Reflecting on LEAP - media interviews, buzz and excitement!

Reflections from LEAP 2026: The First Big Signal of the Year

It started before we'd even landed. Somewhere over the Gulf, I glanced around the cabin and clocked a couple of familiar journalist faces settling in for the flight, laptops already open, clearly prepping notes for the days ahead. There is something quite fun about realising your entire plane is basically one big pre-LEAP green room. By the time we touched down in Riyadh, it already felt like the event had started.

That instinct turned out to be right, because the reason we were there was a packed schedule of media interviews. We sat down with four of Saudi Arabia's leading newspapers and tech media titles across the trip, which is no small feat in an environment as competitive as this one.

Everyone at LEAP is launching something, announcing something, or vying for the same handful of journalist slots, so securing four separate conversations took real coordination. Each one took a different angle on where the Kingdom's tech story is heading, and it was a great reminder of how sharp and curious the local press pack is right now on AI, digital transformation and everything wrapped around it.

With that squared away, there was finally time to take in the halls, and what a sight they were. The crowds were properly back this year, with real energy and buzz from the moment you walked in. I don't think I scratched the surface of even one hall, let alone all of them.

Every stand was packed, and the tech on show did not disappoint. A robot was making coffee. Somewhere nearby, a machine was churning out ice cream entirely on its own.

Session-wise, the Google Cloud stage stole a fair bit of my time, and for good reason. The discussions there made one thing very clear: agentic AI is well past the theory stage. This is enterprises actually building with it, not just talking about it. Space and sport had their own spotlight too, from the Space Tech stage through to Sports Tech, where the Saudi Pro League CEO took to the mic and drew a serious crowd.

But if I am honest about what stayed with me most, it wasn't the tech. It was the people.

From the taxi drivers to the hotel staff to the team at the airport, everyone I encountered was warm, welcoming and happy to help. The moment that summed it up came on the last day, when my phone was on its last legs and my battery pack had finally given up too. A car parking attendant at LEAP noticed, stopped what he was doing, and helped me call a taxi. He was so polite about it, and it took precisely no time for him to go out of his way for a stranger.

That's the thing about Saudi Arabia. It is so welcoming and friendly, and everyone seems to want to help, often going well out of their way to do it. Paired with the scale of ambition you can feel across the Kingdom, it made for a brilliant trip back. Seeing how far things have moved along, and at such pace, was something else. It's part of why so many of our briefs now lead on Saudi, and after this trip, I am clearer than ever on why.