Tech News
The Future of Semiconductors Forum 2024: Charting the Course of Electronic Chip Manufacturing and Design in Saudi Arabia
The third edition of the Future Semiconductors Forum 2024 will be held in Riyadh, hosted by King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in partnership with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). The event, scheduled for June 5-6, 2024, at the Garage Innovation District in Riyadh, aims to promote the domestic production of electronic chips and boost the digital economy within Saudi Arabia.
This forum will gather esteemed policymakers, industrial pioneers, experts, and scholars in semiconductor technology. Notable participants include Shuji Nakamura, a Nobel laureate in Physics for his development of blue/green LEDs and violet laser diodes, alongside Kang Wang, who holds a professorship in electrical engineering and computer science and serves as Co-Director of the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering at UCLA and a Professor of electrical engineering at Raytheon Company. Also in attendance will be Steven P. DenBaars from the University of California – Santa Barbara, renowned for holding more than 190 US patents and co-founding the Institute of Engineering Electricity and Electronics alongside four photonics and electronics companies.
Umesh Mishra, the Dean of the College of Engineering at UCSB, joins the list of distinguished participants, as do Ross Jatou, President of the Semiconductor at Alat Company, Dr. Naveed Sherwani, the Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Rapid Silicon Company, co-designer of Intel microprocessor algorithms and Intel Award winner, and Professor Goutam Chattopadhyay, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology.
Dr. Munir Eldesouki, the President of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, stated that the forum reflects the goals and priorities set by HRH Prince Mohamed bin Salman, the Crown Prince, and Prime Minister, in the field of research, development, and innovation. It also plays a significant role in advancing the digital economy in the Kingdom. He emphasized that the event is organized by King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), which serves as a national laboratory and hub for innovation. Its purpose is to enhance the research, development, and innovation system, expedite technological advancements, and promote the localization of technologies.
Dr. Tony Chan, President of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) commended the Semiconductors Future Forum for its accomplishments in the first and second editions. He noted that the new edition offers promising opportunities to enhance the digital economy, advance research cooperation between various entities, and exchange knowledge about best practices in the electronic chip industry by bringing together the most prominent local and international entities under one roof.
The forum’s purpose is to raise awareness about the significance of localizing the electronic chip industry and its contribution to the growth of the digital economy in the Kingdom. It also aims to explore potential opportunities for localizing this crucial industry to make the Kingdom a key player in the electronic chip sector. Additionally, the forum seeks to promote research collaboration and sharing best practices in semiconductor development and manufacturing.
Over two days, the forum will delve into various subjects to outline the semiconductor industry’s future trajectory in the Kingdom by exploring the semiconductor value chain, from raw materials to finished microchips. Additionally, it will examine the application of this cutting-edge technology in areas like space exploration, quantum technologies, 6G communications, electric vehicles, and integrated sensors to enable smart cities.
The third edition of the forum will announce significant initiatives that bolster Saudi Arabia’s standing in the global semiconductor arena, drive transformation in the Middle East, cultivate talent in this vital sector, and address industry challenges to spur economic growth. The forum’s agenda includes various scientific activities such as lectures, panel discussions, research posters, and an accompanying exhibition for global companies to showcase the latest semiconductor development and manufacturing developments.
The forum’s third edition has a strategic partnership with the Research, Development, and Innovation Development Authority and Alat Company. It is sponsored by leading local and international institutions and companies such as Ajlan & Brothers Holding, Synopsys, Siemens, Rapid Silicon, Oxford Instruments, Trysl Tech, Joule, EpicSemi, and International Semiconductor Executive Summits.
Tech News
Anomali to Address the Next Phase of AI-Led Cyber Defense at GISEC 2026
Anomali, the leading global Managed Intelligence and Agentic SOC platform, announced its participation at GISEC Global 2026, taking place through 16-18 September at Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC), Expo City.
The company’s discussions at GISEC will center on Autonomous SOC with Governed AI, Agentic AI, Actionable Threat Intelligence and Unified Security Data Lake capabilities that are changing the manner in which security teams investigate threats, manage workflows and make decisions.
Samer Jadallah, Vice President, Middle East & Africa at Anomali, will represent the company at GISEC and will focus on the growing impact of AI on both attackers and defenders, emerging shifts in the threat landscape, including the need to counter CEO impersonation attacks as well as key challenges facing modern security teams. He will also highlight AI’s role is helping organizations respond more effectively to evolving threats, Anomali’s commitment to the region and ongoing product innovation and plans to expand adoption of the Anomali platform across global enterprises and government organizations.
A key focus at this year’s event will be the changing nature of cyberattacks. As threat actors promptly adopt AI to scale campaigns and further accelerate attacks, security operations centers (SOC) are under growing pressure to process rising volumes of alerts with limited resources. To help with this, Anomali will demonstrate how AI can support analysts in multiple ways like surfacing higher- value insights, reducing manual effort and enabling quicker, informed responses.
Visitors can find Anomali at Booth E156 and Booth A80.
- Event: GISEC Global 2026
- Booths: E156 and A80
- Location: Dubai Exhibition Centre (DEC), Expo City
- Dates: 16 th to 18 September 2026
- Time: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm GST
Tech News
HONOR BRINGS ITS ALPHA PLAN TO LIFE AT LEAP 2026 WITH THE WORLD’S FIRST ROBOT PHONE AND RENEWED “DARE TO BE” BRAND DIRECTION
HONOR, a global leading AI device ecosystem company, concluded its participation at LEAP 2026, bringing its “ALPHA PLAN: From Vision to Reality” to life through the world’s first Robot Phone, advancements in robotics, cinematic imaging and connected AI experiences. The participation also marked HONOR’s renewed “Dare to Be” brand direction reflecting its continued transformation from a company predominantly known for smartphones into a broader global AI device ecosystem company.
Commenting on the participation, Lei Kunming, CMO HONOR Middle East & Africa said, “LEAP 2026 showed how HONOR’s ALPHA PLAN is moving from vision to reality. From the world’s first Robot Phone and Robotics to our connected ecosystem, we demonstrated how AI can work more naturally around people.” He added “Our ‘Dare to Be’ direction gives that transformation a stronger identity, with Saudi Arabia remaining central to our growth in AI and digital innovation.”
Bringing the HONOR Booth Experience to Life
Visitors explored HONOR’s expanding ecosystem through interactive experiences spanning sports, gaming, smart office, learning and everyday scenarios.
The booth demonstrated how smartphones, PCs, tablets, wearables and other smart devices can work together to deliver more seamlessly, across work, entertainment, sports and health, reflecting the ALPHA PLAN’s ambition to create a more intelligent, connected and human-centric ecosystem around the user.
Introducing the World’s First Robot Phone
At the centre of HONOR’s showcase was the world’s first Robot Phone, a defining proof point of the ALPHA PLAN and a new category combining AI, robotics and cinematic imaging.
Its integrated robotic gimbal can move, track subjects and respond to its surroundings, enabling more intuitive and proactive content creation. LEAP also marked the Robot Phone’s reveal for the Middle East and Africa, making the region the first overseas market to experience the new category.
HONOR also highlighted its collaboration with ARRI, bringing more than 100 years of professional cinema and image science expertise together with HONOR’s AI and robotics capabilities to make cinematic content creation more accessible to everyday users.
Advancing a Future Built on Human and AI Collaboration
Beyond the Robot Phone, HONOR showcased its ambitions in robotics through HONOR Robotics D1, reinforcing its vision of a future shaped not by humans competing against AI, but by humans working with AI to achieve more. The company also explored the future of AI devices and robotics through its LEAP keynote and panel discussions.
Entering a New “Dare to Be” Era
Reflecting this evolution, HONOR’s renewed“Dare to Be” direction reflects its evolution beyond individual devices towards an open AI ecosystem connecting technologies, industries and lifestyles. Supported by innovations including Agentic OS and AiMAGE, HONOR’s journey progresses from an intelligent phone to an intelligent ecosystem and, ultimately, an intelligent world.
Driving Growth Across MEA
HONOR entered LEAP with strong regional momentum. In H1 2026, the company grew by 35% while the Middle East smartphone market declined by 13%, making HONOR the only leading smartphone brand in the region to grow and the second-largest smartphone brand in the Middle East. This followed 73% year-on-year growth in Q1 2026.
Within this regional growth, Saudi Arabia remains a particularly important market for HONOR, supporting the company’s broader ambitions across AI devices and its connected ecosystem.
Strengthening HONOR’s AIoT Presence in Saudi Arabia
As part of this momentum, Saudi Arabia remains a strategic market for HONOR and an important part of the ALPHA PLAN. The Kingdom is now HONOR’s number one tablet market by share, while its AIoT business has grown by more than 500% and HONOR Earbuds Clip has surpassed 100,000 units sold locally.
Building on this strong foundation, HONOR continues to strengthen its presence through retail, after-sales, local partnerships and deeper engagement with the Kingdom’s technology ecosystem.
Tech News
greytHR expands agentic AI-powered HR execution across Middle East region with greytHR NAVOS

greytHR, a leading full-suite Human Resource Management System (HRMS) platform, launched greytHR NAVOS across the Middle East region, bringing agentic AI competencies directly into its platform. The new capability enables HR teams to find information, navigate workflows, while completing authorised HR activities through simple, natural-language commands.
The Middle East rollout comes as agentic AI begins to reshape HR functions globally. According to McKinsey’s August 2026 research on the agentic era of HR, roughly two-thirds of today’s HR activities, including recruitment, payroll, onboarding and benefits administration, could be largely automated by 2030.
Unlike conventional AI assistants that primarily focus on answering questions, greytHR NAVOS follows an execution-first approach, helping users move from finding information to initiating and completing supported HR actions. Its three core functions – Navigate, Operate, and Support – enable information and workflow discovery, authorised action execution and contextual guidance.
Girish Rowjee, Co-founder & CEO of greytHR, said: “We have evolved from a system that you work on, to a platform that works with you. As a full-suite HRMS, greytHR already connects the entire hire-to-retire lifecycle across key HR operations. With the launch of greytHR NAVOS, we are adding an agentic AI layer across this connected ecosystem, enabling users to manage everyday HR activities through conversational commands rather than searching through multiple menus or disconnected tools. Furthermore, greytHR NAVOS works within each organisation’s existing security and access controls, reducing administrative friction and accelerating everyday HR execution.”
greytHR NAVOS supports a wide range of workflows across core HR, leave and attendance, workforce management, performance management, recruitment, platform navigation and support. HR teams can use the capability to update employee information, generate and publish letters, access attendance records, manage leave and regularisations, support performance reviews, search for job openings and candidates, handle recruitment approvals and generate hiring content.
Based on early greytHR NAVOS usage in comparable markets, HR administrators have reported productivity savings of approximately five hours per week by replacing repetitive manual workflows with conversational requests. In one practical example, an attendance-muster export that previously required around five separate steps can be completed through a natural-language prompt in approximately 10 seconds. By simplifying routine processes and reducing time spent on software interfaces, greytHR NAVOS enables HR professionals to devote more time to employee engagement, workforce planning and strategic decision-making.
greytHR NAVOS operates within each organisation’s existing role-based access control (RBAC) system, ensuring that access to employee information and platform actions remains aligned with individual user roles and permissions. Moreover, sensitive or irreversible actions require explicit human confirmation before execution. The platform also maintains a traceable audit record of AI-assisted activity, including the initiating user, timestamp, prompt and action details. Meanwhile, greytHR’s established privacy, security, and governance framework extends to greytHR NAVOS, including alignment with SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001:2022, and GDPR frameworks, supported by human oversight.
The new capability is available across all paid greytHR plans, including essential, growth, and premium, with no per-seat AI fees, usage caps or separate purchase required.
The launch showcases the evolution of HRMS platforms from traditional systems of record towards systems of action, where technology can understand user intent, identify the relevant workflow and support the execution of the next authorised step.
greytHR currently supports over 34,000 organisations and 3.5 million users across over 30 countries, providing a strong foundation for expanding its agentic AI capabilities across the Middle East region. With greytHR NAVOS, the company is helping regional businesses simplify HR administration and narrow the gap between intent and execution.
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