Convenes banking, financial services and insurance leaders in Riyadh to explore trusted AI, secure customer experience and regulatory compliance
By : Rasha Hagag
Zoom Communications, Inc. today doubled down on its commitment to deepening trusted AI communications in the financial services sector in Saudi Arabia, hosting a day-long KSA Finance & Insurance Executive Forum at the Sofitel in Riyadh. The forum explored how its AI-first work platform can support financial services and insurance organizations as customer expectations, workplace models and digital transformation continue to evolve.
The forum, themed "Building Trusted AI for Financial Services: Secure Customer Experience, Compliance, and Growth," brought together nearly 70 banking, financial services and insurance executives from across Saudi Arabia. The event is part of Zoom’s broader Kingdom strategy, which emphasizes strengthening local presence, increasing brand awareness and building deeper relationships with enterprises and the public sector. The forum also validated the company’s earlier $75 million pledge toward AI and digital infrastructure investment in Saudi Arabia.
“Saudi Arabia is one of the most forward-looking digital markets in the region today, and financial services is probably the clearest example of that momentum,” said Mohannad AlKalash, Vice President of Zoom for the Middle East, Türkiye, Africa and Pakistan (METAP). “Banks and insurers here are going beyond adopting AI, they are asking the harder questions: how do you deploy it responsibly, keep customer data within the Kingdom, and meet regulatory expectations while still moving fast. Zoom is now aligned with SAMA Cloud Computing Framework, ensuring compliance with Saudi Arabia’s data residency and sovereignty requirements, following our recent AI data center opening in the Kingdom. We are in a prime position to support financial institutions in adopting trusted AI-first communications.”
Addressing the Priorities of a Regulated Industry
The forum’s agenda moved beyond AI hype into practical governance and implementation. A keynote on the future of AI in financial services was followed by an executive session on trusted AI, data sovereignty and Saudi compliance, and a live demonstration of the AI-powered financial workplace. The day closed with an executive panel, "Building the Digital Bank & Insurer of the Future," featuring leaders from Bank AlBilad, Ejadah, Banque Saudi Fransi, SAAB and Arab National Bank, as well as a fireside chat on customer success in the sector.
For banks, financial institutions and insurers, Zoom’s proposition brings together Zoom Workplace, Zoom Phone and Zoom CX, addressing collaboration, enterprise voice and customer engagement through a single integrated platform. Zoom’s KSA financial-services scope addresses the priorities facing the sector, including distributed operations and branch networks, application consolidation, AI adoption, customer-service modernization, call recording and data residency - all directly reflected in the day’s sessions.
AI-Powered Innovation for a Changing Industry
AI is increasingly becoming central to how financial and insurance organizations approach productivity and customer engagement, and Zoom’s positioning extends well beyond video meetings - bringing communication, collaboration and customer experience together as part of a unified platform strategy. Sessions throughout the day reinforced Zoom’s key messages for the market: AI that enhances employee productivity while maintaining enterprise security; trusted customer engagement across banking and insurance channels; Saudi data residency and compliance with local regulatory expectations; end-to-end customer experience transformation through AI-powered contact center capabilities; and an integrated communications platform supporting collaboration, customer engagement and operational resilience.
Deepening Zoom’s Presence in Saudi Arabia
The Finance & Insurance Executive Forum is part of a broader push to strengthen Zoom’s standing in the Saudi market, alongside continued investment in local data center infrastructure, AI capabilities and compliance, with 2026 designated as the Year of AI in Saudi Arabia.
Zoom’s deepening Saudi presence includes its alignment with the SAMA Cloud Computing Framework, the mandatory data residency, sovereignty, and security standards for regulated financial entities adopting cloud services in Saudi Arabia. Zoom’s recent launch of an AI data center in Saudi Arabia has strengthened its ability to provide regulated sectors with locally relevant, secure and compliant AI-first communications infrastructure.
