Sdaia at the Tenth Standards Forum, standards translate policies into measurable trust

Dr. Abdulrahman Habib, chief AI governance advisor at Sdaia, delivered a keynote titled “Standard Specifications and Their Role in Enabling AI Applications,” in which he explained that policies and regulatory frameworks define what AI systems should achieve, while standard specifications define how to implement, measure, and demonstrate compliance with those requirements. This separation between “what should be” and “how it is measured” is not a technical detail but the difference between a declared regulatory intent and an auditable institution.

Dr. Habib announced that Sdaia has issued more than10 regulatory frameworks and toolsfor artificial intelligence, and the adoption of23 national specificationslinked to it, covering governance and management systems, training data quality, safety, robustness, security and privacy, as well as reference frameworks and big data. These numbers are not decorative: each specification represents a testable standard that developers and regulators can refer to when evaluating a system, instead of relying on vague statements about “responsibility” and “safety”.

In the panel discussion with the same title, Dr. Mohammed Al-Awad, director of strategic studies at Sdaia, presented the Kingdom’s approach to AI regulation in aflexible manner that balances enabling innovation with ensuring responsible useThe discussion of flexibility here is precise: it does not mean loosening standards, but designing them to keep pace with rapid technological evolution without becoming an obstacle to serious experimentation. It also addressed the role of data governance, privacy protection, and standard specifications in raising system reliability and reducing risks, alongside the Kingdom’s contribution to shaping international AI standards.

The forum was held under the title “Specifications and Artificial Intelligence: Enabling Applications and Building Trust,” organized by the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Authority and sponsored by Minister of Commerce Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, coinciding with World Standards Day. The slogan “A Shared Vision for a Better World” reflects an ambition that goes beyond national borders: when standards are written in a common language, they become a passport for Saudi technologies to global markets, and foreign products entering the Kingdom become subject to reliable standards.

What this means for youIf you are building or purchasing AI systems in Saudi Arabia, the approved standards have become a binding reference, not merely recommendations. Training data quality, model robustness, data privacy, and security now each have a national specification that can be cited in contracts and audits. This shifts the burden of proof from “trust in words” to “trust in measured evidence”.