LEAP 2025 was more than just a massive tech gathering in Riyadh. With over 215,000 attendees and 1,800 brands, the event underscored how quickly the Middle East is shaping its own digital future.
Across the show floor, in keynotes, and in one-on-one meetings, the same themes kept coming up: the region’s AI adoption is accelerating at a rapid pace, data sovereignty is becoming a top business priority, and open source is gaining ground as the foundation of choice for scalable innovation.
These weren’t abstract ambitions; they were the focus of real-world strategies, deals, and discussions happening in real time. Here’s what stood out to us.
AI as the Region’s Key Economic Driver
The numbers tell the story: AI is expected to add $320 billion to the Middle East’s economy by 2030, with sectors like manufacturing, finance, and public services seeing the biggest impact. But at LEAP, the real conversation was about how organizations are making AI practical, moving beyond experimentation and into full-scale deployments.
Enterprise leaders talked about using AI to streamline operations, improve decision-making, and unlock new efficiencies. Governments, meanwhile, are embedding AI into national transformation efforts, using it to power smart city initiatives and modernize public services.
But the bigger question wasn’t about AI’s potential. It was about control–who owns the data fueling these systems, and how organizations can adopt AI without sacrificing sovereignty.
Data Sovereignty Is Now a Business Imperative
Regulations like Saudi Arabia’s Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) are reinforcing the need for stronger data governance, but at LEAP, it was clear that sovereignty isn’t just about compliance. More and more, organizations see it as a way to future-proof their operations.
At the EDB stand, many conversations centered on this balance: how to harness AI’s power while keeping data secure, compliant, and under local control. Decision-makers weren’t just looking for AI-ready platforms; they were looking for sovereign AI-ready platforms, solutions that let them scale while staying in charge of their data.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism has already shown what this can look like in practice, using a sovereign data strategy to exceed its Vision 2030 visitor targets seven years ahead of schedule. The takeaway? Organizations that prioritize sovereignty don’t just mitigate risk. They gain the confidence to move faster and scale bigger.
Open Source: The Preferred Model for Growth
Another shift was obvious at LEAP: organizations are moving away from proprietary software that locks them in and limits flexibility. Instead, open source is emerging as the go-to model for enterprises that need to scale on their own terms.
One of the most compelling examples of this comes from fintech. stc pay, Saudi Arabia’s leading digital wallet, scaled from 700,000 to 12 million users by switching to an open source database model. That kind of growth doesn’t happen in rigid, closed environments.
Throughout the event, open source kept coming up as a strategic choice, not just a technical one. It gives organizations control over their infrastructure, flexibility to adapt, and the ability to build solutions that align with regional priorities—not just the constraints of a vendor’s roadmap.
The Takeaway from LEAP 2025
If there was one message that defined this year’s event, it was this: the Middle East isn’t following global tech trends—it’s setting them. AI is being embedded into national economies. Data sovereignty is guiding long-term strategies. Open source is unlocking new levels of flexibility and innovation.
For enterprises, the challenge now isn’t whether to embrace these shifts. It’s about how to do it in a way that supports real business outcomes. That’s the conversation we had at LEAP, and it’s the conversation that will continue long after.
We left the event energized by the direction the region is heading. The momentum is real, the strategies are bold, and the future is already being built.