AI Adoption Accelerates in Saudi Arabia as Security Frameworks Struggle to Keep Pace
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia is rapidly emerging as one of the world’s most ambitious adopters of artificial intelligence, but a leading IT figure has warned that security frameworks are struggling to keep pace with the speed of deployment.
Wasna Ben Gassem, Managing Director for Saudi Arabia at TrendAI, said the gap between ambition and security is widening as enterprises embed smart systems into critical operations without adequate visibility or control. “In many cases, competitive urgency is quietly overtaking operational readiness,” she told Arabian Business. “For a country that is rapidly establishing itself as one of the world’s most ambitious and intentional digital economies, that tension is worth examining carefully”.
The warning is backed by a global study of 3,700 business and IT leaders, which found that 57% believe smart technology is advancing faster than they can secure it. Only 38% have comprehensive policies in place, while 67% admit feeling pressured to approve deployments despite active security concerns.
National ambition meets security reality
Saudi Arabia has positioned itself at the forefront of global adoption. The Kingdom ranks fifth globally and first in the Arab world in sector growth, according to the Global AI Index. The leadership plans to grow the national market to $9.17 billion by 2030. The country also ranks first globally in security, privacy, and cryptography, according to the Stanford HAI AI Index Report 2026.
Yet Ben Gassem cautioned that national leadership does not automatically translate into enterprise readiness. Many existing architectures were not designed for the complexity that smart systems introduce. Security teams now face risks extending beyond traditional cybersecurity, including data misuse, shadow deployment, regulatory uncertainty, and reduced oversight over sensitive systems.
“Security can no longer function as a reactive control point introduced after deployment decisions are made,” she said. “It must become an integrated architectural layer spanning infrastructure, governance, compliance, data protection, and operational oversight from the very beginning”.
A path forward
Ben Gassem argues that the next phase of maturity will depend on moving beyond adoption speed to enable secure scalability. Fragmented point solutions and disconnected governance frameworks are increasingly insufficient in an environment where smart systems are reshaping every layer of enterprise operations.
“Saudi Arabia has already demonstrated that meaningful leadership is about building securely, governing responsibly, and scaling sustainably,” she said. “To ensure long-term success, enterprises need to match that national ambition with security architectures capable of sustaining it”.
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