AMD, HUMAIN leaders to headline LEAP 2026 in Riyadh

LEAP 2026 will bring top AI executives, investors and innovators to Riyadh for four days of announcements and demos as Saudi Arabia marks 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence. The event is positioning the Kingdom as a central hub for AI investment, deployment and collaboration.

Why it matters: - Saudi Arabia is using LEAP 2026 to showcase its push to become a global AI hub. - The event is designed to convert AI momentum into partnerships, investment and enterprise deployment. - LEAP 2026 arrives as Saudi organizations are said to be outperforming global peers in AI investment scale, technology maturity and confidence in near-term returns. - More than three quarters of Saudi organizations expect AI to deliver return on investment at scale within 12 months.

What happened: - LEAP 2026 will take place in Riyadh over four days. - AMD Chair and CEO Dr. Lisa Su and HUMAIN CEO Tareq Amin will headline the event. - Other featured leaders include Lenovo Executive Vice President of International Markets Matthew Zielinski and Accenture Song Creative Chairperson Nick Law. - Senior leaders from EY, PwC, Qualcomm, Luma AI and other organizations are also scheduled to participate. - Registration is open at onegiantleap.com.

The details: - Saudi Arabia has designated 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence. - LEAP 2026 will focus on announcements, partnerships and industry discussions tied to AI infrastructure and deployment. - Tech Arena will again serve as the flagship stage for breakthrough innovation. - 93% of Tech Arena sessions will feature a live demonstration, working prototype or inventor-led conversation, up from 62% in 2025. - PSYONIC Founder and CEO Aadeel Akhtar will demonstrate an AI-powered prosthetic hand that reads muscle signals and adapts in real time. - Cognixion Founder and CEO Andreas Forsland will present Axon-R, a non-invasive brain-computer interface that combines EEG, augmented reality and AI to translate neural signals into action. - The demonstrations are intended to highlight AI uses in healthcare, accessibility, rehabilitation and human-machine interaction. - LEAP 2026 is also launching an Inventor Fireside Chat series inside Tech Arena. - Featured speakers include Axiom Space CTO Koichi Wakata and Mike Pell, one of the creators of the PDF at Adobe.

Between the lines: - LEAP is becoming a showcase for AI commercialization, not just AI discussion. - The heavy emphasis on live demos suggests organizers want attendees to see working products rather than future concepts. - The speaker mix spans chipmakers, cloud providers, model builders and enterprise deployers, which points to an ecosystem-wide strategy. - EY MENA CTO Mazen Baroudi said LEAP highlights Saudi Arabia’s growing role in the global AI landscape and its efforts to develop locally relevant solutions.

What's next: - LEAP 2026 will bring together technology companies, investors and innovators to announce deals and test partnerships in Riyadh. - The event is expected to further reinforce Riyadh’s position as a destination for AI innovation, investment and collaboration. - Organizers say the conference will continue to spotlight technologies moving from research into real-world deployment.

The bottom line: - LEAP 2026 is being framed as Saudi Arabia’s marquee AI moment of the year, with global tech leaders, live demos and enterprise use cases all aimed at proving the Kingdom’s AI ambitions are moving into execution.