🇸🇦 From Riyadh to Reality: Why and How Saudi Arabia Is Defining the Future of the Global Digital Economy

By Mike Cowles, CEO, Tradeshift

How my time in Riyadh reframed my view on where the future of digital economies is being written

When I landed in Riyadh in January 2025, I expected to find a country in transition, a nation with a bold vision, working to modernize its economy. What I found instead exceeded expectations in both scope and execution.

From my earliest conversations in the city, with former government officials, leaders from innovative technology firms, and some of the Kingdom’s most prominent financial institutions, it became clear that Saudi Arabia is progressing with significant momentum.

Having spent more than 25 years working at the intersection of technology, finance, and global supply chains, I’ve witnessed transformation efforts in many regions. But what’s unfolding in Saudi Arabia today is distinctive. It is strategic, well-resourced, and moving at pace.

I was struck by the enthusiasm and appetite for economic and technological advancement. There is a focus and clarity of purpose here that stands out, and much of it is anchored in the aspirations of Vision 2030.

🔭 A Nation Rewriting the Digital Playbook

Saudi Arabia isn’t just modernizing through digital tools, it’s rethinking the structure of its economy for the digital age.

The Digital Government Strategy 2023–2030 represents more than just policy. It’s a whole-of-government and whole-of-economy approach to embedding technology into public services, business ecosystems, and citizen experience. The goal of reaching a top 10 global ranking in digital government by 2030 is ambitious, but what truly impresses is the commitment to execution.

With six defined digital transformation pillars, measurable KPIs, and a fast-growing network of partnerships, the Kingdom is laying the groundwork for a tech-enabled economy that is designed to be resilient and future-ready.

From next-generation urban projects like NEOM to digital-first public services, Saudi Arabia is actively building an innovation ecosystem, not just infrastructure.

💸 A Global Leader in Tech Investment

This ambition is being matched by investment. At LEAP 2025, the Kingdom announced $14.9 billion in technology-focused investments, spanning AI, cloud infrastructure, and digital services.

Additionally, other notable investments include:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced over $5 billion in investment to establish an “AI Zone” and advanced data centers in Saudi Arabia, empowering local innovation and adoption.
• Google Cloud committed $10 billion to build a regional AI hub and cloud infrastructure, fostering the Kingdom’s leadership in data-driven industries.
• Oracle pledged $14 billion over the next decade to expand cloud and AI services within Saudi Arabia.

These are substantial commitments. More importantly, they appear to be highly targeted, focused on capabilities that will enable long-term digital competitiveness.

As a CEO who has seen many nations aim to leapfrog legacy barriers, it’s encouraging to witness Saudi Arabia actively taking the steps to do so.

🧠 Artificial Intelligence With a National Mandate

Artificial Intelligence is an area where Saudi Arabia is making rapid and thoughtful progress. The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) is overseeing an integrated national AI strategy, covering everything from infrastructure and research to policy and ethics.

Rather than leaving innovation entirely to the private sector, the government is choosing to co-develop future capabilities, ensuring AI is responsibly deployed across key domains like public services, healthcare, logistics, and energy.

It’s a pragmatic approach, and one that could offer a model for other countries navigating the promise and complexity of emerging AI technologies.

🏗️ Digital Infrastructure Built for the Future

A notable advantage Saudi Arabia brings to the table is the absence of outdated digital infrastructure. Without legacy systems to unpick, the Kingdom has the freedom to architect next-generation infrastructure from the ground up.

Projects like the TONOMUS.NEOM Telecommunications Center show how Saudi Arabia is building intelligent, scalable digital backbones with long-term growth in mind.

With over 90% internet penetration and a rapidly expanding IoT market, the Kingdom is investing in the infrastructure required for a highly connected, service-driven economy.

🏛️ Smart Regulation as an Enabler

One of the key enablers of digital transformation is regulation that accelerates innovation while safeguarding trust. In meetings with regulators and enterprise leaders, I saw a consistent focus on crafting technology-forward policy environments.

The ZATCA FATOORAH e-invoicing platform stands out as a strong example. At Tradeshift, we’re pleased to support Saudi businesses in adopting e-invoicing, not only to meet compliance needs but to modernize financial operations more broadly.

In our experience, regulatory shifts like this are more than a checkbox, they can become catalysts for digitization and business process innovation. Real-time e-invoicing unlocks greater transparency, better liquidity, and improved automation, benefits that are especially valuable for growing enterprises.

💳 Financial Institutions as Strategic Partners

Technology is critical, but capital remains the fuel of sustainable innovation. Saudi Arabia’s financial institutions understand this. Their role in the country’s transformation is growing, not just as financiers, but as ecosystem partners.

From my conversations with banking leaders, it’s clear that institutions in the Kingdom are thinking strategically, investing in fintech, supporting infrastructure development, and exploring new models of collaboration with emerging businesses.

At Tradeshift, we’ve seen first-hand how bringing together capital and technology can fundamentally shift the trajectory of a company. Across global markets, we’ve partnered with progressive banks to enable invoice financing, unlock working capital, and embed liquidity directly into supply chains.

In Saudi Arabia, the opportunity to scale this kind of impact is considerable. The ecosystem is ready, not just for digital adoption, but for financial innovation that drives real growth.

🤝 A Model for Public-Private Collaboration

Perhaps what struck me most during my time in Riyadh was the spirit of collaboration between public and private actors.

This isn’t just a collection of siloed initiatives. What I saw was a coordinated effort, one that brings together regulators, enterprise players, global tech firms, and financial institutions around a shared transformation agenda.

Partnerships driven by the Digital Government Authority, such as those with SITE, QSS, and others, are actively helping to scale AI and digitization across sectors. It’s a strong foundation, and a reminder that transformational change often requires broad alignment.

📈 Signs of Transformation Already Taking Hold

You don’t need to look far to see the early results. Saudi Arabia’s B2B e-commerce market is projected to grow from $10 billion in 2023 to $26.7 billion by 2030. This is being driven by businesses that are bypassing legacy systems and moving straight to cloud-native, AI-powered platforms.

At Tradeshift, we’re actively supporting this shift, helping organizations digitize supply chains, simplify B2B transactions, and access capital more effectively through an integrated platform.

The pace of adoption is encouraging, and it reflects both a readiness to innovate and a broader cultural shift toward technology-enabled business models.

🌍 A Reference Point for Emerging Economies

Saudi Arabia is becoming a point of reference for how emerging economies can combine vision, capital, and execution to build digitally resilient futures.

The Digital Government Strategy is expected to contribute SAR 11.4 billion to GDP and create more than 26,000 skilled jobs by 2030. But beyond the statistics, what’s being built is a diversified, technology-led economy with people and businesses at the center.

This is not just a story of potential, it’s a real-time case study in national transformation.

🚀 Tradeshift’s Long-Term Commitment

For Tradeshift, Saudi Arabia is more than a growth market, it’s a valued partner on the journey toward a connected, digitized global economy.

We are committed to working alongside Saudi enterprises, financial institutions, and regulators to unlock opportunity through technology, enable smarter commerce, and help businesses grow with confidence.

The conversations I had in Riyadh this year were some of the most eye-opening of my career. The ambition is clear. The talent is here. And the resolve is unmistakable. Saudi Arabia is building a forward-looking economy, faster and more cohesively than many would expect.

It’s a story still being written, but it’s one the rest of the world should be watching closely.