As Saudi Arabia marks 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence, LEAP 2026 is set to bring the world's leading AI companies, investors and innovators to Riyadh for four days of announcements, partnerships and industry-defining discussions, reinforcing the Kingdom's position at the forefront of the global AI economy, organiser Tahaluf announced on 6 August 2026.
Dr. Lisa Su, Chair and CEO of AMD, and Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN, headline the speaker line-up, joined by Matthew Zielinski, Executive Vice President of International Markets at Lenovo, and Nick Law, Creative Chairperson of Accenture Song, alongside senior leaders from EY, PwC, Qualcomm, Luma AI and other organisations shaping the future of AI and emerging technologies.
The Year of AI designation reflects the Kingdom's rapidly advancing ecosystem, with Saudi organisations outperforming global peers in investment scale, technology maturity and confidence in realising AI value. More than three quarters expect AI to deliver return on investment at scale within 12 months, the highest level of any region, making LEAP 2026 the platform where that momentum is translated into partnerships, investment and enterprise deployment.
"Saudi Arabia has rapidly established itself as one of the world's most exciting technology markets," said Mike Champion, CEO of Tahaluf and Co-creator of LEAP. "Riyadh has become a place where the world's biggest technology companies come together not only to discuss the future of AI, but to build it through collaboration, investment and real-world applications."
Tech Arena returns as the event's flagship stage for breakthrough innovation, with a programme built around AI in action: 93% of its sessions feature a live demonstration, working prototype or inventor-led conversation, up from 62% in 2025. Aadeel Akhtar, Founder and CEO of PSYONIC, will demonstrate an AI-powered prosthetic hand that reads muscle signals and adapts to its wearer in real time, while Andreas Forsland, Founder and CEO of Cognixion, will present Axon-R, a non-invasive brain-computer interface combining EEG, augmented reality and AI.
Also launching within Tech Arena is the Inventor Fireside Chat series, featuring Koichi Wakata, astronaut and Chief Technology Officer at Axiom Space, and Mike Pell, one of the creators of the PDF at Adobe.
Mazen Baroudi, EY MENA CTO, said LEAP brings together the full AI ecosystem, from chipmakers and cloud providers to frontier model developers and organisations deploying AI at scale, while highlighting Saudi Arabia's growing role in the global AI landscape.
LEAP 2026 runs from 31 August to 3 September at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Center in Malham.