Kholoud Hussein 

Saudi Arabia is witnessing the rise of a new socioeconomic force reshaping its cities, workplaces, and daily behaviors: the Digital Middle Class. This emerging demographic—defined not purely by income, but by digital fluency, technological consumption, and ability to thrive in a data-driven economy—is rapidly becoming one of the most important engines of national transformation. Powered by Vision 2030, fast-expanding digital infrastructure, and a tech-driven private sector, this group is changing not only how Saudis live, but how they learn, work, build wealth, and participate in the economy.

In earlier eras, entering the middle class required stable employment, home ownership, and rising disposable income. Today, digital fluency has become just as important. Access to cloud services, AI-driven productivity tools, fintech platforms, digital payments, e-commerce participation, and new types of online work are defining what opportunity looks like in Saudi Arabia. As a result, the new digital middle class is not a passive outcome of economic change—it is an active contributor to the Kingdom’s transformation.

“Digital transformation is not just a technological project. It is a social and economic movement,” Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Al-Swaha said recently. “Our goal is to empower every Saudi citizen with the tools needed to participate in a digital economy, and to lead in it, not just adapt to it.” His words reflect the government’s central thesis: expanding digital participation expands the middle class, and expanding the middle class accelerates the nation’s economic diversification.

A New Definition of Wealth: From Assets to Access and Digital Capability

Digital transformation has redefined what economic mobility looks like. Traditionally, wealth accumulation depended on physical assets—real estate, cars, or retail businesses. But digital-era wealth often grows from intangible assets: data literacy, technological skills, digital entrepreneurship, ability to sell services online, and participation in the digital financial ecosystem.

Saudi Arabia has one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies, with the ICT sector surpassing $40 billion in market size and maintaining growth rates far above global averages. This economic expansion has created new pathways into the middle class—ones that do not require traditional capital.

Skills such as coding, cloud computing, fintech operations, digital marketing, and AI analysis now open doors to higher-income employment. Remote work, freelancing platforms, and digital marketplaces such as Marsool, Salla, Zid, and Jahez have enabled thousands of Saudis to run businesses with minimal overhead. Even the creative economy has become a serious economic opportunity, with thousands entering fields like game development, digital art, and content production.

For many Saudis entering this new class, the smartphone—not a storefront or an office—has become their first business tool.

How Digital Transformation Expanded the Middle Class

The expansion of digital access has been foundational. Saudi Arabia today ranks among the top nations globally in 5G deployment and internet speed, and more than 98% of the population is connected online. This digital infrastructure has become the gateway to new economic participation.

Government-led platforms such as Absher, Tawakkalna, Nafath, and Musaned have normalized digital trust and online service use, reducing barriers that once required physical presence and long processing times. This shift has empowered citizens to perceive digital services as reliable, safe, and efficient—key ingredients for the rise of the digital middle class.

The digital payments revolution has been equally transformative. The Saudi Central Bank reports that digital payment adoption exceeded 62% in 2023, surpassing Vision 2030’s original target seven years ahead of schedule. This shift has enabled new financial behaviors: online purchases, subscription-based services, e-wallet savings, and investment through digital platforms.

Fintech startups such as Tamara, HyperPay, STC Pay, Tabby, and Raqamyah have introduced financial tools that were previously difficult to access, from installment payments to peer-to-peer financing and micro-investment platforms. As fintech penetration deepened, financial inclusion expanded, allowing more Saudis to build credit histories, access new types of capital, and participate in the digital economy.

The Digital Skills Boom and the Birth of a New Labor Force

One of the most significant shifts is the transformation of the labor force. Saudi Arabia has invested billions into upskilling its population, with programs from SDAIA, MCIT, and Human Capability Development Program (HCDP) targeting emerging fields such as AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and software engineering.

The government announced that more than 100,000 Saudis will be trained in AI and advanced technologies by 2030. These investments are not academic exercises; they are building a workforce capable of supporting a trillion-riyal digital economy.

This new labor force is essential for the rise of the digital middle class. Higher-skilled digital roles offer higher salaries, flexible work, and career mobility—traits that rapidly elevate individuals into middle-class stability. Remote work adoption has also increased dramatically, enabling Saudis—especially youth and women—to enter the labor market on new terms.

Female participation in the workforce has surged past 34 percent, a milestone that would not have been possible without digital work environments and technology-enabled jobs. Many of these new participants are entering tech-enabled roles in e-commerce, cloud services, fintech operations, and digital content creation.

Startups as Engines of Digital Mobility

Startups have become one of the most influential forces accelerating the rise of the digital middle class in Saudi Arabia. Already, the Kingdom is the fastest-growing startup market in MENA, attracting more than $1.38 billion in VC investments in 2023 alone.

Startups across sectors—including mobility, logistics, AI, fintech, healthtech, and retail tech—are not only generating economic value but also creating new types of digital employment.

Examples include:

• Jahez, HungerStation, and Mrsool – enabling gig-work and flexible income generation.
• Salla and Zid – empowering thousands of small online merchants to launch digital stores with minimal technical knowledge.
• Lean Technologies and Hakbah – building fintech rails that democratize access to financial services.
• Taffi and Labayh – creating new digital service categories in mental wellness and personal styling.

These startups are directly supporting the expansion of the digital middle class by creating new revenue channels, entrepreneur-friendly tools, and knowledge-based employment. Their models lower entry barriers and expand economic inclusion.

Startups are also filling market gaps—payment infrastructure, logistics optimization, AI-driven services, digital ID systems—that directly enhance citizens’ ability to participate in the digital economy.

The Private Sector’s Expanding Role

As the Kingdom continues its diversification roadmap, the private sector has become a major driver of digital transformation. Telecom companies such as STC, Mobily, and Zain have built world-class digital infrastructure. Banks and fintechs are investing heavily in digital-first strategies. Large retailers are digitizing entire supply chains, onboarding thousands of Saudi employees into tech-enabled roles.

Global tech players, including Google Cloud, Oracle, and Huawei, have opened cloud regions in Saudi Arabia, bringing with them skills development programs and new job opportunities.

These investments create an environment where digital middle-class behaviors—online consumption, digital entrepreneurship, remote employment—become the norm rather than the exception.

Private sector innovation is also accelerating the adoption of new technologies. From AI-driven healthcare platforms to robotics in logistics, technology is reshaping service accessibility and quality. As these services expand, so does demand for digital talent, further strengthening the digital middle class.

Digital Trust: The Foundation of Behavior Change

The shift in Saudi citizens’ confidence in digital services cannot be overstated. According to SDAIA, public trust in government digital platforms exceeds 90 percent, one of the highest levels globally. This trust is the backbone of digital transformation.

When citizens believe that digital platforms are secure, reliable, and efficient, they adopt them with confidence. This adoption reduces transaction costs, increases economic participation, and boosts productivity—key characteristics of a stable middle class.

Startups play a meaningful role here. By offering secure, user-friendly, and transparent services, they reinforce the culture of digital trust. Fintech companies, in particular, invest heavily in compliance, security, and transparency—strengthening users' confidence in managing money online.

The Future: A Digital Middle Class That Builds, Not Just Consumes

As Saudi Arabia evolves into a digital-first economy, the digital middle class is expected to become an even more influential driver of economic growth. By 2030, the Kingdom aims for:

• A digital economy contributing 30 percent of GDP
• Hundreds of thousands of high-skilled digital jobs
• A global leadership position in AI and cloud-driven industries
• A thriving digital entrepreneurship ecosystem

The future digital middle class will not simply consume technology. It will build it—creating intellectual property, launching startups, exporting digital services, and shaping the Kingdom’s place in the global digital economy.

The rise of AI-native startups, deep-tech ventures, and digital-first SMEs demonstrates this shift. As more Saudi citizens gain advanced digital skills, the country transitions from being a user of global technologies to becoming a producer of them.

Finally, the rise of the digital middle class in Saudi Arabia represents far more than the adoption of apps or online platforms. It marks the restructuring of society around new definitions of opportunity, skill, and economic participation.

Saudi Arabia’s transformation is not only digital—it is deeply social, driven by a new generation that sees technology not as a tool, but as a pathway to agency, competitiveness, and global relevance.

As Vision 2030 continues to unfold, the digital middle class will remain one of the central pillars of economic diversification. Strong digital infrastructure, high adoption rates, a flourishing startup ecosystem, and ambitious government programs are transforming the Kingdom into a global model for digital economic development.

Ghada Ismail

Every year, startups launch with big ambitions, exciting ideas, and dreams of becoming the next success story. Founders spend months building apps, designing products, and preparing launch plans. But many startups run into the same problem: they create something people do not actually need.

That is why validation matters.

Before investing serious time, money, and energy into a startup, founders need to know whether there is genuine demand for what they are building. Validation is not about killing creativity or slowing momentum. It is about making smarter decisions early and avoiding costly mistakes later.

Start With the Problem, Not the Product

A lot of entrepreneurs get excited about an idea and immediately jump into building the product. But successful startups usually begin with a real problem, not just a clever solution.

Ask yourself a few honest questions. What problem are you solving? Who experiences this problem every day? And is it frustrating enough that people would actively look for a solution?

The best way to answer these questions is by talking to people directly. Have conversations with potential users. Ask them about their experiences, frustrations, and current alternatives. Instead of trying to convince them that your idea is great, focus on listening.

When multiple people describe the same issue repeatedly, that is often a strong sign that you are solving something meaningful.

Define Your Audience Clearly

One common mistake founders make is trying to target everyone. In reality, validation works better when you focus on a specific group first.

Think carefully about who your ideal customer is. Are you targeting students, small businesses, working parents, freelancers, or enterprise companies? The clearer your audience, the easier it becomes to understand their behavior and needs.

For example, validating a fintech app for university students requires a completely different approach than validating software for logistics companies.

Knowing your audience also helps you understand how they currently solve the problem—and whether they would realistically switch to your solution.

Research the Market

Some founders worry when they discover competitors in the market. But competition is not always a bad sign. In many cases, it proves there is already demand.

Take time to study businesses operating in the same space. Look at their pricing, features, customer reviews, and overall positioning. Pay attention to complaints customers frequently mention because those gaps could become opportunities for your startup.

At the same time, avoid copying competitors blindly. Validation is not about building the same thing with a different logo. It is about understanding what customers still feel is missing.

And if you cannot find any competitors at all, that may also be worth questioning. Sometimes a market is untapped, but sometimes there is simply no demand.

Build a Simple Version First

You do not need a fully developed product to start validating your idea.

Many successful startups begin with a Minimum Viable Product, often called an MVP. This is a basic version of your idea, designed to quickly and cheaply test interest.

An MVP could be a landing page, a prototype, a waitlist, a short demo video, or even a social media page explaining your concept.

The goal is not perfection. The goal is learning.

Watch how people respond. Are they signing up? Asking questions? Sharing it with others? Or are they losing interest after the first interaction?

Real behavior tells you far more than polite compliments ever will.

Focus on Actions, Not Opinions

Friends and family will often encourage your idea because they want to support you. But encouragement is not validation.

The real question is whether people are willing to take action.

Would they join a waiting list? Book a demo? Pre-order the product? Pay for early access?

These actions matter because they show genuine interest. Many startup founders confuse positive feedback with actual demand, and the two are very different.

Someone saying “That sounds cool” is not the same as someone opening their wallet.

Test Whether People Will Pay

One of the biggest validation mistakes founders make is avoiding conversations about money.

A startup can solve a real problem and still fail if customers are not willing to pay enough for the solution.

Testing pricing early helps you understand whether your business model is realistic. Even simple experiments—such as different pricing options on a landing page or discussing budgets during customer interviews—can reveal valuable insights.

If people hesitate when pricing enters the conversation, you may need to rethink your positioning or value proposition.

To Wrap Things Up…

Building a startup always involves risk, but validation helps reduce unnecessary uncertainty. Instead of relying on guesses, founders learn directly from real people and real market behavior.

It may feel tempting to build quickly and figure things out later, but taking the time to validate first can save enormous amounts of time, money, and frustration in the future.

In the end, the strongest startup ideas are not just innovative; they solve real problems for real people.

Kholoud Hussein 

In the world of venture capital, mergers, and rapid-growth startups, few terms carry as much weight—or anxiety—as due diligence. It is the checkpoint between a startup’s ambition and an investor’s capital, the rigorous validation process that determines whether a business is truly worth the risk. Although often spoken about as a routine step, due diligence has evolved into a sophisticated, multilayered investigation that shapes the fate of fundraising rounds, acquisitions, and even long-term survival.

At its core, due diligence refers to the comprehensive assessment conducted by investors, acquirers, or financial institutions to evaluate a startup’s viability—financially, legally, operationally, and strategically. It is the process through which claims are tested, risks are measured, and assumptions are either validated or exposed. For early-stage founders, this is the moment when the narrative must finally match the numbers.

In practical terms, due diligence begins when an investor shows serious interest in a startup. The glossy pitch deck no longer suffices; instead, founders must provide access to detailed financial reports, customer metrics, intellectual property documentation, legal filings, product performance data, and more. Everything from revenue consistency to founder equity structure is scrutinized. The goal is simple: to ensure that what the startup says it is building aligns with what it actually operates.

This process typically spans several categories—financial, legal, technical, and commercial. Financial due diligence reveals whether revenues are stable or inflated, whether burn rate is manageable, and whether the business’s cost structure is built for scale. Legal due diligence uncovers potential landmines: unregistered trademarks, unsettled disputes, improper employment contracts, or shareholder conflicts that could hinder growth. Technical due diligence has become increasingly essential in a world dominated by AI, cloud software, and cybersecurity threats, as investors assess whether the product is robust, defensible, or even feasible at scale. Commercial due diligence, meanwhile, evaluates market potential—customer retention, competitive positioning, and sector dynamics.

For startups, due diligence functions as a double-edged sword. While it is often stressful and time-consuming, it also acts as a validation milestone. A company that passes rigorous due diligence signals maturity and credibility in the market. Investors tend to view such startups not just as promising, but as stable and trustworthy. In regions such as the GCC, where the venture capital landscape is accelerating rapidly, due diligence has become essential in separating hype from genuine scalability.

Startups are increasingly preparing for due diligence earlier than ever—sometimes before even seeking investment. Many adopt internal “data room” structures, organize compliance documentation, and maintain accurate financial records to avoid last-minute surprises. This preparation reflects a broader maturity in the ecosystem: as competition increases, investors demand cleaner, more transparent operations.

In Saudi Arabia, for example, the surge in venture capital activity under Vision 2030 has brought heightened attention to governance and operational resilience. With record-breaking investments across sectors like fintech, logistics, cloud services, and AI, startups are expected to demonstrate not only innovation but also sustainable growth paths supported by data. Due diligence is the mechanism ensuring that capital is deployed responsibly in this new economy.

Global investors entering the MENA region also rely heavily on robust due diligence to navigate fragmented regulations, young markets, and rapidly growing sectors. For many foreign funds, the depth and transparency of due diligence outcomes often determine whether they will green-light an investment in the region. Consequently, startups that maintain high-quality operational discipline gain a competitive edge—not just locally, but globally.

In essence, due diligence is not a barrier; it is a blueprint. For founders, preparing for it forces clarity of vision, discipline around metrics, and alignment across teams. For investors, it is the safeguard that ensures capital goes to companies with real potential. And for the broader startup ecosystem, it serves as a mechanism of integrity—one that helps shape sustainable growth.

As venture capital deepens its roots in emerging markets and competition for capital intensifies, due diligence will remain the defining test of a startup’s readiness. In the end, the companies that embrace transparency, maintain operational rigor, and deliver measurable results will be the ones that survive the scrutiny—and secure the funding needed to thrive.

Noha Gad

People often think building wealth through property means buying a house, managing tenants, and handling repairs, but there are simpler, more liquid ways to capture real estate returns without becoming a landlord. Investors who want exposure to commercial buildings, warehouses, data centers, or apartment complexes can do so through vehicles that behave more like stocks than physical assets, helping them focus on allocation and income rather than daily property management. A Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is one of those vehicles.

What are REITs?

REITs are companies that own, operate, or finance income-producing real estate across a wide range of property sectors. These investments can often be purchased through top brokerage and real estate crowdfunding platforms. They allow investors to earn income from real estate without having to buy, manage, or finance properties by themselves.

REITs make institutional-scale real estate accessible to individual investors by packaging property cash flows into tradable shares, offering a combination of regular income, potential capital appreciation, and diversification benefits that differ from both direct property ownership and traditional equities.

They invest in different properties, including apartment complexes, data centers, healthcare facilities, hotels, infrastructure, office buildings, retail centers, self-storage units, timberland, and warehouses. They often specialize in specific real estate sectors, like commercial properties. However, many hold diversified portfolios with different property types.

REITs perform three primary roles: acquire and manage income-producing properties; finance real estate through mortgages or mortgage-backed securities; or combine both activities in a hybrid model. Equity REITs generate cash by leasing space and managing properties; mortgage REITs earn interest on loans and securities; hybrids mix rental income and interest income. 

Criteria for REIT Qualification

A company must meet several requirements to qualify as a REIT, including:

• Must be a taxable corporation.
• Must be managed by a board of directors or trustees.
• Have no more than 50% of its shares held by five or fewer individuals
• Invest at least 75% of total assets in real estate or cash.
• Derive at least 75% of gross income from rent, interest on mortgages that finance real estate, or real estate sales.
• Pay a minimum of 90% of their taxable income to their shareholders through dividends.
• Have a minimum of 100 shareholders.

Key types of REITs

1. Equity REITs. Equity REITs own and manage income-generating real estate. Revenues are generated primarily through rent, not by reselling properties. They offer more stable, operational cash flows tied to occupancy, lease terms, and rent growth. This type is commonly the go-to vehicle for investors seeking dividend income plus potential appreciation from rising property values.
2. Mortgage REITs. Mortgage REITs invest in mortgages, mortgage-backed securities, or other real-estate debt instruments and earn income from the interest spread. Because their returns depend on interest-rate spreads and financing conditions, Mortgage REITs are generally more sensitive to rate volatility and can show higher short-term earnings variability than equity REITs.
3. Hybrid REITs. This type combines strategies from both equity and mortgage REITs, holding both properties and real-estate debt. This structure can offer diversification within a single vehicle but also mixes the operational risks of property ownership with the interest-rate and credit risks of mortgage lending.
4. Private REITs. These REITs are sold to accredited investors or institutions and are not registered with public exchanges; they often pursue niche strategies, bespoke property portfolios, or longer-term value creation. Private REITs can offer access to specialized deals but carry higher minimums, limited transparency, and extended lock-ups.

Why investors use REITs?

REITs help investors access property returns through tradable shares, combining income potential with professional management and easier liquidity. Key reasons why investors include REITs in portfolios are:

• Generating income: REITs pay out most taxable income as dividends, providing regular cash flow and often higher yields than typical stocks.
• Diversification: REITs add real-estate cash flows and property-value returns to a portfolio, lowering concentration risk compared to holding only stocks or bonds.
• Inflation hedge: Property rents and lease escalators can help preserve purchasing power, with faster pass-through in sectors with shorter leases.
• Liquidity and accessibility: REITs let investors buy real-estate exposure easily through a brokerage without large capital or hands-on management.
• Professional management and scale: REITs are run by experienced property and capital-markets teams who can access deals and financing that individual investors usually cannot.

By: Michael Cade, Global Field CTO, Veeam Software 

So far, AI adoption has outpaced regulatory frameworks, leaving organizations largely to make up their own rules. But this lack of clarity hasn’t slowed organizations down. In fact, McKinsey’s latest survey found that 88% of organizations already report using AI in at least one business function. Despite this, innovation has slowed, and it’s become clear that organizations have overlooked a key enabler of safe and secure AI - data sovereignty.

Simultaneously, regulation has begun to catch up, and much of it points to the same principles of data sovereignty and AI visibility. Take the EU AI Act, for example, which sets strict, risk-based rules on both AI development and deployment within the EU to improve AI visibility. 

Rather than blindly charging ahead, organizations need to pause to develop transparent, traceable, and sovereign-by-design data architectures. Otherwise, they won’t just be unable to unlock the true potential of AI for their businesses; they’ll also fall behind on regulatory compliance. 

Not all data is good data.

As you might expect, both digital sovereignty and AI innovation boil down to data. It’s already well documented that AI needs a lot of data, and we’ve got plenty, with the IDC estimating that the global datasphere reached around 181 zettabytes annually in 2025. But, despite having plenty of data, Generative AI (genAI) pilots continue to fail widely. Some research suggests that as many as 95% of enterprise genAI pilots fail to reach production, or even demonstrate measurable ROI. The reason? Long-standing data hygiene issues. 

Thanks in no small part to AI, data growth has become exponential, but organizations have largely failed to keep up. This influx has far outpaced storage processes, and organizations have somewhat taken their eye off the ball, with ‘junk’ data being stored alongside the ‘useful’ data required for AI usage. And ultimately, AI systems inherit not just the bias but also the quality and structure of the data they are trained on. So, if the training sets are poorly structured and include ‘junk’ data, outputs, and usability suffer. 

There’s also a significant knock-on effect with compliance and regulation. While regulatory bodies are yet to agree on a unified approach to AI regulation, it’s already becoming clear that visibility will be central to future requirements. In Europe alone, the EU AI Act and the NIS2 Directive are already signaling a broader push for stronger governance, transparency, and control over operational and training data. And without strong sovereignty, organizations will remain unable to map and understand their data landscape to adhere to existing and future requirements. 

Sorting the wheat from the chaff 

After the last few years of data growth, the sheer scale of the workloads most businesses now hold can seem daunting. Before organizations can improve their data hygiene, they first need to understand and classify their data. Not just for what it contains, but also according to how sensitive it is. A piece of data may be useful for a genAI pilot, but if it’s too sensitive, it cannot be used. This level of understanding not only avoids mistakenly giving genAI programmes sensitive data, but could also be key to creating genAI that delivers on its potential. Instead of training it on a pile of ‘useful’ data peppered with ‘junk’ data, organizations will be able to feed AI only the information it actually needs. 

Once this is all in place and you know what you’re working with, organizations can begin to define the sovereignty requirements for each data bucket, including both regulatory and locality rules. For some, the knee-jerk reaction is to restrict usage to meet the strongest requirements of data localization laws. Still, the EU’s GDPR, for example, doesn’t mandate localization within a specific EU country, just to the European Economic Area (EEA), although it does place strict restrictions on the transfer of personal data outside the EEA – creating a ‘soft localization’ effect in practice. There’s a lot of nuance within this, which is why many organizations are adopting hybrid or multi-cloud architectures to maintain flexibility over where workloads are processed and stored. With these, organizations can restrict data where needed to meet localization requirements, while still maintaining data portability, which will be essential as regulations continue to change. This flexibility and transparency allow organizations not just to monitor where their data resides, but who can access it - essential knowledge not just for compliance, but for security too. 

Not just a tickbox

Up until now, data sovereignty has been relegated to the bottom of the priority list, seen mostly as a compliance exercise. Organizations have ticked it off, but only as part of a longer list of regulatory requirements, rather than considering it as a vital part of their data strategy. But if fully understood and wielded correctly, aligned with the wider business strategy, it can do much more. 

Not only can it feed into the data governance frameworks that underpin operations, but it can also help inform and establish AI governance. With clean, structured, and classified data, organizations can finally unlock the true potential of their genAI pilots. 

So far, data sovereignty has been underestimated, but with genAI innovation stalling and regulation catching up, organizations can’t afford to do so any longer.