Kholoud Hussein 

Before long, fitness was viewed primarily as a lifestyle choice across much of the Middle East. Today, it has become a fast-growing economic sector attracting investment, driving entrepreneurship, and reshaping consumer spending habits. Across the GCC, rising health awareness, supportive government policies, and the expansion of modern fitness facilities have transformed wellness from a niche market into a mainstream industry. In Saudi Arabia particularly, Vision 2030 has accelerated this shift, helping create one of the region's fastest-growing fitness markets while encouraging greater participation across all demographics, especially women.

As the sector matures, attention is increasingly turning toward the technology infrastructure that powers gyms, personal trainers, and fitness operators. Beyond opening new fitness centers, the industry is entering a phase where operational efficiency, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and scalable digital platforms are becoming key drivers of growth and profitability. This evolution is creating significant opportunities for companies capable of bridging the gap between fitness services and technology.

Among the companies leading this transformation is Enhance, a Middle East-born fitness platform that has evolved from a regional service provider into a global technology player. Operating across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United States, the company now supports more than 15,000 personal trainers and facilitates over half a million training sessions every month. Through its Enterprise SaaS and AI-powered platform, Enhance Tech, the company is helping gym operators improve trainer performance, increase profitability, and better manage one of the industry's most valuable yet historically underutilized revenue streams: personal training.

As Enhance expands its footprint beyond the GCC and deepens its presence in the United States, the company is positioning itself at the intersection of fitness, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software. Its journey reflects broader trends reshaping the global wellness economy, where technology is increasingly becoming the foundation for scalable growth and long-term value creation.

In this exclusive interview with Sharikat Mubasher, Tarek Mounir, Founder and CEO of Enhance, discusses the company's evolution from a Dubai-based startup into a global fitness technology platform, the growing demand for personal training across Saudi Arabia and the GCC, the role of AI in transforming gym operations, the company's expansion strategy in the US and beyond, and how Enhance aims to become the global operating standard for personal training in the years ahead.

Enhance has scaled rapidly across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, while also expanding into the United States. How would you describe the company's current operating model, and what has been the key driver behind this cross-market growth?

Enhance is the operating system for personal training (PT). We help large gym chains turn PT from an afterthought into a predictable, profitable revenue stream — which in the high-volume, low-price (HVLP) segment is something almost nobody has cracked.

 We started in Dubai in 2018 as a service business. Eight years later, we cover 700+ contracted gym locations globally — UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and now the US — supporting 15,000 trainers and over 500,000 booked sessions a month. Revenue has compounded at 65% CAGR since 2019.

 The more important shift is the shape of the business. We went from a regional service layer into a SaaS platform that any multi-site gym operator can deploy. That super-sized our addressable market; from Gulf gym chains up into a $1.8 billion global PT management software category; with the US and UK alone worth $800 million. The GCC gave us the operational history and the proven unit economics. The US is where we're deploying them at scale.

With more than 15,000 personal trainers on the platform and over half a million monthly sessions booked, what does this level of activity reveal about demand trends in the fitness economy across the GCC?

The numbers reflect a structural shift in how GCC consumers approach health. A PT client in Dubai, in 2018, typically came in asking for weight loss before a wedding or a summer holiday. The same client today asks about strength, recovery, energy, and long-term healthspan. That vocabulary shift happened in under a decade.

 Saudi Arabia is the most significant data point. Vision 2030 opened the fitness category, and the pace of adoption — particularly among women — has been dramatic. We're seeing more first-time formal fitness participants in KSA right now than in any other market we operate in. Consumer demand there is outpacing the supply of qualified trainers, which tells you the ceiling is still far above where the market is today.

 Session volumes reflect PT’s transition from a premium add-on to a mainstream service. Over 500,000 booked sessions a month is not a niche conversation — it's a category.

Your Enterprise SaaS and AI-powered product, Enhance Tech, is gaining traction in the US market. What gap in the global gym industry are you addressing, and why do you believe this solution has not been built at scale before?

PT is a $42 billion global market, and most gym operators still lose money on it. The industry runs on whiteboards, spreadsheets and gut feel. Trainer churn sits around 70% a year. Fewer than 15% of free trial sessions convert into paying clients. Operators have almost no visibility into what is actually happening on the gym floor.

No one has solved this at scale because it requires two things that are genuinely hard to combine: deep operational experience running PT inside gyms, and the engineering capability to abstract that into software. Most software companies don't understand the gym floor. Most gym operators don't build software. We have spent eight years doing both, simultaneously.

The AI layer works because the dataset works first. We process over 500,000 PT sessions a month across 700+ gyms. Every session is a data point on what makes trainers successful, why members stay or leave, and where revenue leaks out. A new entrant would need almost a decade of operational history to rebuild that. That's not something you shortcut with capital.

The performance metrics you've shared — 20% more sessions per trainer, a 17% increase in operating margins, and over 40% improvement in trainer retention — are significant. From an investor's perspective, how do these metrics translate into long-term value creation for gym operators?

Each metric hits a different line on the P&L, so they compound in a meaningful way for operators and investors.

 The 20% increase in sessions per trainer is a revenue multiplier — the same headcount produces materially more output. The 17-percentage-point improvement in operating margin at mature sites makes PT much more of a profit engine for gyms. The retention number is the one investors tend to underweight the impact of: when trainer churn drops from the 70% industry norm to under 30%, operators are spared having to absorb constant rehiring and retraining costs, and clients stop churning with their trainer.

Put together, the model creates a gym that earns more from PT, spends less running it, and retains the people who deliver it. At mature sites we see PT revenue around $85,000 per club per month. That's the long-term value case — and it's why operators stay on the platform once they're on it.

Can you walk us through Enhance's funding journey to date? What type of investors have backed the company, and how are you positioning the business for future funding rounds or strategic partnerships?

We bootstrapped the early years deliberately. Taking outside capital before the unit economics were proven would have meant scaling the wrong thing faster. Once the model worked, we raised.

We've taken around $21 million to date. Our cap table includes Global Ventures — MENA's leading venture firm — alongside other institutional backers who understand the regional market and the global ambition. 

We are in conversations with investors who recognize now as particularly ideal timing, as we accelerate our US rollout, deepen the product, and move from a proven regional operator into the default PT infrastructure for large gym chains globally. 

The thesis is straightforward — PT is a $42 billion market with no system of record or operating standard. We're building it. The strategic partnerships we're pursuing in the US reflect the same logic: enterprise gym groups looking for an operator they can trust to run PT end-to-end, not just provide software.

Saudi Arabia is undergoing rapid transformation in its fitness and wellness sector under Vision 2030. How central is the Kingdom to your growth strategy, and what specific expansion plans do you have in this market?

Saudi Arabia is our highest-growth market and one of the most important in the world for this category. Vision 2030 did not just open a new segment — it catalysed a generational shift in how Saudi consumers relate to health and fitness. Current participation rates, particularly among women, would have been unimaginable a decade ago.

For Enhance, the KSA opportunity is both a consumer-side and enterprise-side story. For consumers, demand for qualified personal training is expanding faster than supply — the market constraint is the talent gap, not regulation or the willingness to pay. That creates a strong case for a platform that helps gym operators find, train, and retain good trainers at scale.

On the enterprise side, the large gym groups expanding aggressively across the Kingdom need infrastructure to run PT profitably — and the franchise model driving much of that expansion is exactly where our platform performs best. We're working with operators who are building for a ten-year horizon, and so are we.

Beyond the GCC and the US, which markets are you prioritising next, and what factors determine your market-entry strategy — regulation, consumer behaviour, or enterprise demand?

Enterprise demand drives the sequence, and then we assess the other factors. We follow large gym chains — if a group we already work with is expanding into a new market, that's a faster path to traction than building from scratch against an unfamiliar operator landscape.

As for what's next: the UK is a natural priority. It's the largest gym market in Europe, has strong HVLP penetration, and there is a significant shared-language advantage in how we build and sell the product. Beyond that, Southeast Asia and markets like Australia are interesting over a 24–36 month horizon — high gym penetration, growing PT adoption, and early-stage software infrastructure in the gym sector.

Regulation matters less than it might initially appear. Personal training is not a heavily regulated category in most markets. Consumer behaviour matters more — specifically, whether PT has reached the inflection point from premium to mainstream in a given market. Our GCC experience tells us that once that shift starts, it moves quickly.

As you continue to scale both your consumer platform and enterprise SaaS offering, how do you see Enhance evolving over the next three to five years — particularly in terms of AI integration, product development, and global market positioning?

The three-to-five year vision is to be the system of record and operating standard for personal training globally — the platform gym operators default to, the way hotel groups default to property management software or restaurants default to reservation systems. That category doesn't exist yet. We're building it.

On AI specifically: the tools already live include at-risk client detection that flags members before they churn, and a trainer coaching layer benchmarking every trainer, so managers know exactly who to develop. An AI sales agent and a daily AI management brief follow later this year — with ranked morning instructions for each gym manager, rather than a dashboard requiring interpretation.

The advantage is not the models themselves. Every platform will have access to good models. The advantage is the eight years of operational history behind ours — over 500,000 sessions a month across 700+ gyms, compounding daily. That data set gets harder to replicate every quarter.

On global positioning: the US establishes us as a credible global operator, not just a GCC success story. That matters for enterprise deals, for the fundraising narrative, and for the category we're defining. The ambition, simply stated, is to be the company that built the global infrastructure for PT — and to have done it from the UAE.

Noha Gad

Investors in today’s fast-paced financial world face a constant challenge: how to grow their wealth effectively without getting lost in the complexities of daily market movements. For both seasoned investors and those who start to build their portfolio, the decisions they make and the time they are willing to spend making them can significantly impact their financial future. For many, the ideal solution is to partner with a professional who can navigate market volatility on their behalf, combining expertise with a personalized approach to wealth management. This is where discretionary investment management comes in.

What is discretionary investment management?

Discretionary investment management is a service model in which a professional investment manager is authorized to make buying and selling decisions on behalf of the client, without needing prior approval for each transaction. Instead of spending hours researching stocks, analyzing trends, or monitoring global economic developments, clients delegate day-to-day portfolio decisions to a trusted advisor while retaining overall control through a clearly defined investment mandate. 

This service is usually offered to wealthy individuals or large institutions and often requires a large minimum investment. It can be an ideal choice for clients who do not wish to manage day-to -day investment decisions.

What do discretionary investment managers do?

Discretionary investment services cater to high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors, requiring minimum investments. The portfolio manager uses their expertise to grow and protect the client’s account balance over time, while making investments that align with the client’s goals.

Managers’ strategy may involve purchasing a variety of securities in the market, as long as it aligns with the client's risk profile and financial goals. Managers might buy stocks, bonds, ETFs, and financial derivatives.

Benefits of discretionary investment management

Discretionary investment management offers a compelling value proposition for investors who want professional expertise without the burden of daily portfolio oversight. Core benefits that make this approach increasingly popular among high-net-worth individuals, institutional clients, and retail investors include:

• Professional expertise and active management. Discretionary investment management offers access to skilled investment professionals who dedicate their time and knowledge to analyzing markets, identifying opportunities, and managing risk. These managers continuously monitor economic indicators, company performance, and global events to make informed decisions that align with the investment objectives.
• Time-saving and convenience. Saving time is one of the key benefits of discretionary management services. It also enables investors to focus on their career, business, or personal life, while the manager handles all transaction execution, research, and portfolio adjustments, making it a truly hands-off investment experience.
• Designing personalized portfolios. Discretionary managers create tailored investment strategies designed specifically for investors’ financial goals, risk tolerance, time horizon, and liquidity needs. Unlike off-the-shelf investment products or pooled funds that follow a one-size-fits-all approach, the portfolio is constructed to match investors’ unique circumstances. 
• Faster reaction to market opportunities. As discretionary managers can execute trades immediately without waiting for client approval, they can capitalize on time-sensitive opportunities or quickly reduce exposure during market downturns.

These benefits make discretionary investment management an attractive option for investors seeking expert guidance, efficiency, and the potential for superior risk-adjusted returns, all while maintaining control over their overall financial direction through a well-defined investment mandate.

Whether you are a high-net-worth individual, an institutional investor, or a retail investor increasingly accessing these services through digital platforms, discretionary management provides the perfect balance of professional expertise and hands-off convenience. It allows investors to focus on what matters most, their career, business, or personal life, while their portfolios are actively managed to align with their financial goals and risk tolerance.

Kholoud Hussein 

Saudi Arabia’s food and beverage landscape is entering one of its most dynamic periods in recent history. Dining has become a central expression of the Kingdom’s cultural transformation—fueled by an expanding middle class, rising disposable income, record spending on experiences, and a powerful shift toward homegrown concepts. As restaurants multiply across Riyadh, Jeddah, and emerging destination districts, one bottleneck remains stubbornly persistent: access to growth capital that reflects the real economics of hospitality.

Traditional financing tools—rigid bank loans, equity dilution, and short-term discount-driven customer acquisition—have long failed to match the realities of an industry defined by seasonality, thin margins, and escalating operating costs. This gap has created a critical need for financial models built specifically for restaurants, not adapted from generic SME templates. It is within this landscape that SPICE has emerged as one of the sector’s most closely watched disruptors.

Founded by a veteran entrepreneurial team with a two-decade track record in F&B technology, SPICE is introducing what it calls Dining Capital—a Sharia-compliant, zero-debt financing model that pre-purchases future dining credit to provide restaurants with upfront, non-dilutive cash tied directly to guest demand. At the same time, the company is building an invite-only dining platform designed to attract high-value customers, offering curated recommendations and instant rewards that strengthen restaurant loyalty without eroding brand equity.

With Saudi Arabia as its headquarters and primary growth market, SPICE is positioning itself at the intersection of fintech, hospitality, and Vision 2030’s experience-led economy. The Kingdom now represents nearly one-third of all POS transactions in the region’s foodservice sector, and as tourism accelerates and giga-projects set new expectations for hospitality, the demand for smart, aligned financing structures is only growing.

In this exclusive interview with Sharikat Mubasher, co-founder and CEO Zeid Husban discusses the economics behind Dining Capital, SPICE’s strategic alignment with Vision 2030, how the company underwrites risk, and why premium dining represents one of the most attractive investment categories across the GCC. He also reflects on past exits—including ifood.jo and POSRocket—and how those lessons shaped SPICE’s operational philosophy. As the company scales across Saudi Arabia and prepares for GCC expansion, Husban lays out a vision for a future in which growth capital, curated demand, and technology-driven guest experiences operate as a single, integrated ecosystem powering the region’s next generation of restaurant brands.

SPICE positions itself as a catalyst for a “premium dining movement.” How does your Sharia‑compliant, zero‑debt financing model reshape the way premium and fine‑dining restaurants access growth capital in Saudi Arabia today?

We started SPICE because, honestly, financing for restaurants is not easy and it’s broken. Banks still look at restaurants like any other SME. They expect fixed repayments every month, even though the F&B industry is faced with seasonality, volatility, and very thin margins. Great restaurants and their operators end up punished for investing in people, product, and the dining experience.

That is why we looked to build a solution, given our background in creating F&B tech solutions. Our answer to that is what we call Dining Capital. Instead of giving a loan with interest, we pre‑purchase future dining credit from the restaurant and give restaurants upfront, Sharia‑compliant cash that does not sit as debt on their balance sheet. That credit is then used over time as SPICE guests dine and pay through our consumer app.

So the “repayment” happens naturally through real visits that generate revenue, not through a fixed schedule that ignores how this business actually works. It lets premium venues grow, without resorting to discounts or short‑term fixes that hurt their brand. For us, that is how you genuinely support a premium dining movement in Saudi.

Saudi Arabia is seeing unprecedented momentum in the foodservice sector, with restaurants representing nearly a third of all POS transactions. How is SPICE aligning its investment strategy with Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s rapidly expanding F&B landscape?

If you spend any time in Saudi Arabia today, you can feel how much dining has become part of the country’s new story. Vision 2030 put hospitality and tourism at the center, and you see it in how people go out, where they spend, and how quickly new concepts are opening. This is not just with nationals and residents, but tourists as well. 

We chose to make Riyadh our headquarters because we believe Saudi is where you can build truly category‑defining companies, not only for the region but globally. Every riyal of Dining Capital we deploy ends up as real spend at partner venues. That means more local brands, more jobs, and more reasons for residents and visitors to have a great dining experience with Saudi hospitality.

Our strategy is very focused. We choose to partner with select premium restaurants that we think should become part of the country’s dining fabric, and then we tie their funding directly to guest demand. That way, our growth, their growth, and Vision 2030’s push for an experience‑led economy are all moving in the same direction.

You’re offering what you call “Dining Capital” upfront cash with no interest and no fixed repayments. Can you walk us through the economics of this model and how you mitigate risk while still enabling restaurants to scale?

The model is quite simple and has no hidden intentions. We give a restaurant an upfront lump sum, and in return, we receive a larger pool of future dining credit that will be used by SPICE diners over time, who are invited to use our app. There is no interest, no fixed instalments, and no equity dilution. The restaurant is simply agreeing to honour this pre‑purchased credit at face value whenever our guests dine. Guests simply book and pay through the app. Every time they pay, they get rewarded with 20% cashback, which can add up to a significant amount. 

But that is why we need to manage risk very closely, which explains why we are selective with the brands we fund. We work only with premium and upper‑casual venues that meet high standards on consistency, concept, and brand. Second, we size each financing opportunity based on realistic future demand, using our experience, data, and technology.  Third, we do not just wire money and disappear. We actively drive demand through our invite‑only diners, so capital and demand always work together.

For the operator, it feels like getting growth equity without giving up ownership. This kind of working capital eliminates the headache of monthly repayment pressure. For us, it creates a new, Sharia‑compliant asset class that is directly backed by how often people dine at these venues.

On the consumer side, SPICE is building an invite‑only dining platform with concierge features and 20% instant rewards. How does your technology shape the guest experience, and what competitive advantage does this create for your restaurant partners?

On the consumer side, we are trying to build the app that serious diners wish already existed. SPICE is invite‑only. That’s why it feels more like a membership than a mass deals app, and every venue on it is handpicked. If a venue is on SPICE, it is because we would happily send our friends and family there. It is the app that people in the know use when they have to choose where to go. 

Inside the app, you can quickly find the right spot for a date, a business lunch, or a family dinner, then pay in‑app and receive 20 percent instant rewards on your bill. Over time, the product learns where you like to go, what kind of vibe you prefer, and even what kind of occasion you are planning. It starts to feel like a digital concierge that understands your taste.

For restaurants, that experience matters a lot. They are not getting random coupon hunters. They are getting high‑value guests who come for the experience first and appreciate that SPICE is tied to quality, not cheap deals. That combination of curated demand plus instant rewards is a strong edge for our partners.

Your team has a strong entrepreneurial track record, having led successful exits such as ifood.jo and POSRocket. How have these previous experiences informed SPICE’s operational strategy and its expansion approach in the GCC?

As founders, we have been in food and hospitality tech for almost twenty years now. We built ifood.jo, Jordan’s first food ordering platform, which was acquired by Delivery Hero, and POSRocket, a cloud POS for restaurants that was acquired by Foodics. So we have seen this industry from a lot of different angles, from the kitchen printer to the customer’s phone. More importantly, Wadi, Youssef, and I have built together, and we complement each other’s strengths. 

On the B2B side, we saw great operators struggling with cash flow, and we saw how banks often did not really understand restaurant risk. On the B2C side, we watched as diners were trained to chase discounts, which might look good in the short term but slowly erodes brands and guest trust. In fact, many diners don’t like to show they use discounts, especially when it comes to paying at premium restaurants. 

With SPICE, we are essentially solving the problems we kept running into. Operationally, we decided not to build just another F&B service. We are building a movement where capital, demand generation, and guest experience are tightly connected. That is also why our expansion plan is careful by design. We are 100% focused on Saudi first. After proving the model works and scales, we’ll take it into other markets in the GCC. 

Saudi Arabia is your primary focus today, but you’ve previously hinted at wider regional expansion. What can you share about SPICE’s plans across the Gulf, and what markets are you prioritizing next?

Saudi Arabia will always be home for SPICE. It is where we launched and where we are building the Dining Capital category. It is home not just for the brand but for our team and our families. But from the beginning, we knew the model would resonate across the Gulf.

Markets across the GCC have high dining‑out spend, very savvy consumers, and restaurants facing similar challenges with funding and loyalty. Yet no one has really owned the premium dining capital and cashback space in a way that feels curated and long-term. This category is non-existent, and we are essentially building from the ground up.

We plan to earn the right to expand by proving what we do in Saudi Arabia first. Once we have shown that Dining Capital can become part of how premium restaurants in Riyadh and other major cities fund growth, we will start rolling out into other Gulf markets where Sharia‑compliant, non‑debt funding and premium dining experiences are just as relevant.

In each market, we will adapt the curation to local taste, but our core stays the same, where we partner with recognised venues, provide zero‑debt growth capital, and enable an elevated, rewarding dining experience. Eventually, we want a SPICE member from Riyadh to land in Dubai or Kuwait, open the same app, and instantly feel at home.

Access to capital is still one of the biggest bottlenecks for restaurants looking to scale. From your perspective, what structural changes or financial innovations are needed to unlock the next wave of F&B growth in the Kingdom?

If you talk to operators in Saudi Arabia, many will tell you the same thing. Getting the first location off the ground is hard, but getting from one or two branches to a real group is often even harder, simply because the right kind of capital is not always available.

Banks tend to apply generic SME models that do not fully reflect how hospitality works. Equity investors often want to back platforms, not individual restaurant brands. So a lot of very good concepts get stuck in the middle, even while the overall market is booming. Starting a restaurant isn’t cheap either, with a few million riyals needed in upfront capital. 

We think the next wave of growth will come from a mix of new structures and better data. Instruments like Dining Capital, where funding is Sharia‑compliant, non‑dilutive, and repaid through actual guest visits, are one important piece. Another is using real transaction and behaviour data to underwrite restaurant performance instead of relying purely on static projections. That’s why we are investing heavily in our technology so we can model the data right, but also target the right audience for each brand. 

The other important priority is alignment with the KSA leadership’s vision for the country. As tourism and hospitality targets ramp up, you need funding tools that are designed specifically for restaurants in key locations, especially around giga‑projects and destination districts. With SPICE, we are trying to show what that can look like when you connect capital directly to demand and treat the dining experience itself as the asset.

With Sharia‑compliant financing and consumer rewards merging into a single ecosystem, where do you see SPICE in the next three to five years? Are external investments or new funding rounds part of that growth trajectory?

When we think about the next three to five years, we do not just think in terms of app metrics. We imagine a world where Dining Capital is a normal part of the conversation for premium restaurants across Saudi Arabia and the GCC.

If a group is planning a new branch or a new concept, we want them to reach out to us first and seek Dining Capital from SPICE. This isn’t just about lending once, but being a real partner in the growth journey of high-potential brands. On the diner side, if you care about where you eat and how you are rewarded, we want closing the bill with SPICE to feel like the natural way to end a great meal.

Right now, we are well-funded and focused on deploying capital to restaurants. At the end of the day, we want to be an active partner supporting the F&B ecosystem. In pioneering a new category around Dining Capital and helping define what premium dining in this region feels like, we hope to play a role in how restaurants grow and how guests experience and remember each meal.

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. 

Kholoud Hussein 

Over the past decade, Saudi Arabia has undergone one of the most ambitious digital transformations in the world. What began as a broad modernization agenda under Vision 2030 has evolved into a comprehensive reengineering of everyday life—changing how citizens work, travel, receive healthcare, interact with government, shop, learn, and make financial decisions. Today, whether a Saudi needs to renew a passport, pay a bill, register a business, book a medical appointment, attend a class, or receive social services, nearly every step happens through a screen.

But this transformation is not merely a story of new apps or automated government systems. It is a story about trust. The rapid digitization of life in Saudi Arabia was only possible because citizens learned to place confidence in digital services—trusting that government portals are secure, digital payments are safe, health data is protected, and online processes are more reliable than traditional paper-based systems.

This shift did not happen overnight. Nor was it guaranteed. It required a coordinated ecosystem—government entities, regulators, startups, fintech innovators, cybersecurity institutions, and private companies—all working to build credibility, transparency, and reliability into the digital infrastructure.

Today, Saudi Arabia ranks among the world’s top countries in government digital services and cybersecurity strength. The UN E-Government Development Index lists the Kingdom among the top achievers globally; the National Cybersecurity Authority is recognized as one of the strongest frameworks in the region; and government platforms such as Absher, Tawakkalna, Najiz, and Sehhaty have become household names, embedded deeply into the daily rhythm of Saudi life.

The result is a transformation that goes beyond convenience. It has reshaped behavior, expectations, and culture—redefining what it means to navigate modern life in the Kingdom.

This is the first installment in a long-form series exploring how digital transformation is reshaping Saudi society. And there is no better starting point than the foundation of it all: digital trust.

A New Digital Rhythm: How Transformation Became a Daily Experience

To understand the depth of the shift, it is important to appreciate how digital services migrated from being an optional convenience to becoming central infrastructure.

A decade ago, a typical Saudi citizen interacting with government services often faced queues, manual paperwork, and multi-day processing times. Government offices were physical spaces; a stamped form was the gold standard of verification. That world now feels distant. Through Absher alone, citizens can complete more than 350 services—from renewing IDs to processing visas—without leaving their homes.

The Ministry of Interior has repeatedly emphasized that this shift is not only about modernization; it is about quality of life. A ministry official noted in 2024 that “citizens today expect public services to operate with the same ease and speed as the best digital companies in the world—and that is the benchmark we have adopted.”

Healthcare has undergone the same transformation. Platforms like Sehhaty and Mawid allow Saudis to book medical appointments instantly, access prescriptions, view test results, and consult doctors remotely. During the pandemic, these services became lifelines—and they remain part of everyday healthcare today.

Education, too, has become deeply digital. Students access materials online; parents monitor progress through apps; universities use AI-based systems for admissions and assessment. E-learning is not an emergency measure—it is part of the educational infrastructure.

Financial behavior has also changed dramatically. Cash usage has fallen below 20%, according to the Saudi Central Bank, and more than 95% of all transactions in retail settings now take place digitally or through contactless systems.

These transformations illustrate a deeper truth: digitization in Saudi Arabia no longer sits at the edge of society—it sits at the center.

The Meaning of Digital Trust—and Why It Matters

Digital trust refers to citizens’ confidence in the safety, transparency, reliability, and fairness of online systems. It is built on four pillars:
security, usability, accountability, and reputation.

If any of these pillars collapse, adoption weakens. But in Saudi Arabia, the opposite happened—adoption accelerated at remarkable speed.

Several factors explain why:

1. Strong national cybersecurity framework

Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in cyber defense, earning top regional rankings. This builds confidence that personal data and transactions are protected.

2. Unified and well-designed government platforms

Citizens do not navigate dozens of inconsistent portals. Instead, major services are consolidated into trusted platforms like Absher, Tawakkalna, Najiz, Sehhaty, and Ehsan.

3. Regulatory reforms that protect users

The National Data Management Office and related authorities introduced strict data governance laws that strengthened confidence in the use of personal information.

4. Visible reliability

When citizens consistently use digital services without errors or delays, confidence naturally grows. Reliability is trust in practice.

A senior official at the Digital Government Authority summarized it clearly during a recent industry conference:
“Trust is the currency of digital life. Once citizens trust a platform, everything else becomes possible.”

Behavioral Change: The Rise of the Digitally Confident Citizen

Once digital trust is established, behavior shifts rapidly. Saudi Arabia today offers several examples of large-scale behavioral changes driven by digitization.

1- A population that prefers online over offline

Surveys from 2023–2024 show that most Saudis now choose digital channels first for administrative, financial, and logistical tasks. Citizens no longer tolerate inefficiency—they expect services to be instant and accessible.

2- New expectations about transparency

Digital receipts, real-time tracking, and clear pricing have changed how Saudis evaluate services. The days of opaque processes are fading.

3- A shift in lifestyle habits

People order groceries online, track fitness digitally, use e-wallets to split bills, and rely on apps for entertainment, navigation, and health. Technology is not an add-on; it is embedded into daily routines.

4- A cultural shift toward self-service

Digital platforms empower users to complete tasks independently. This shift reduces friction and increases satisfaction.

Digital trust did not only make citizens comfortable with technology—it made them expect more from both public and private sectors.

The Role of Startups: Building Confidence Through Innovation

Saudi startups played a crucial role in strengthening digital trust. Their success stories, innovations, and reliability contributed to a broader cultural belief that digital solutions are not merely functional—they are superior to traditional ones.

Fintech startups such as STC Pay, Tweeq, HyperPay, and Tamara reshaped perceptions about digital payments and online financial services. Logistics startups improved trust in deliveries by offering real-time tracking and predictable service. Health-tech platforms democratized access to care and established proof that digital consultations can be high-quality, secure, and convenient.

Startups helped close gaps that large institutions could not fill quickly, especially in sectors where citizen expectations were evolving faster than legacy systems.

A Riyadh-based founder who runs a fast-growing fintech startup noted during a panel discussion:
“The more reliable digital services became, the more citizens trusted them. Startups had a huge role in proving that digital can be faster, safer, smoother—and that encouraged adoption across the country.”

This entrepreneurial ecosystem also reinforced the idea that digital transformation is not a government-driven process alone—it is a partnership between public institutions and private innovators.

The Economics of Trust: How Digital Confidence Generates Growth

Digital trust does not only affects behavior; it affects economic performance. When citizens trust digital systems, they transact more, invest more, consume more, and engage in entrepreneurial activity with less friction.

Saudi Arabia’s e-commerce sector, for example, grew past SAR 50 billion, driven largely by rising consumer confidence in online payments and delivery networks. Fintech adoption reached new highs, with digital wallets becoming the primary payment method for millions.

Government efficiency also surged. Digital transactions dramatically reduced operational costs across ministries, cut processing times, and improved service delivery. This efficiency increases competitiveness and makes the Kingdom a more attractive destination for foreign investment.

In short, digital trust fuels digital growth.

A Foundation for the Future: What Comes Next

Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation is still evolving. The next wave will integrate artificial intelligence more deeply into public services, expand digital health diagnostics, enable fully smart cities, automate mobility networks, and personalize services based on predictive analytics.

These advancements will require even stronger trust. But the foundation is already in place.

The Digital Government Authority has described this phase as “moving from digital services to intelligent services—where platforms anticipate needs before citizens ask.” That future requires citizens who are both digitally confident and digitally empowered. And today, Saudi Arabia has both.

Finally, the story of Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation is not only a story of technology. It is a story of confidence—built step by step, platform by platform, experience by experience. Citizens learned that digital services could be secure, reliable, efficient, and transparent. This trust enabled an ecosystem to flourish, startups to thrive, and daily life to be redefined.

Saudi society is not merely adopting digital tools—it is embracing a digital identity. And as the Kingdom moves toward a fully integrated digital future, digital trust will remain the invisible infrastructure supporting every service, every transaction, and every innovation.

Noha Gad

Investors often face two clear choices for growing what they have earned. The first pushes for fast gains, even if that means taking on high risks, while the second focuses only on keeping funds safer, often at the cost of meaningful growth. A more sensible path exists; one that does not require guessing market moves or avoiding all risk. This path is called a balanced investment strategy. This strategy rests on spreading funds across different types of assets, each of which has a distinct role in the financial plan. 

At its heart, a balanced strategy means acknowledging that markets move in rhythms, focusing on blending different kinds of opportunities. Some are designed to grow over time, while others provide stability when winds shift. Together, they create a portfolio that can weather storms without abandoning hope for sunshine.

What is meant by a balanced investment strategy?

A balanced investment strategy combines asset classes in a portfolio in an attempt to balance risk and return. To create a balanced investment portfolio, investors typically need to combine high-risk, high-return assets like equity stocks with more stable investment avenues, like bonds and other debt instruments. Some balanced investment portfolios may also allocate a small portion of the capital to money market instruments and cash equivalents to ensure liquidity.

The primary goal of this approach is to balance the goals of capital preservation and capital growth. To ensure capital preservation, balanced investments focus on safe and stable assets, such as government bonds, corporate bonds, and other fixed-income securities. Depending on how much risk the investor can afford to take, a balanced investment portfolio may include safer stocks like those of blue-chip companies or riskier small-cap stocks.

Benefits of balanced investment strategies

A balanced investment strategy offers several benefits to investors, including:

• Risk reduction: By spreading capital across different asset classes like stocks and bonds, a balanced investment strategy reduces the risk associated with market fluctuations.
•  Consistent returns: This strategy aims to provide more consistent returns over time. While it may not capture the highest returns in the market, it also avoids the lowest lows.
• Flexibility: A balanced investment portfolio can easily be adjusted according to changing market conditions or evolving life goals. For instance, investors adjust the portfolio to prioritize capital preservation as they approach retirement age.
• Income generation: Bonds and other fixed-income assets in a balanced investment portfolio can offer regular income to the investor. This is particularly beneficial during periods of market downturns.

How to implement a balanced investment strategy?

1. Understand your risk tolerance to get a better idea of how much risk you can tolerate.
2. Assess your financial goals to obtain clarity on the return required.
3. Choose a diverse mix of investments to meet financial goals.
4. For a passive investment approach, include index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
5. Monitor the balanced portfolio regularly to ensure that it remains aligned with your risk-return preferences.
6. Rebalance the portfolio to maintain your preferred asset allocation.

Finally, a balanced investment strategy offers a practical and disciplined approach for investors seeking to grow their wealth without exposing themselves to unnecessary risk. By combining growth-oriented assets, such as stocks, with stable instruments like bonds and fixed-income securities, this strategy seeks to achieve a reasonable balance between capital appreciation and capital preservation. It does not rely on predicting market movements, nor does it eliminate all risk. Instead, it provides a structured framework that adapts to changing market conditions and individual financial goals. For investors at any stage of life, adopting a balanced strategy can lead to more consistent returns, reduced volatility, and greater long-term financial stability. Therefore, it represents a sound and sustainable choice for those who wish to navigate financial markets with prudence and clarity.

Ghada Ismail

Markets have a way of tempting investors at exactly the wrong moment. Prices fall sharply, headlines turn negative, and confidence starts to crack. Then suddenly, the market turns. Prices tick up, screens flash green again, and it feels like the worst might be over.

But sometimes, that rebound isn’t a recovery. It’s a trap.

In financial markets, this is known as a ‘Dead Cat Bounce’—a short-lived rise in the price of a declining asset, followed by a continued drop. The term may sound unusual, but the idea behind it is simple: even something that’s falling hard can bounce briefly before hitting the ground again.

What is a Dead Cat Bounce?

A dead cat bounce happens when an asset—usually a stock, but it can also be a cryptocurrency or even a market index—drops significantly, then rebounds for a short period, only to resume its downward trend. For investors watching closely, that brief recovery can look like the beginning of a turnaround. In reality, it often isn’t.

The challenge is that, in the moment, it’s hard to tell the difference between a genuine recovery and a temporary bounce.

Why Does It Happen?

At its core, a dead cat bounce is driven less by strong fundamentals and more by market behavior.

One common reason is short covering. Investors who had bet on the price falling decide to close their positions and lock in profits, which involves buying the asset back. That sudden wave of buying can push prices up quickly, but only for a short time.

Another factor is early bargain hunting. When prices drop sharply, some investors jump in, thinking they’re getting a great deal. While that instinct can sometimes pay off, it can also lead to buying too early, before the asset has truly stabilized.

There’s also the emotional side of markets. After a steep decline, even small pieces of positive news can trigger optimism. Investors want to believe the worst is behind them. But if nothing has really changed—if the company is still struggling or the broader economic picture is still weak—the recovery doesn’t last.

How to Spot a Dead Cat Bounce

No one gets this right every time, but there are a few signs that can help.

First, look at the bigger picture. If the overall trend is still downward, a short-term rise doesn’t necessarily mean much. Markets often move in waves, even during declines.

Second, ask what’s driving the rebound. Is there real, meaningful news supporting it, like improved earnings, a strategic shift, or stronger economic data? Or is the price just reacting to short-term trading activity?

Third, pay attention to consistency. A real recovery tends to build gradually and hold its ground. A dead cat bounce, on the other hand, often feels shaky—quick gains followed by renewed volatility.

Why It Matters

Mistaking a dead cat bounce for a real recovery can be expensive. Investors who buy during the rebound may find themselves facing further losses as prices fall again.

This is especially true in volatile markets, where sharp moves in both directions are common. For newer investors, in particular, it’s easy to assume that any upward movement is a sign of opportunity. But not every dip is worth buying—and not every bounce is a comeback.

Understanding this concept helps shift the focus away from short-term price movements and toward the bigger picture.

How Investors Can Respond

Staying grounded is critical. Instead of reacting to every market swing, investors can better focus on fundamentals such as company performance, sector dynamics, and broader economic conditions.

Risk management plays an equally important role. Diversification, setting clear limits, and avoiding impulsive moves can help protect portfolios over the long term.

Patience remains a defining factor. Waiting for stronger confirmation may mean missing the absolute bottom, but it significantly lowers the risk of entering the market too early.

To Wrap Things Up…

A dead cat bounce is a reminder that not everything in the market is what it seems. Some recoveries are real, but others are just pauses in a larger decline.

The difference isn’t always obvious in the moment. But over time, it becomes clear that successful investing isn’t about reacting quickly to every bounce. It’s about knowing when to step back, look deeper, and wait.

Because in the end, it’s not the rebounds you chase that define your results; it’s rather the decisions you choose not to make.

.Kholoud Hussein 

For founders building companies in an increasingly competitive startup landscape, the terms “business model” and “business plan” often appear side by side—sometimes even used interchangeably. But in reality, they serve different purposes, answer different questions, and matter at different stages of the company’s journey. Understanding the distinction is not just a matter of semantics; it can influence investor perception, strategic direction, and the overall survivability of a young company.

In the world of startups, where speed, clarity, and adaptability are everything, knowing when you need a business model and when you need a business plan can determine whether a founder is prepared—or simply optimistic.

What Is a Business Model? The DNA of How a Startup Makes Money

A business model is the fundamental logic of how a company creates value, delivers it to users, and captures revenue. It answers the essential question: “How will this business make money and sustain itself?”

For a startup, this includes:

• Who the customer is
• What value does the product promise
• How the product is delivered
• How much customers are willing to pay
• How the company will earn revenue
• What makes the model scalable

Think of a business model as the blueprint. It is conceptual, strategic, and often simple enough to fit on one page. The lean canvas, or the business model canvas, has become a preferred tool in the startup world because it focuses on clarity rather than depth.

Popular startup business models include:

• Subscription (SaaS companies)
• Marketplace (delivery platforms, ride-hailing apps)
• Freemium (productivity tools)
• Transaction fee (fintech platforms)
• Direct-to-consumer (e-commerce brands)
• On-demand services (home services, fitness apps)

A business model is dynamic. Startups pivot it, test it, iterate on it, and sometimes replace it entirely. Investors often expect the business model to evolve as founders learn more about user behavior and market realities.

In short, a business model is the what and how of generating revenue.

What Is a Business Plan? The Roadmap for Execution

A business plan, on the other hand, is a structured document that describes how the company will operate and grow, including financial projections, team structure, milestones, and market analysis. It is far more detailed and formal than a business model.

A typical business plan includes:

• Executive summary
• Market research and industry analysis
• Detailed product description
• Go-to-market strategy
• Operational plan
• Team profiles
• Financial projections and funding needs
• Risk assessment
• Milestones and timelines

If the business model is the blueprint, the business plan is the construction manual. It outlines the steps needed to turn the model into reality.

While early-stage startups may not always need a long business plan, they eventually require one for:

• fundraising from banks or institutional investors
• government grants
• internal planning
• large partnerships
• long-term strategic execution

A business plan is stable, while a business model is flexible. Yet both support each other: one defines the concept, and the other defines the execution.

Why the Distinction Matters for Startups

In the early days of a startup, speed matters more than structure. Founders are testing assumptions, interviewing customers, building prototypes, and discovering product–market fit. At this stage, investors care more about the business model—what the idea is, how it will make money, and whether it can scale.

But once the company matures, raises capital, or expands markets, it needs the discipline and clarity that a business plan provides. No investor will commit a large check without seeing the numbers, the hiring plan, the competitive analysis, and the roadmap.

The two documents also require different mindsets.
A business model demands creativity and experimentation.
A business plan demands discipline and analysis.

Understanding both—and knowing when to use each—separates prepared founders from unprepared ones.

The Startup Reality: You Need Both, but Not at the Same Time

Successful startups rarely begin with a polished business plan. They start with a sharp, simple business model and a willingness to evolve it. Only after they validate the model do they commit to a formal business plan.

Investors know this. Markets reward this. And founders who grasp the difference build stronger companies with clearer strategies.

In an ecosystem defined by speed, uncertainty, and rapid learning, distinguishing between a business model and a business plan is not academic—it’s a survival skill.

Noha Gad

In the dynamic world of investing, investors build wealth by spotting opportunities others overlook. Visionary minds who seize groundbreaking shifts turn bold visions into lasting fortunes. Yet, while steady paths promise safety, they often cap potential at modest gains. For those seeking to outpace the market and capture extraordinary upside, aggressive investing offers a thrilling alternative.

Aggressive investing means taking bigger risks for the chance of much larger rewards. This strategy focuses on fast growth through smart, high-stakes choices, such as investing more in rising sectors or entering into new ventures early.

What is an aggressive investment strategy?

An aggressive investment strategy is a high-risk portfolio management approach that seeks to maximize returns by prioritizing capital appreciation over income or principal safety. Such strategies typically allocate heavily to stocks with little or no exposure to bonds or cash.

This approach often suits young adults with long investment horizons or any investor with a high tolerance for risk, as they can better withstand market volatility and early losses. However, it generally requires active management to respond to market swings and maintain the portfolio's growth potential.

Compared to conservative strategies, which emphasize capital preservation through stable, income-generating assets, such as bonds or dividend-paying stocks, aggressive growth strategies allocate more to equities with higher price variability. Aggressive growth stands apart by pursuing maximum upside, often through concentrated positions, sector-specific bets, or speculative opportunities.

Components of aggressive investment strategies

An aggressive investment strategy is built on the pursuit of significant growth over time, relying on specific components that prioritize long-term potential over immediate safety. The core components of an aggressive investment strategy include:

*Heavy equity allocation: Portfolios are typically dominated by stocks, often holding a significantly higher percentage in equities compared to safer assets like bonds or cash. This heavy weighting allows investors to capture the higher growth rates historically associated with the stock market.

*Focus on high-growth assets: an aggressive investment strategy targets companies expected to expand their earnings or revenue much faster than the average business. This frequently involves investing in smaller, younger companies or businesses operating in rapidly evolving sectors like technology.

*Sector concentration: This strategy may concentrate heavily on a specific industry that shows strong promise, rather than investing across different business types.

*Using advanced financial tools: some aggressive strategies incorporate tools like options, futures, or leveraged funds that aim to multiply market movements. These tools provide the potential for massive gains; however, they also come with the risk of significant or total loss.

In conclusion, an aggressive investment strategy is a commitment to growth that requires both mental toughness and a disciplined hand. By focusing on long-term potential and embracing the volatility that comes with it, investors become ready to capture opportunities that others might avoid out of fear.

However, understanding that the goal is not just to take risks, but to take the right risks is pivotal. Success in this arena relies on investors’ ability to remain patient during market swings and to stick to their strategy even when the outlook feels uncertain. 

Ghada Ismail

Positioned at the intersection of conversational AI and enterprise automation, Amira AI Almost Human is a Germany-origin platform delivering AI-powered customer experience and sales solutions across the Middle East and Europe. Headquartered in Dubai and operating under AC Group Middle East, the company enables businesses to automate interactions across voice, chat, email, and messaging platforms in more than 120 languages, offering what it describes as a highly human-like AI interface. 

Designed as an omnichannel automation layer, Amira’s technology integrates with enterprise systems to streamline customer service, qualify sales leads, and manage high volumes of interactions in real time. Its platform is used by over 150 enterprises, spanning industries where responsiveness and customer experience are critical, positioning the company as a key player in the growing adoption of AI-driven customer engagement solutions in the region. 

In this interview, Andreas Willmers, CEO of Amira.ai Almost Human, discusses how the company is addressing long-standing inefficiencies in customer care, the evolving concerns around AI adoption, and the opportunities emerging in Saudi Arabia’s rapidly advancing digital economy.

What problem are you solving today by using different AI tools?
We are solving a wide range of customer care challenges. We position ourselves as one of the world’s leading AI and automation platforms, enabling companies to automate processes across voice, chat, and virtually any communication channel. Our platform connects from anywhere to anywhere, acting as an API layer before, during, and after every conversation.

A key issue we address is waiting time. Traditionally, when customers call an airline or similar service, they may wait up to 45 minutes before being assisted. With AI, we can pick up calls within 10 seconds and resolve up to 80% of inquiries without involving a human agent. In effect, companies gain access to a virtually unlimited workforce that can respond instantly while maintaining a human-like interaction.

Beyond customer care, we also support sales processes by qualifying large volumes of leads. For instance, in real estate, agents often struggle to reach potential clients. Our platform can contact and qualify an unlimited number of leads immediately, improving efficiency and reducing frustration.

Ultimately, customer service becomes faster, more accessible, and available 24/7 across all channels, whether WhatsApp, email, phone, Slack, or Telegram. With full context awareness, we can resolve issues more efficiently, resulting in higher customer satisfaction, improved net promoter scores, increased sales, and reduced operational costs.

What is the top concern your clients raise about AI, and how do you address it?
There are companies that are already highly prepared for AI and understand that it is not perfect and is still evolving. However, the primary concern we encounter is data security, which is especially critical when working with banks and large enterprises such as Vodafone, Volkswagen Group, and L’Oréal.

To address this, we implement strict security measures. Unlike some smaller providers that directly connect AI systems to CRM platforms, we always introduce a security layer in between. This ensures that AI never has direct access to the CRM. Additionally, within workflows, we define precisely what information the AI can request and what it can return. Proper orchestration and security layers are essential to maintaining data integrity and protecting sensitive information.

Are there any collaborations or partnerships your company is considering in the Saudi market?
We already have partnerships in place. Our solution is fully white-labelable, meaning partners can adopt our technology, brand it with their own identity, and offer it under their name. This significantly expands market opportunities.

Our platform covers the full ecosystem, including agentic capabilities, call analysis, agent training, and real-time assistance. In markets like Saudi Arabia, this model enables large IT companies—previously focused on equipping call centers or providing telecom infrastructure—to integrate our solution and offer it to enterprises under their own brand.

We are actively seeking additional white-label partners in Saudi Arabia, as well as large enterprise clients that are ready to transition to AI-driven automation.

In your opinion, which sectors in Saudi Arabia are most ready for AI transformation?
Sectors with high customer interaction are the readiest. This includes hospitality, real estate, banking, airlines, and insurance. These industries handle large volumes of customer inquiries and place significant importance on customer satisfaction. Wherever customer experience is critical, AI adoption becomes both necessary and highly impactful.

How does your company approach responsible and ethical AI deployment?
Since AI is not perfect, it is essential to implement oversight mechanisms. Our approach involves deploying a second AI system to monitor and evaluate the performance of the first. Every interaction is continuously assessed from a technical standpoint to ensure quality and accuracy.

For example, after each call, we analyze how the AI performed, what actions it took, and whether all queries were handled correctly. This constant monitoring ensures that the system maintains high standards and operates responsibly.

How do you envision AI shaping the broader business landscape in Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia is a large and diverse market, and AI will inevitably impact every industry. Those who believe they do not need AI today are similar to those who believed they did not need the internet in the 1990s.

AI will enhance customer service, automate business processes, and enable faster, more efficient operations. Ultimately, it will lead to higher customer satisfaction and increased revenue across sectors.

Kholoud Hussein 

Saudi Arabia’s fashion sector is no longer emerging quietly on the sidelines of the Kingdom’s economic transformation. It is stepping into the foreground—structured, financed, and increasingly measurable. The unveiling of the new identity of the Fashion Investment Fund, the first specialized investment vehicle of its kind in the Kingdom, marks a decisive moment in that transition. It signals a shift from cultural encouragement to industrial strategy, from fragmented creative output to a coordinated economic sector.

For policymakers, the message is clear: fashion is no longer just about aesthetics or cultural expression. It is about value chains, job creation, export potential, and the broader ambition of building a diversified economy under Vision 2030.

The numbers alone justify the shift. Saudi Arabia’s fashion market is estimated to exceed SAR 70 billion, with projections placing it closer to SAR 90 billion within the next two years. This growth is not incidental. It is underpinned by a young population with rising purchasing power, a rapidly expanding e-commerce ecosystem, and a cultural reawakening that places local identity at the center of consumption patterns. Fashion, in this context, has become both an economic driver and a cultural statement.

Yet for years, the sector lacked the infrastructure to translate demand into sustainable growth. Designers operated in isolation. Manufacturing was largely outsourced. Financing was limited and often ill-suited to the unique cycles of fashion businesses. The result was a market rich in talent but constrained in scale.

The redefined Fashion Investment Fund is designed to change precisely that equation.

A senior official involved in the Fund’s restructuring described the shift in pragmatic terms: “We are moving from supporting designers to building an industry. That means financing production, strengthening supply chains, and ensuring Saudi brands can compete globally—not occasionally, but consistently.”

From Creative Fragmentation to Industrial Coordination

The Saudi fashion industry’s trajectory over the past decade can be traced through a series of deliberate milestones. The establishment of the Ministry of Culture in 2018 and the creation of the Fashion Commission shortly thereafter laid the institutional foundation. Subsequent years saw the introduction of training programs, international showcases, and incubators aimed at nurturing local designers.

By 2022, Saudi brands were appearing with increasing frequency on global stages, from Paris to Milan. These appearances were symbolically significant, but they also exposed a structural gap: global visibility without sufficient production capacity at home.

Designers could attract attention, but scaling remained a challenge. Production often relied on international factories, adding cost, complexity, and time. Smaller brands, in particular, struggled to meet minimum order quantities or maintain consistent supply.

The Fashion Investment Fund’s new identity addresses this bottleneck directly. By channeling capital into local manufacturing and mid-scale production facilities, it seeks to anchor the industry domestically. Analysts estimate that localizing even a fraction of current production could reduce costs by up to 30%, while retaining billions of riyals within the national economy.

Startups Redefining the Business of Fashion

Parallel to these institutional developments, a new generation of Saudi startups is reshaping how fashion operates. No longer confined to traditional design houses, the ecosystem now includes technology-driven companies addressing inefficiencies across the value chain.

Fashion-tech platforms are introducing data-driven inventory management, AI-powered demand forecasting, and digital retail solutions tailored to local consumer behavior. Resale and rental platforms are tapping into the growing global demand for circular fashion, while logistics startups are optimizing last-mile delivery for fashion e-commerce.

This evolution reflects a broader shift: fashion in Saudi Arabia is becoming as much about systems and scalability as it is about design.

A Riyadh-based entrepreneur operating in this space noted, “The conversation has changed. Investors are not just asking about collections—they are asking about margins, supply chains, and data. That’s a sign the industry is maturing.”

Estimates suggest that more than 1,000 SMEs now operate within the Saudi fashion ecosystem, many of them startups. Their growth potential is significant, particularly as they integrate technology into traditionally labor-intensive processes.

Closing the Gaps: Financing, Skills, and Global Access

The challenges facing the sector remain substantial, but they are now more clearly defined—and increasingly addressed.

Financing has historically been one of the most critical gaps. Fashion businesses often require working capital for inventory cycles, a need that traditional funding models have struggled to accommodate. The Fund introduces tailored financial instruments designed specifically for these dynamics, offering both equity investment and flexible capital solutions.

Skills development is another priority. While creative talent is abundant, specialized expertise in pattern-making, textile engineering, and fashion business management remains limited. Training programs supported by the Fund aim to build this capability at scale.

Perhaps most importantly, the Fund is working to bridge the gap between local brands and global markets. International expansion requires more than design excellence; it demands regulatory compliance, branding sophistication, and logistical infrastructure. By facilitating partnerships with global fashion institutions, the Fund seeks to position Saudi brands within international supply chains rather than at their periphery.

Economic Impact and Strategic Alignment

The broader economic implications are significant. The fashion sector is expected to generate up to 100,000 jobs by 2030, spanning design, manufacturing, marketing, and retail. Its contribution to non-oil GDP is set to increase as part of the Kingdom’s goal of raising the cultural sector’s share to 3% of GDP.

Equally important is the sector’s role in advancing social objectives. Women lead a majority of fashion startups in Saudi Arabia, making the industry a key driver of female economic participation. This aligns directly with Vision 2030’s emphasis on inclusivity and workforce diversification.

As one industry executive observed: “Fashion sits at the intersection of culture and commerce. It allows Saudi Arabia to tell its story while building a sustainable economic sector.”

Global Attention and the Next Phase of Growth

Saudi Arabia’s ambitions in fashion are beginning to attract international attention. Global brands, textile manufacturers, and investors are exploring opportunities in the Kingdom, drawn by its scale, policy support, and growing consumer base.

The emergence of creative districts in Riyadh and large-scale developments such as NEOM adds another dimension, positioning fashion within broader innovation ecosystems. These environments are expected to host design studios, manufacturing facilities, and technology startups, further integrating the sector into the national economy.

Looking ahead, the trajectory appears increasingly defined. The combination of institutional support, targeted investment, and entrepreneurial momentum is transforming fashion from a fragmented market into a coordinated industry.

A Sector Coming Into Its Own

The rebranding of the Fashion Investment Fund is, at its core, a statement of intent. It reflects a recognition that creative industries can no longer be treated as peripheral to economic strategy. In Saudi Arabia, fashion is being positioned as a sector capable of generating revenue, creating jobs, and projecting cultural influence on a global scale.

The transition is still underway, and challenges remain. But the direction is clear. What was once a collection of individual efforts is becoming a structured, investable industry—one stitched together by policy, capital, and ambition.

And in that transformation lies a broader truth about the Kingdom’s economic future: diversification is not only being built in factories and energy projects. It is also being designed, produced, and scaled—one collection at a time.

Ghada Ismail

For years, the global digital economy has been built on a simple promise: move everything to the cloud. Data from phones, sensors, machines, and platforms would travel to centralized servers, be processed, and return with insights. That model worked well when speed was not critical, and data volumes were manageable.

Today, data is being generated everywhere, in factories, vehicles, hospitals, retail stores, and entire cities. And much of it needs to be processed instantly, not after a round trip to a distant data center. This is where Edge Computing comes in.

Edge computing is the practice of processing data closer to where it is created rather than sending it to centralized cloud infrastructure. Instead of relying on faraway servers, computation happens at or near the source, whether that is a sensor, a machine, a mobile device, or a local data node.

In Saudi Arabia, this shift is becoming especially important. As the Kingdom accelerates its digital transformation under Vision 2030, the demand for real-time intelligence across industries is rising fast. From smart cities to autonomous systems, edge computing is emerging as the invisible layer that makes this transformation possible.

The Shift from Cloud to Edge

Cloud computing is not disappearing. In fact, it remains the backbone of global digital infrastructure. But it has clear limitations when speed, scale, and immediacy are required.

One of the biggest challenges is latency. When data must travel to a centralized cloud region and back, even a few milliseconds of delay can matter. In applications like autonomous vehicles, industrial automation, or remote healthcare, that delay is not acceptable.

Bandwidth is another constraint. As billions of devices come online under the Internet of Things, continuously sending raw data to the cloud becomes inefficient and expensive. Not every piece of data needs to travel that far.

Edge computing solves these problems by complementing the cloud rather than replacing it. The cloud still handles heavy analytics, long-term storage, and training of large AI models. Edge systems handle immediate decision-making, filtering, and local processing.

This shift is tightly connected to three major technological trends shaping Saudi Arabia’s digital future.

First is artificial intelligence. AI systems increasingly require real-time inference at the point of action. Second is IoT growth, where sensors and connected devices generate constant streams of data. Third is real-time decision-making, which is becoming essential in sectors ranging from logistics to energy.

Together, these forces are pushing computing closer to the edge.

Why Saudi Arabia Is Positioned for Edge Computing

Saudi Arabia is not just adopting digital infrastructure; it is building it on a national scale.

Under Vision 2030, the Kingdom is investing heavily in becoming a global technology and innovation hub. This includes everything from smart infrastructure and digital government services to giga-projects designed around data-driven ecosystems.

Projects such as NEOM, the Red Sea development, and other smart city initiatives are designed from the ground up to rely on real-time data flows. These environments cannot function efficiently if every sensor, camera, or autonomous system must depend on distant cloud servers. They require distributed intelligence, which is exactly what edge computing provides.

Another key factor is data sovereignty. As digital systems become more critical to national infrastructure, there is a growing emphasis on keeping sensitive data within local borders. Edge computing enables localized processing, reducing reliance on external data centers while improving security and regulatory control.

In parallel, Saudi Arabia’s expanding cloud infrastructure, supported by global players and local providers, creates a strong foundation for edge-cloud hybrid systems. Rather than choosing between the cloud and the edge, the Kingdom is increasingly building an integrated ecosystem that uses both.

Key Use Cases Across Industries

The real impact of edge computing becomes clear when looking at how it is being applied across industries in Saudi Arabia. In the energy sector, particularly in large-scale oil and gas operations, vast volumes of operational data are generated across upstream and downstream systems. Edge computing architectures can enable faster monitoring of equipment, predictive maintenance, and real-time anomaly detection by processing data closer to the source rather than relying solely on centralized systems. This approach helps improve operational efficiency and reduce downtime across critical energy infrastructure.

In smart cities and giga-projects such as NEOM and the Red Sea developments, edge computing plays a foundational role. Autonomous transport systems, smart grids, surveillance networks, and environmental sensors all rely on instant data processing. Without edge infrastructure, the responsiveness required for these environments would not be achievable.

Healthcare is another area seeing rapid transformation. Real-time diagnostics, connected medical devices, and remote patient monitoring systems require instant data interpretation. Edge computing allows hospitals and healthcare providers to process patient data locally, reducing delays that could affect critical decisions.

In logistics and retail, edge computing supports automation in warehouses, real-time inventory tracking, and smarter supply chain management. Delivery fleets, for example, can benefit from instant route optimization based on live traffic and operational data.

The gaming and entertainment industry is also becoming a major beneficiary. Cloud gaming, augmented reality, and immersive digital experiences require ultra-low latency. Edge nodes placed closer to users significantly improve performance, enabling smoother gameplay and more responsive digital environments.

The Emerging Edge Ecosystem in Saudi Arabia

As demand grows, a new ecosystem of infrastructure and technology providers is beginning to take shape in Saudi Arabia and the wider region, supporting the shift toward distributed and edge-enabled computing.

Local players are laying much of the groundwork. Edarat Group is one example, offering data center engineering, cloud services, and edge AI capabilities, while also partnering with global firms to deploy modular infrastructure closer to where data is generated. This positions it as part of the emerging layer, enabling more distributed computing models.

Another company contributing to this foundation is Ezditek, which is investing in large-scale data center capacity and digital infrastructure, including projects linked to NEOM. While not exclusively focused on edge computing, such investments are essential in building the physical backbone that edge architectures depend on.

On the global side, specialized technology firms are also entering the Saudi market. EdgeCortix, for instance, is expanding into the Kingdom through the National Semiconductor Hub, bringing energy-efficient AI accelerator technologies designed specifically for edge environments. This reflects a broader industry shift toward embedding AI processing directly into devices and localized nodes, rather than relying solely on centralized cloud infrastructure.

Together, these companies represent an early-stage but rapidly evolving ecosystem that combines infrastructure providers, AI hardware innovators, and distributed computing platforms.

Challenges Slowing Adoption

Despite strong momentum, edge computing adoption in Saudi Arabia still faces several challenges.

One of the most significant is infrastructure cost. Deploying distributed edge nodes across a large geography requires substantial investment in hardware, connectivity, and maintenance. Unlike centralized cloud models, edge systems are physically dispersed, making them more complex to scale.

Another challenge is talent. Edge computing sits at the intersection of cloud engineering, networking, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. The demand for professionals with cross-disciplinary expertise is growing faster than supply, creating a skills gap that needs to be addressed through education and training.

Integration is also a technical hurdle. Most enterprises in Saudi Arabia are already operating on cloud platforms. Integrating edge systems with existing cloud architectures requires careful design to ensure consistency, security, and data synchronization.

Finally, the market is still in its early stages. While interest is high, large-scale deployments are still emerging, meaning that best practices, standards, and regulatory frameworks are still evolving.

The Future ahead

The next phase of edge computing in Saudi Arabia will likely be defined by convergence.

Edge and artificial intelligence are becoming deeply interconnected. Instead of sending data to the cloud for AI processing, models are increasingly being deployed directly at the edge. This allows systems to make decisions in real time, from autonomous machines to smart infrastructure.

At the same time, the Kingdom is expected to see a rise in localized data infrastructure. More edge data centers, micro data centers, and distributed computing nodes will emerge closer to population centers and industrial zones.

This evolution positions Saudi Arabia as a potential regional edge computing hub, not just a consumer of global technology but a producer and exporter of advanced digital infrastructure capabilities.

Investor interest is also expected to increase as the ecosystem matures. As edge use cases become more visible and commercially viable, startups and venture capital activity in this space will likely accelerate.

Conclusion: Edge as Invisible Infrastructure

Edge computing will not be something most people see or interact with directly. It will not be a visible platform or a consumer-facing application. Instead, it will function as invisible infrastructure, powering the systems that define modern life.

From smart cities that respond instantly to environmental changes, to autonomous systems that make split-second decisions, to digital services that operate without delay, edge computing will sit quietly beneath it all.

In Saudi Arabia, this shift is particularly significant. As the Kingdom builds one of the world’s most ambitious digital transformation agendas, edge computing is becoming one of its most essential enabling layers.

It is not replacing the cloud. It is completing it.