كيف تبني المملكة العربية السعودية قدرات رقمية مستدامة على المدى الطويل؟

Khalid Al-Manaei, Vice President of the Executive Committee at Al-Manaei Group of Companies, presents his vision on the integration of artificial intelligence, communication, and smart infrastructure to drive transformation across sectors and accelerate the achievement of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals, creating new opportunities throughout the region.

The digital transformation journey in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is entering a new phase that goes beyond mere technology adoption, as institutions increasingly focus on building sustainable capabilities, developing local talent, and creating new operating models capable of delivering long-term economic and social value.

Khalid Al-Manaei, Vice President of the Executive Committee at Al-Manaei Group of Companies, believes that this momentum is driven by a combination of factors such as Vision 2030, clarity in regulatory frameworks, and growing competitive pressures, alongside a broader ambition to build sustainable national capabilities in the long term.

Al-Manaei stated, "Transformation is no longer driven by a single factor; Vision 2030 provides the strategic direction, regulatory frameworks establish clarity, and competition enhances the need to accelerate progress, but the strongest motivation lies in the ambition to build sustainable national capabilities in the long term."

This has led to a shift in the approach to implementing transformation on the ground, where instead of focusing on individual technologies, institutions are exploring how to integrate artificial intelligence, data, automation, and smart systems to improve decision-making processes and deliver services and daily operations.

He added, "This is manifested in sectors such as government services, financial services, healthcare, industrial operations, and major infrastructure projects. At Al-Manaei, we see that the institutions making the most progress are those that start by defining clear business outcomes and then work to align technology, talent, data, and governance to achieve them." This contributes to adopting a more integrated approach to transformation, where technology supports broader business objectives rather than being treated as a standalone investment.

From Technology Adoption to Capability Building

Saudi Arabia's ambitions also contribute to shaping new expectations among technology sector clients, as institutions increasingly seek solutions that enable them to develop and retain expertise internally, rather than relying heavily on external providers.

As a result, there is a growing focus on having greater control over the technology itself. Areas such as data sovereignty, AI governance, Arabic language readiness, and scalability are gaining increasing importance as institutions plan for long-term growth. For Al-Manaei, this means a heightened focus on open architectures and ready-to-deploy operations to meet sovereignty requirements.

Conversely, institutions are increasingly focused on identifying the capabilities they can build and maintain. Al-Manaei explained, "Saudi Arabia today poses the question of how to build capabilities by leveraging technology, taking a step beyond merely considering how to adopt it."

National Growth and Regional Impact

These developments also contribute to enhancing Saudi Arabia's position as a regional technology hub, as the scale of investments and the pace of development in the Kingdom create opportunities that transcend the boundaries of individual institutions and sectors.

For Al-Manaei, this regional opportunity begins with strengthening capabilities within Saudi Arabia. Through its teams operating in the Kingdom, its solution delivery capabilities, and its product-related initiatives, the company is working to develop local expertise and solutions that can potentially extend beyond the Kingdom in the future.

This direction was highlighted during LEAP 2026, where Al-Manaei showcased how artificial intelligence, communication, and smart infrastructure integrate in the fields of sports, cities, and institutions. The company's participation reflected the growing expansion of technology adoption across various sectors in the Kingdom.

As Saudi Arabia continues to develop its digital infrastructure and local expertise, the impact of this is expected to extend to the Gulf countries and the broader Middle East and Africa region. Al-Manaei concluded by saying, "We do not view Saudi Arabia merely as a market to which we provide our services; rather, we see it as the market from which the new generation of regional technological capabilities will emerge."