“The scope and scale of what they are trying to do in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is unbelievable” Palantir’s Josh Harris at FII Institute Riyadh shares how the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is leveraging AI to leapfrog the competition.
Saudi Arabia is not experimenting with AI. They are outpacing entire industries. If a country can leapfrog the world, why can’t a tech team ship faster? What is really slowing us down?
Josh Harris highlighting how Saudi Arabia is “leveraging AI to leapfrog the competition” ambitious national strategy. But here’s what separates true leapfrogging from sophisticated dependency: infrastructure ownership. Nations investing in AI transformation should build: • ✅ Sovereign AI infrastructure • ✅ Local model development capabilities • ✅ Technology independence • ✅ Data that never leaves national borders Not just: • ❌ Better software from Western vendors • ❌ Platforms requiring ongoing licensing • ❌ Systems controlled by foreign companies Saudi Arabia has the vision and resources. The question is: are they building national AI sovereignty or national AI subscriptions? 🥦Brockbox.com — Data ownership = passive income.
Saudi Arabia is moving at a pace and scale that very few countries can match — and the strategic advantage comes from how they’re treating AI as infrastructure, not an add-on. What stands out most is the integration layer: AI tied directly into national planning, industrial operations, logistics, energy systems, and public-sector execution. That’s how you leapfrog — by building a unified operating picture across an entire economy. This isn’t just digital transformation. It’s the creation of an intelligent national infrastructure — where data, operations, and decision-making converge into one real-time system. Exciting to watch how quickly this is evolving.
Josh Harris, Unbelievable is one word for it. Everyone cheers when power talks about leapfrogging the world. No one asks what gets stepped on in the process. AI at national scale sounds visionary until you remember what can be done with perfect surveillance, perfect control, perfect obedience, and no dissent. The future always looks impressive when you don’t have to live under it. We keep celebrating acceleration without asking where the brakes are. We keep glorifying “leapfrogging” without asking who gets sacrificed to cushion the landing. So here’s the forbidden question: When you build tools for a kingdom, do you stop to wonder what kind of kingdom you’re building them for? Progress isn’t neutral. Technology isn’t neutral. AI isn’t neutral. It always serves someone. And history never remembers the engineers. It remembers the regimes they enabled. So before the applause gets too loud, a whisper for the ones still listening: What good is winning the future if you have to sell the soul of the present to get there? Not every leap forward leads upward. Sometimes it’s just a more elegant fall.
Love seeing KSA's commitment to innovation through AI. The real challenge is bridging the knowing-doing gap. Technology alone doesn't change behavior. People must actually use AI to make better decisions, not just have it. Simulation data consistently shows that knowledge transfer often fails to translate into sustained behavioral change. How are they ensuring actual behavior change, beyond just AI deployment?
Innovation is unstoppable when it starts at the core. That’s the mindset of true team spirit.
Impressive to see how AI is transforming large-scale initiatives in Saudi Arabia. #Palantir is clearly enabling next-level insights and execution
Great summary Josh Harris 🎯The sheer scale of things in KSA is mind boggling
Thank you for preserving our way of life. Stay awesome and keep crushing it. Semper Fidelis