LEAP 24 Conference in Riyadh: Investment overview

#LEAP24 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was overwhelming. With 175,000 attendees from 183 countries, it was the Biggest Tech Conference on the planet.

Let me share my highlights:
➡ Full days of partner meetings, not only from the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia
➡ LEAP conference has grown rapidly, with the total value of deals increasing from $6.4 billion in the first edition to over $13 billion this year, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s focus on technology and innovation.
➡ Digital Saudi Arabia exhibition by over 30 government agencies showcased advanced digital services and products
➡ Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced a $5.3 billion investment to establish a cloud zone in the Kingdom
➡ DataVolt also announced a US$5 billion investment for new data centres in the Kingdom with a more than 300 megawatts capacity.
➡ aramco announced the establishment of the Saudi Accelerator Innovation Lab (SAIL) and launch of #Metabrain GenAI model, as well as announcing “Aramco LLM”, the world’s first industrial grade GenAI.
➡IBM plans to invest US$250 million for a global software development centre in the Kingdom. They also want to integrate SDAIA’s Arabic Large Language Model, or ALLaM, into IBM’s WatsonX enterprise AI 
➡ServiceNow will invest US$500 million to localize its regional services in Saudi Arabia with training and development programs to upskill and train Saudi talent.
➡ Dell Technologies will open a manufacturing and fulfilment centre in Saudi Arabia
➡Microsoft showcased new partner integrations with #Copilot