The Kingdom has set its AI ambition at global scale. Now the advantage belongs to the enterprises that execute. The AI Leadership Summit & Awards 2027 gathers Saudi Arabia’s boards, CEOs, and business and technology leaders to turn a $100 billion AI agenda into board-led governance, trusted operating models, and returns that compound.
AI spending in Saudi Arabia is set to grow nearly fivefold by 2029. But only half of Saudi organizations consider themselves ready to take full advantage of AI. The gap between investment and impact is where leaders need a framework. The AI Leadership Summit is built for the executives closing that gap. What you will take away:
Board-Led AI Strategies
Defining enterprise direction, investment priorities and competitive advantage in the AI era.
Innovation vs Productivity
Balancing new revenue creation with substantial revenue-per-employee gains.
Organizational Transformation in the AI Era
Transforming organizational models for human + AI collaboration.
The Autonomous Enterprise
Moving from AI-assisted processes to autonomous, agent-driven enterprise operations
Enterprise Architecture for the AI Era
Evolving the tech stack with a guiding business architecture.
AI-Enabled Operating Models
Redesigning workflows, decision-making and execution for the AI era.
Trust at Enterprise Scale
Building scalable governance, oversight and transparency into enterprise AI systems.
Measuring AI ROI at Enterprise Scale
Reshaping how productivity is measured across every Line of Business.
In Saudi Arabia, Total AI spending in 2027 is forecast to reach $4.46B
Associate Research Director, Artificial Intelligence (META)
IDC
Read bio
In his role as associate research director for IT services and software across the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META), Melih drives IDC’s regional research and consulting engagements in the areas of IT services, Cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), and intelligent automation.
He first joined IDC in 2012 as a senior research analyst located out of IDC’s Istanbul office, with various responsibilities for the firm’s IT services, cloud computing, software, and telecom domains — both in Turkey and across the wider META region. Between 2016 and 2021, Melih headed the international marketing and investor relations practice at P.I. Works, a global automation and AI software vendor that serves telecom operators.
Now back at IDC, Melih is leveraging his vast experience in the IT services, cloud, software, and telecommunications domains to advise clients on go-to-market strategies, technology marketing and promotion activities, and market trends analysis. He is also driving a wide variety of research and consulting projects across the META region.
Melih has also previously served as enterprise channel and marketing manager at Nortel Turkey and as business development and strategy manager at Netaş, one of the leading systems integrators in Turkey and a former Nortel subsidiary. He possesses a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and received his MBA from Esslingen University of Applied Sciences in Germany. He has worked as a business development specialist at HP and wrote his MBA thesis for the company, covering European retail channel trends and winning strategies for channel businesses.
IDC’s view of what tops the boardroom agenda: the investment priorities, governance shiftsand leadership moves that define competitive position this year.
Set the Saudi AI Strategy
Build an investment thesis aligned to Vision 2030 and SDAIA priorities, not just global best practice.
Govern with Discipline
Navigate PDPL, CITC mandates, and SAMA regulations while maintaining the velocity Saudi enterprises need.
Quantify the Value
Move beyond pilot metrics. Translate AI investment into measurable revenue-per-employee gains across Saudi’s key sectors: energy, finance, and government.
Lead the Change
Build AI talent pipelines, Saudization-compatible operating models, and the culture to sustain an AI-Fueled Enterprise.
Buyers across the META now choose partners mainly on AI and agentic AI capability, which makes delivering AI at scale the deciding factor.
IDC estimates AI will create $22.5 trillion in cumulative economic value by 2031, with agentic AI driving the next wave of spending. Organizations that move from pilots to scaled, measurable deployments will capture it.
