LEAP23: Second edition of technology event opens today in Riyadh

The second edition of Leap – Saudi Arabia’s major technology event is opening doors today.

Running until February 9, the event will feature an exhibitor and convention line-up of transformational talent, a product showcase of advanced and generative technology potential, and a celebrity cast of billionaire entrepreneurs, business magnates, sporting heroes, and musical icons turned futurists and financiers.

Together, more than 720 speakers from over 50 countries will explore ideas that will change lives, alter work patterns, and unlock unrealised and as-yet unimagined economic potential across 11 conference streams.

Music phenomenon and tech advocate will.i.am joins Spanish FIFA World Cup legend and NFT champion Carles Puyol to combine insights with thought-leadership debates alongside C-suite executives, including Aramco, Zoom, Google, Oracle, SAP and NEOM.

Meanwhile, a host of entrepreneurs and figureheads from Tim Draper, the billionaire venture capitalist and founder of Draper Associates, to John Lee, the chief executive of Hong Kong SAR, will also be present across the event’s four days.

Leap’s inaugural DeepFest, organised in partnership with the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA), will take place between February 7-9 and bring together global AI eco-system players to present multi-sector initiatives in a thought leadership conference with sector-specific tracks, trainings, live demonstrations, startup pitches and an exhibition.

The event is supported by MCIT with Tahaluf, a joint venture between Informa and the SAFCSP that is co-owned by both companies.

The event will host over 700 billionaire investors, astronauts, technocrats, and sporting superstars turned tech investors across Leap’s various stages housing 15 conferences.

Furthermore, with over 900 exhibitors confirmed for 2023, Leap has drawn an international line-up from the USA, Middle East, Levant, North Africa, the Sub-continent, Europe and Scandinavia. They include Saudi Arabian heavyweights STC, NEOM, Saudi Aramco, Mobily and ELM lining up alongside an international cadre of the biggest names in the tech business, including Snapchat, Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Visa, Alibaba cloud, Ericsson, Huawei, Dell, Nokia, SAP, Microsoft, Cisco, and IBM.

حياكم في أول أيام المؤتمر التقني الدولي #ليب23 نحو آفاق جديدة

اخترنا لكم مجموعة من الجلسات يقدمها نخبة من المتحدثين

6 – 9 فبراير | 2023
مركز واجهة الرياض
سجل الآن: https://t.co/cfXyXDoNTs pic.twitter.com/ZdyvKpDPxN

— LEAP (@LEAPandInnovate) February 6, 2023

Speakers at Leap 2023
Some of the speakers at this year’s event include football legend and tech investor Thierry Henry; billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper; two-time World Boxing Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua; Pekka Lundmark, president and CEO of Nokia; Borje Ekholm, president and CEO of Ericsson; Steve Bartlett, the youngest Dragon’s Den investor, podcaster, and founder of Social Chain; Gitanjali Rao, the 17-year-old American inventor and Time’s first-ever Kid of the Year; Susan Kilrain, NASA astronaut and the second woman and youngest person to pilot the Space Shuttle; and Sian Proctor, an explorer and mission pilot for the Inspiration4 all-civilian orbital mission to space. The scheduled investors control a combined and unprecedented $1.6tn fund pool.

Leap 2023
Leap broke all tech event records during its launch outing, and organisers Informa Markets believe this year’s iteration – which will also feature more than 90 global startups pitching for a share of a $1m prize fund – will further raise the bar.

“There has never been an event that has gained such rapid traction among businesses, governments, sponsors, and tech luminaries,” said Michael Champion, regional EVP, MEA at Informa Markets. “Tech players now view Leap as an unmissable event and Saudi Arabia as a catalyst for an entirely new world of opportunity.”

Meanwhile, Leap has garnered support from numerous government and private sector organisations. Strategic partners and sponsors for Leap23 include Neom, STC, Saudi Aramco, Mobily, IBM, Microsoft, Ericsson, Huawei and Najm Insurance. The 2023 edition will also host country pavilions from the United Kingdom, Finland, Japan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Oman and India.

Read: In pics: Day two at Saudi’s global technology platform LEAP22