The city of Riyadh will host the third edition of the world's most attended tech conference, "LEAP," from March 4 to 7, 2024, at the Riyadh Exhibition and Conference Center in Al-Mulhim, north of the city, under the theme "New Horizons." The event is organized by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, and the Alliance Company, along with the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises "Monsha'at" as a supporting partner.
The conference will feature a lineup of experts and speakers, including Arvind Krishna, Chairman of IBM, Antonio Neri, CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom, and many others. The third edition of LEAP will include several stages and platforms, such as a main stage discussing topics like "Web 3," strategies of major tech companies, and user privacy in technology. The conference will also host an investors' platform and various stages focused on topics such as educational technologies, retail technologies, financial technologies, health technologies, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, future energy, and smart cities.
The Deep Fest platform returns for the second time at LEAP in partnership with the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority "SDAIA," under the theme "Artificial Intelligence Exceeds Imagination." It will feature over 150 speakers and more than 120 exhibitors, focusing on different aspects of artificial intelligence each day. The first day will address the beginnings of artificial intelligence and its developments, the second day will showcase current achievements and their impacts, the third day will discuss the role of innovations and emerging technologies in artificial intelligence, concluding with the future of artificial intelligence on the final day.
More than 1,800 exhibitors from leading tech companies around the world, such as Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Dell, Cisco, Avaya, SAP, ServiceNow, Amazon Web Services, IBM, Alibaba, Huawei, and others will participate in the conference. His Excellency the Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Eng. Haitham bin Abdulrahman Al-Ohaly, expressed his happiness, stating: "We welcome thought leaders, influencers, investors, and innovators from around the world to LEAP, the most attended tech event." He added, "This edition of LEAP comes at a time when changes are accelerating, and generative artificial intelligence represents a critical turning point at the economic and social levels. Therefore, the conference will feature 10 stages discussing various tech aspects, with a focus on health, education, and e-commerce."
For his part, the CEO of the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones, Muteb Al-Qunni, emphasized the importance of the conference, saying: "We are keen to provide a unique experience for visitors; thus, we will host the most prominent speakers and tech experts globally." He added, "LEAP was created to be influential in technology worldwide, bringing together the largest tech companies alongside startups and investors under one roof, which could result in numerous investments and agreements in the future." It is worth noting that "LEAP" returns this year for its third edition after the significant success of the first two editions, featuring over 1,000 speakers, more than 600 startups, with expected attendance exceeding 172,000 visitors.
