.
• SambaNova: a $140 million pledge to enhance advanced artificial intelligence infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
• KKR and Gulf Data Hub: a major investment in the development of the Saudi Arabian data center with a capacity of up to 300 megawatts.
• Salesforce: a $500 million commitment to expand its Hyperforce platform in the region.
• Tencent Cloud: a $150 million investment to establish its first cloud region in the Middle East and launch integrated AI capabilities from the area.

This event and the announcements of further investments in AI and new technologies are evidence of the consolidation of Saudi Arabia’s position as the largest digital economy in the Middle East and North Africa region, creating an ideal environment for global technology companies. For all these reasons, Plain Concepts’ entry into this region represents a great opportunity for the company to grow in a rapidly expanding market, create more partnerships, and continue to gain technological expertise. This is just the first step of many that we have on the horizon to bring our experience in the area and this market that has so much growth potential.