Formula One drivers make headlines but, no matter how skilled they are, from Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, they do not win races on their own. Behind each of them stand mechanics and technicians tuning their cars, engineers managing tire degradation, strategists planning pit stops and pit crews performing under pressure in seconds. It is the team that matters most.

The same can be said about the essential role that people play in making sovereign artificial intelligence a reality. AI sovereignty requires domestic talent committed to localizing and advancing knowledge, while building, maintaining and evolving domestic infrastructure. Given the current volatility in the Middle East and growing global competition, AI sovereignty is especially critical.

With Saudi Arabia working toward becoming a regional and global AI hub, it is no coincidence that education accounted for 16 percent of government expenditure in 2025. As far back as 2022, 18 percent of Saudi degree-level graduates had STEM degrees, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Given the current volatility in the Middle East and growing global competition, AI sovereignty is especially critical

Abdullah Jarwan

Strategic capital, cheap energy and internal stability make the Kingdom a compelling AI hub. But its AI workforce is the decisive factor and must be empowered across three key priorities.

First, encouraging top talent to apply AI to pressing problems in both business and society. Within only two months of launching, ChatGPT attracted more than 100 million users. But passive consumers of AI output do not give rise to AI sovereignty; creators using AI to build at scale do. Countries and companies alike should establish incubators that empower their best people to develop new use cases for AI that create societal and commercial value. For countries to achieve AI sovereignty, they must be at the cutting edge. The further they are from it, the greater their risk of depending on more capable technology and talent elsewhere.

Second, breaking down the silos and boundaries that stand in the way of collaboration. It is all too easy to confuse sovereignty with autarky, but these are two distinct concepts. Autarky, the notion of getting by on your own, invites a go-it-alone mindset. That is not feasible in a world in which AI supply chains cross borders and institutions. AI sovereignty does not mean opting for isolationism but collaborating while prioritizing and protecting national interests. By leveraging talent across countries and companies, each team can go further than on its own.

Given the Gulf’s strong AI fundamentals, its underlying value proposition as an AI hub remains compelling

Abdullah Jarwan

Third, leveling the playing field through a global framework for AI. Rules of engagement create the trust needed to collaborate in the pursuit of AI sovereignty. Without that trust, countries and companies have fewer incentives to collaborate and greater incentives to exploit loopholes. Indeed, without a shared set of rules for AI, global AI competition risks becoming a zero-sum game. But AI is far too powerful and consequential for us to allow that to happen.

In recent months, against the backdrop of heightened regional volatility, some commentators have asked whether the Gulf can remain attractive as a hub for AI. The answer is yes. First, because the region has demonstrated its ability to adapt to new circumstances time and again. Second, because others have a stake in the region’s success.

As Jared Cohen, Goldman Sachs’ head of global affairs and co-head of the Goldman Sachs Global Institute, has noted, today’s AI powers need partners such as the Gulf to expand computing capacity quickly. And Gulf states need external knowhow and technology to achieve their own AI ambitions. This interdependence, however paradoxical, is a feature rather than a bug of AI sovereignty.

Given the Gulf’s strong AI fundamentals, from strategic capital to cheap energy to internal stability, its underlying value proposition as an AI hub remains compelling. What is needed is more, not less, international collaboration. When AI sovereignty is viewed as a team sport instead of a zero-sum game, volatility becomes a problem to solve, not an obstacle to avoid.

In my view, Saudi Arabia’s AI edge goes beyond the fundamentals; ultimately, it lies in its people. In launching Vision 2030 in 2016, Saudi Arabia rallied the nation around a clear North Star: economic diversification through national transformation. And at a time of growing polarization, such cohesion is a competitive advantage and the hallmark of winning teams.

Unlike F1, the race for AI sovereignty is not a spectacle and the rewards are not merely financial. AI is already changing the world in profound ways and the consequences of that change have yet to be seen. But just like the success of F1 drivers depends on their teams, achieving AI sovereignty depends on countries empowering their AI talent to tackle pressing problems, collaborate across national and institutional boundaries, and compete on a level playing field.

  • Abdullah Jarwan is CEO at CNTXT, the Riyadh-based cloud, data, AI and services company.