How Saudi Arabia can follow Israel’s AI blueprint

Saudi Arabia is rapidly asserting itself as a major player in the global artificial intelligence landscape, driven by its ambitious Vision 2030 economic diversification plan. While the Kingdom possesses vast financial resources and is forging significant partnerships with global tech giants, experts suggest that it could gain invaluable insights by studying Israel’s remarkably successful, innovation-driven AI ecosystem.

Israel, a nation with a considerably smaller landmass and population, consistently ranks among the top countries globally for AI talent and startups. This “startup nation” has fostered a vibrant culture of entrepreneurship, risk-taking, and dual-use innovation – factors that have fueled its tech prowess far beyond its natural resources. Saudi Arabia, in its quest to transition from an oil-dependent economy to a knowledge-based one, could effectively adapt elements of this blueprint.

Central to Israel’s success is a robust framework that prioritizes human capital development. Its national AI strategy emphasizes cultivating a skilled workforce, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration between academia, industry, and government, and investing in innovative research. This has led to a high concentration of AI researchers and engineers, attracting billions in foreign investment.

For Saudi Arabia, which aims to train 20,000 AI specialists by 2030, this focus on homegrown talent is critical. While the Kingdom has invested heavily in physical infrastructure – including supercomputers like Humain and major data centers – without a thriving domestic community of data scientists and AI researchers, these investments risk becoming outposts of foreign tech economies. Learning from Israel’s agile innovation model, which encourages intellectual property creation and local ownership, could accelerate Saudi Arabia’s self-sufficiency in AI.

Furthermore, Israel’s emphasis on “Responsible Innovation” in AI, balancing technological advancement with ethical considerations like data privacy and bias prevention, offers a valuable lesson. As Saudi Arabia develops its own large language models attuned to Arabic language and culture, adopting a similar ethical framework will be crucial for public trust and global integration.

While political complexities currently limit overt collaboration, the underlying principles of Israel’s AI success, cultivating talent, fostering a vibrant startup ecosystem, and strategic government support for research and ethical development, offer a powerful roadmap for Saudi Arabia’s journey to becoming a global AI leader. By internalizing these lessons, the Kingdom can move beyond simply hosting foreign tech to building a truly homegrown and sustainable AI powerhouse.