Sadaia at the Tenth Standards Forum: 23 national standards map AI governance in the Kingdom
The tenth Standards Forum in Riyadh concluded, leaving one clear signal: the Kingdom does not settle for merely launching AI strategies, but is building the standard infrastructure that makes them measurable, accountable, and scalable.
The Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) organized the forum under the slogan “A Shared Vision for a Better World”, under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Commerce Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, coinciding with World Standards Day. This year’s theme was: “Standards and Artificial Intelligence: Enabling Applications and Building Trust”.
From policy to a measurable standardIn the opening remarks, Dr. Abdulrahman Habib, senior AI governance advisor at “Sadaia”, explained the essential difference: policies and regulatory frameworks define what AI systems should achieve, whereas standard specifications define how to implement, measure, and demonstrate compliance with those requirements. This distinction is not academic; it is the line between good intentions and an auditable system.
What Sadaia has achieved on the groundMore than ten AI regulatory frameworks and tools, and the adoption of 23 national AI specifications covering governance and management systems, training data quality, safety and robustness, security and privacy, as well as reference frameworks and big data. Specific numbers, not slogans.
The Saudi approach in the panel discussionDr. Mohammed Al-Awad, director general of strategic studies at “Sadaia”, presented the Kingdom’s flexible AI regulatory approach that balances enabling innovation with ensuring responsible use. He repeated two pillars: data governance and privacy protection, and standard specifications as tools to raise system reliability and reduce risks. He added an external dimension: the Kingdom’s contribution to shaping international AI standards, meaning the local standard is designed to align with the global one rather than conflict with it.
What this means for the regionAny developer, company, or government entity in the Gulf, Egypt, or the Levant that builds an AI product today will find these 23 specifications as a ready national reference for compliance, instead of improvising or blindly importing Western standards. The next test: will these specifications move from approved documents to mandatory requirements in government tenders and corporate contracts?
What warrants monitoringThe trajectory of updating these specifications as technologies accelerate (foundational models, autonomous agents, embodied AI), and the extent to which the private sector adopts them as a competitive benchmark rather than merely a regulatory obligation.