AlEqtisadiah will hold its inaugural forum on artificial intelligence and economic transformation in Riyadh on 5 October 2026. The event, announced on 23 September, will bring together business leaders, decision-makers, and Saudi and international experts to examine how AI is moving from an assistive tool into a broader operating capability.
The forum is being organised in partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and will take place at King Salman Science Oasis. Its agenda is expected to focus on agentic AI, data-driven competitiveness, the changing structure of business models, and the practical challenges involved in scaling AI across organisations.
The timing places the event within a significant period for Saudi technology policy. The Kingdom has designated 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence and is using national programmes, infrastructure investment and institutional partnerships to accelerate AI adoption. A business forum alone does not change that trajectory, but it can provide a place for companies and policymakers to compare implementation experience and identify where adoption is being held back.
The focus on agentic systems is particularly notable. The next phase of enterprise AI is increasingly being framed around systems that can plan, coordinate and execute bounded tasks rather than simply generate text or answer questions. That shift raises questions about governance, data access, accountability, workforce design and the controls required before an AI system is allowed to act inside a business process.
For Saudi companies, the most valuable discussion will likely be practical: which use cases are producing measurable value, what infrastructure is required, how organisations can prepare data, and where human approval must remain mandatory. The forum also creates an opportunity to connect national AI ambitions with the realities of procurement, deployment and operating cost.
The event is a preview rather than a new AI product launch, so its immediate impact will depend on the quality of the participants and the commitments that follow the discussions. Still, the forum is a useful signal of the Kingdom’s effort to make AI part of the economic transformation conversation—not only a topic for specialist technology conferences.
GCC AI Network will follow the event for announcements involving deployments, partnerships, investment, regulation and measurable AI adoption across Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf.
