THE BASELINE.
THE NUMBER
trillion (SAR)
Saudi Arabia's foreign direct investment stock reached SR1,122.8 billion at the end of Q1 2026, up 12% year on year and representing about 32% of total foreign investment in the Kingdom. Total foreign investment stood at SR3,530.8 billion, up 18% year on year.
THREE SIGNALS
The Public Investment Fund's 2026–2030 strategy shifts the mandate from expansion to value creation, after assets under management grew from about SR500 billion ($136 billion) in 2015 to over SR3.4 trillion in 2025, more than $199 billion of new domestic projects between 2021 and 2025, and total annual shareholder return above 7% since 2017.
A fund that has grown from SR500 billion to SR3.4 trillion can no longer rely on its size to impress. After five years of expansion, it must now demonstrate profitability.
Abdullah Alkherb
The share of Saudi internet users using AI tools reached 45.2% in 2025, more than double the year before, per the CSTC's Saudi Internet Report, highest among 20–29 year-olds at 55.7%, and higher among women (52.8%) than men (39.4%). Business adoption reached 33.1% (up 20% year on year), led by information and communications at 61.1% and financial services at 52.9%.
Individuals are 12 points ahead of their employers in AI adoption, and 61.1% of information and communications firms are already using it. Sell capabilities now, because the buying committee is already using these tools personally, even where procurement hasn't caught up.
Osamah Alfadda
Saudi Arabia's Seha Virtual Hospital completed 11 consecutive remote robotic surgeries, including the second remote lobectomy and fifth remote pneumonectomy performed anywhere in the world, with surgeons in Riyadh operating on patients in Hail and other regions.
A surgeon in Riyadh successfully performed surgery on a patient in Hail without either of them needing to travel. This occurred eleven times in a row, proving that distance is no longer an obstacle to effective medical care.
Mohammed Altuwaijri
THE MOVE
The third fund, not the first hotel
Sports Boulevard has secured a $186 million fund with Al Jazira Capital to help finance a five-star hotel in Riyadh's Urban Wadi district. This is the project's third real estate investment fund, bringing total signed investment to more than $1.6 billion. (Arab News)
The real story is not the hotel, but the three closed funds. Riyadh's large-scale projects have shifted from simply announcing masterplans to raising capital for each asset individually. This approach is slower and much more accountable, since every fund must prove its value on its own instead of relying on a big headline figure.
Whether fund four closes on similar terms. Raising money for each asset works well when the assets are appealing, but the real challenge comes with the tougher properties. If you want to secure tenancy or supply for these projects, you need to act at the fund close, not when the project is finished.
FROM THE FIELD
45% of people online use AI tools here in Saudi, and about a third of businesses do as well. We see the 12% gap as a governance issue, not just an adoption issue. These tools are already in your workplace. Right now, someone in finance might be pasting a draft contract into a chatbot. Before you write a policy, check what people are actually using and how. If your policy is based on assumptions, those already ahead will likely ignore it.
