The markets are joining us live from Dubai. Ahmed, welcome to Capital Markets. First of all, the Dhahran Techno Valley is known for deep tech. Why is DTV now building fintech ventures?
Hello. Thank you for having me. When it comes to financial services, they are increasingly built on advanced computing, data, and AI. While we are not shying away from deep tech at DTV, we do believe that the next generation of financial infrastructure will not just be digital — it will also be scientific. Hence this is why we have the strategic partnership with the Saudi National Bank to bring in deep tech fintechs that are building actual products in the deep tech space.
What kind of startups are you looking for through Inspire?
We are looking to build something within four domains. We had conversations with the bank, understood the market and what has been a challenge internally, and identified four focus areas: embedded finance, credit intelligence, insurtech and wealth stack, and B2B merchant solutions. It is a six-month programme. We want to build it through the bank and through DTV, and bring a financial ecosystem to the Eastern Province.
Deep tech and fintech rarely sit in the same room. What changes when you bring them together?
For the longest time fintech in Saudi was consumer-facing. But now we are seeing the shift — toward the infrastructure, the digital infrastructure underneath. We have seen the payment apps, the customer experience layer. Now we are looking at the underlayer infrastructure of finance. This is why we think there is a lot of deep tech essence to the fintech space. We have seen the likes of Lean Technologies that bridged the open banking space. These are examples of startups within Saudi that bridged the deep tech nuance with fintech. It is becoming an infrastructure that a financial institution can actually deploy into through these startups.
Where do you see the biggest opening in Saudi Arabia right now?
SMEs. We have more than 1.5 million SMEs around Saudi Arabia and credit facilities growing more than 30% year on year. This is where we can tap into data, AI, and credit intelligence — all of these domains are part of our focus within Inspire. Building this out with SMEs gives us an opportunity not only to service them, but also to bring more fintechs into the ecosystem that builds on these products and takes the sector to a new level.
Much of Saudi fintech activity is in Riyadh. What does the Eastern Province bring?
I understand where the real ecosystem sits and I do not want to compete with Riyadh. It is more about building another ecosystem, much like we see in the UAE with the Dubai and Abu Dhabi ecosystems. What we are trying to bring to the Eastern Province is its natural advantage — the largest industrial and energy hub in Saudi. A founder building supply chain finance, B2B credit intelligence, or enterprise payments can tap into these industries here and find a lot of valuable business to learn from and serve.
What is the hardest part for a Saudi fintech founder right now?
Two things. First, regulation and compliance — understanding how strict SAMA and CMA are. Second, the pilot infrastructure and how startups struggle to work with corporations in Saudi. What we are trying to achieve through Inspire is to bridge both. Startups in the programme can sit under the SNB infrastructure for compliance. And from a pilot perspective, we are trying to deploy products within the bank to their customers within a couple of months — whereas in reality, any fintech approaching a bank takes a year to a year and a half. Our part is to bridge that distance between startups and the banking sector.
What is the one deep tech innovation you are watching most closely that could reshape financial services in the region?
AI and credit decisioning. Saudi has around 85% of retail payments being electronic. Open banking has already connected hundreds of thousands of accounts. This is where deep tech comes in — not robotics and machinery, but AI and machine learning models that can turn that data into credit intelligence and potentially extend financing to businesses that traditional credit models cannot assess. That is where it bridges the gap.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
Thanks. Appreciate it.
