Saudi Arabia is making a significant presence in Davos as it aims to establish itself as a leading AI technology hub in the Middle East.

• Saudi Arabia's representatives were numerous in Davos, with the country aiming to become a prominent technology center in the region.
• An expansive storefront promoting Neom, a new urban development in northwestern Saudi Arabia, was showcased by the Saudi delegation on the city's main street.
• Riyadh's expansion plan prioritizes becoming a hub for generative AI technology.

The United Arab Emirates has been a popular tech hub in the Middle East due to its tax-free environment, lenient visa policies, and attractive incentives for international businesses and workers.

Saudi Arabia aims to attract some of its neighbor's talent and attention, as revealed on the Davos Promenade.

The Saudi delegation showcased their presence on the city's main street through an expansive storefront promoting Neom, a new urban development in northwestern Saudi Arabia; a space dedicated to the AlUla project, an initiative aimed at making the heritage city a global tourist destination; a pop-up for the Saudi crown prince's Foundation, MiSK, and its youth ambassadors called "majlis" - along with two additional Saudi chalets. This is part of the country's Vision 2030 strategy of economic diversification.

The Neom showcase on the promenade highlights the development's potential as a destination for tourism, luxury living, and innovation.

A Neom spokesperson informed CNBC that the enhanced presence aimed to inform the investment community about the progress and to convey that the company is open for business.

On Monday, the country's finance minister, Mohammed al-Jadaan, told CNBC that oil's percentage of GDP has decreased from 70% to a range of 30% to 35%.

Al-Jadaan stated that the country's diversification into sectors such as tourism, technology, and logistics is significant.

Amid a broader effort to enhance the kingdom's global standing as a negotiator, Al-Jadaan remarked that Riyadh maintains a strategic relationship with the U.S. and a close relationship with China, and believes it can act as a mediator between the two nations. In April, Riyadh will host a special World Economic Forum.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan includes multiple "giga" projects, some of which focus on massive infrastructure investments while others aim to attract fintech talent from the region and beyond.

Ian Bremmer, the founder of Eurasia Group, initially doubted the transition being driven by MBS when he first became crown prince, but now he believes in it.

Bremmer stated that the individual is driving entrepreneurship and diversifying the economy. He also mentioned that there are many people interested in working in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, Bremmer highlighted the efforts of this person to combat corruption in the royal family and improve education, particularly for women.

Bremmer stated that the Kingdom had moved beyond the Khashoggi incident, which took place in 2018 at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where journalist Jamal Khashoggi was captured or killed.

Attracting talent

The Saudi economy surpassed the $1 trillion mark for the first time, while the UAE's economy is half that size, at approximately $500 billion, according to World Bank data. Despite this, the UAE still has a substantial lead, with hundreds of millions of dollars invested in its Advanced Research Technology Centers, including those focused on generative artificial intelligence, cyber, quantum, and biotech.

The kingdom is investing heavily in its tech hub aspirations.

The primary objective of MBS's investments, as regional experts in Davos explain to CNBC, is not the construction of flashy megacities in the desert, but rather the attraction of talent to fuel a value creation cycle in AI.

A UCLA mathematician is the head of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), which aims to attract top talent to the country and drive innovation.

KAUST announced that it is aligned with Saudi Arabia's goal to become a global AI leader by 2030 and is taking steps to achieve this goal through strategic partnerships. The establishment of a National AI Strategy, which supports startups, AI-powered government services, and the Riyadh International Center for AI Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) and Saudi Aramco's AI research center, which focuses on advanced projects in oil and gas, are among the initiatives that KAUST is pursuing to achieve this goal.

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) oversees KAUST's AI efforts, which are supported by its own AI Initiative and the SDAIA AI Center, as stated by the university.

Vera Futorjanski was a member of the team that established the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Riyadh through the MiSK 500 accelerator.

According to Futorjanski, CEO and founder of Veritas Ventures, the key factor that sets Saudi apart and could contribute to its success on the global stage, particularly in the AI race, is its access to resources, regulatory flexibility, and a young, educated, and innovative population.

Singapore and Israel

Jack Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ, a company spun off from Google's parent in 2022, says that the transformational impact of AI is "well beyond even the mobile phone."

Both the Emirates and Saudi Arabia have millions of people who require upskilling, with Saudi Arabia having a significantly larger population. According to Hidary, AI-driven personalized education and training can be a game-changer in this regard.

According to Hidary, who recently visited Saudi Arabia, both the UAE and Saudi Arabia are considering countries like Singapore and Israel, which have a strong focus on start-ups and technology, as potential models for their own economic development.

Hidary stated that although Singapore and Israel lacked natural resources, they excelled in utilizing smart people to drive technology and innovation. Now, Saudi Arabia and Emirates are closely examining this approach and implementing programs to achieve the same success.

— CNBC’s Karen Gilchrist contributed to this report.