At Saudi Arabia's top international tech conference, the LEAP conference this year, Dr. Lamia Youseff, CEO at JC12.ai and ex-AI executive at Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook, delivered a keynote address on "The AI Investment Landscape in Saudi Arabia."
Speaking to a crowded audience of investors, policy makers, and entrepreneurs in Riyadh, Dr. Youseff offered an in-depth examination of the region's rising contribution to the global AI economy. Her presentation outlined how Saudi Arabia is uniquely placed to become a hub of applied AI innovation in key sectors—everything from energy and logistics to finance, healthcare, and defense.
Drawing on her experience advising sovereign wealth funds and global investors, Dr. Youseff presented a strategic AI value chain framework tailored for regional deployment. She emphasized the importance of long-term investment in infrastructure, national AI talent pipelines, and public-private R&D collaborations to unlock Saudi’s AI potential.
The keynote also touched on the development of agentic AI systems and how they can transform labor markets, productivity paradigms, and digital sovereign strategies. Dr. Youseff called upon regional leaders not just to adopt AI technologies—but to shape and direct their development.
As Saudi Arabia becomes a force in AI globally, Dr. Youseff's message was clear: audacious investment, local innovation, and vision-driven strategy will determine the direction of AI in the region.
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