- LEAP 2026 concluded with nearly $15bn in technology investments, agreements and announcements.
- Cybersecurity, data resilience, sovereign AI and edge computing featured among the developments relevant to security professionals.
- Saudi Arabia’s growing digital infrastructure will create new requirements around cyber resilience, data sovereignty and physical security.
The fifth edition of the Riyadh-based technology event concluded on 3 September, with nearly $15 billion in investments, agreements and technology announcements made during the four-day event. These included developments in AI infrastructure, data centres, cloud services, technology manufacturing and venture capital.
The event had been expected to bring together more than 1,000 speakers, 1,800 technology companies, 600 startups and 1,900 investors, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
For the security sector, several announcements at LEAP highlighted the infrastructure being built to support increasingly data-intensive and AI-enabled operations.
Cybersecurity was one area of focus, with Cyberani by Aramco Digital and Nutanix announcing a cooperation agreement aimed at developing technical capabilities and cybersecurity solutions.
Data resilience was another theme. Mindware announced a new partnership with Veeam covering the Middle East, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt and Libya. The agreement focuses on data protection, recovery and business continuity, with the partnership showcased at LEAP.
The event also highlighted Saudi Arabia’s push towards locally developed and operated AI infrastructure. HPE, Intel and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology launched the ‘Saudi Made, Developed, Deployed’ initiative, designed to connect locally produced infrastructure with Saudi-developed applications and local implementation and support capabilities. HPE identified Saudi AI companies including OmniOps as founding software partners.
Separately, OmniOps and HPE signed an MoU at LEAP covering the development of sovereign AI solutions using HPE’s Saudi-made infrastructure and OmniOps’ Saudi-developed AI platforms and in-country deployment capabilities.
Edge infrastructure was also represented. Dell Technologies and Armada signed an MoU during LEAP covering containerised mobile and edge data centre solutions in Saudi Arabia, with the companies targeting projects requiring localised computing and storage capacity.
The scale of the infrastructure investment was further illustrated by Al Moammar Information Systems’ $1.2 billion data centre expansion, which is intended to increase capacity to 192MW, while NHC Innovation announced an $800 million investment in Khuzam Digital Valley, with capacity that could reach 65MW by 2033. Microsoft also confirmed that its Saudi Azure cloud region is expected to become available in November 2026.
For security professionals, the developments point to a changing infrastructure environment in which cyber resilience, data sovereignty, physical protection of digital infrastructure and the security of increasingly distributed computing environments will become increasingly interconnected.
The focus now shifts to how these technologies and infrastructure investments will be implemented and secured across Saudi Arabia’s expanding digital economy.
Looking ahead, Saudi Arabia’s security and technology agenda will continue to develop through major industry events including Intersec Saudi Arabia, taking place at Riyadh Front from 16–18 November, followed by the Security Middle East Conference in Riyadh, taking place at voco Hotel Riyadh on 29 November 2026. The conference is expected to bring together senior security professionals for discussions covering the region’s evolving security challenges, technology and risk management.
