A two-day conference and exhibition in Riyadh bringing together senior data and AI professionals from Saudi Arabia's public and private sectors, alongside global technology solution providers. Now in its third edition, the event operates under the Smart Data Series brand managed by Tradepass and is positioned within Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 digital transformation context.
Smart Data and AI Summit Saudi Arabia (SDAIS) is a two-day B2B summit and exhibition focused on data strategy, analytics, and AI deployment in the Saudi Arabian market. It is organised by Tradepass LLP, a commercial events group, under the Smart Data Series brand that also covers events in other emerging markets. The 2026 edition is the third, following editions in 2024 and 2025. It takes place on 26-27 August 2026 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Riyadh. According to the organiser, the event gathers 300 or more pre-qualified delegates, 50 or more speakers, and 25 or more solution providers. All attendance and participation figures are self-reported.
As of 9 June 2026, the full agenda for the 2026 edition had not been published on the event website. The 2025 and 2024 agenda pages are accessible for reference. The event format combines a main stage conference programme with an exhibition floor where solution providers demonstrate products and hold meetings with delegates. Past speaker affiliations include the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), STC, Red Sea Global, the Ministry of Education, Aramco, and the Council of Health Insurance, among others.
Key topics listed for 2026 include Saudi data sovereignty and open data policy, AI and data analytics in the Saudi digital economy, generative and predictive AI convergence, data mesh architectures, AI in smart urban development, and digital transformation with analytics. These topics are consistent with the priorities articulated under Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 framework and the $100 billion Project Transcendence AI initiative announced by the Saudi government.
According to the organiser, 81% of attendees at the 2025 edition held influence or sole responsibility in procurement decisions.
The event occupies a specific geographic niche: it is among the few annual summits in Saudi Arabia dedicated to data and AI at senior level, operating in a market where international events have limited penetration and local institutional events dominate. The August timing (late summer) precedes the main Gulf conference season (Q4, October–December). The Smart Data Series brand operates comparable events in other markets, which allows Tradepass to aggregate sponsors and solution providers across the series.
The organiser describes the delegate profile as pre-qualified senior professionals from Saudi Arabia's leading public and private organisations, with job titles spanning CDO, CIO, CTO, and heads of data science, business intelligence, AI strategy, machine learning, automation, and robotics. Participating sectors listed include government, banking, insurance, e-commerce, telecom, oil and gas, retail, healthcare, mining, FMCG, media, aviation, logistics, construction, education, agriculture, hospitality, and automotive. According to the organiser, all delegates are pre-qualified based on budget allocation for technology procurement. These figures are self-reported.
The event runs across two days with a main stage conference programme (keynotes, panel discussions, Q&A sessions) and a parallel exhibition floor where solution providers showcase products and meet pre-qualified delegates. The organiser emphasises the qualified buyer profile of attendees as a differentiator for exhibitors. No published breakdown of session counts, workshop tracks, or networking events (beyond the exhibition model) is available for the 2026 edition.
Based on stated key topics and past programme content, the event covers:
Data strategy and architecture: Data mesh, data virtualisation, hybrid cloud architecture, and enterprise data management in the Saudi context.
AI deployment and analytics: Generative AI, predictive AI, AI-powered business intelligence, AI in healthcare, and AI applications across the sectors represented in the delegate base.
Vision 2030 alignment: Saudi data sovereignty, government digital transformation initiatives, Project Transcendence, smart city development, and the national AI research agenda.
Commercial and procurement focus: The event is structured to facilitate meetings between solution providers and buyers. The pre-qualification of delegates by budget and procurement timeline is a stated feature of the format, making it explicitly a business development vehicle as well as a content event.
It is a commercial event organised by Tradepass LLP. Several past speakers have come from Saudi government bodies (SDAIA, Ministry of Education, Council of Health Insurance), but the event is not produced by or affiliated with the Saudi government.
The event is not suited to academic researchers, startups without enterprise deployments, or professionals seeking deep technical sessions on AI development. It is oriented toward enterprise buyers and solution providers in the Saudi market. International attendees outside the Middle East data and AI market may find limited relevance unless they are seeking business development access to the Saudi market.
The event is open to international participants. Past speaker affiliations include organisations headquartered outside Saudi Arabia. The event is held in Riyadh and oriented primarily toward the Saudi and Gulf market.
The JW Marriott Hotel Riyadh is a five-star international hotel property in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is a standard venue for large corporate and government events in the Saudi capital. No specific room names, floor plans, or capacity figures for the SDAIS configuration were provided on the event website. The hotel is accessible from King Khalid International Airport.
Tradepass is a commercial events and media organisation that produces B2B summits across emerging and growth markets in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates the Smart Data Series brand across multiple countries, producing variations of the Smart Data and AI Summit format in different national markets. Tradepass's registered website is tradepassglobal.com. The organisation is active on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/tradepassglobal), Twitter/X (@Tradepassglobal), Instagram, and YouTube. Contact details for sponsorship, speaking, and media enquiries are listed on the event website footer.
A commercial summit that serves as one of the few concentrated access points for senior data and AI decision makers from Saudi public and private organisations in a single room.
Registration and delegate attendance details are managed by Tradepass. The event website (saudi.smartdataseries.com) provides forms for speaking and exhibiting enquiries. Delegate registration pricing is not publicly displayed on the website; interested attendees must contact the organiser directly. Sponsorship and exhibition packages are available through the website contact section.
Registration is handled through the event website at saudi.smartdataseries.com. No self-service online registration form is visible; direct contact with Tradepass is required. The organiser pre-qualifies delegates based on seniority and budget criteria.
No hybrid or virtual attendance option was listed on the 2026 event website.
As of 9 June 2026, the 2026 agenda page had not yet been published. The 2025 agenda is accessible at saudi.smartdataseries.com/agenda-2025 for reference.
| Official website | https://saudi.smartdataseries.com/ |
| Register | Not disclosed (contact organiser via website) |
| Programme (2026) | Not yet published as of 2026-06-09 |
| Programme (2025, for reference) | https://saudi.smartdataseries.com/agenda-2025 |
| Organiser website | https://tradepassglobal.com |