The Middle East is undergoing one of the most ambitious transformations of our time, driven by bold visions like Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. With two-thirds of the Saudi population under 35 and Gen Z expected to make up 40% of the workforce by 2024, the challenge is clear: how do we bridge the skills gap, align education with innovation, and build sustainable human capital at scale?

In this episode, we sit down with Peter Holmark – a global HR leader, coach, and mentor who has worked across industries and geographies. Having taken on senior leadership roles in Saudi Arabia, Peter offers a unique inside-out view of the Kingdom's transformation. Together, we explore how organizations can adapt leadership strategies, the role of diversity and inclusion in workforce development, and how technologies such as generative AI and automation will reshape the future of talent.

Generative AI investments are on the rise and nearly octupling from 2022 to reach $25.2 billion. Are we now in solving era? Are we truly utilising LLM's to their maximum potential? What led to the creation of NOOR, the largest language model in Arabic and the evolution towards Falcon LLM in the UAE.

In this episode we speak to Merouane Debbah, a researcher, educator and a technology entreprenuer. Currently professor at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi and the founding director of the 6G research center; Merouane is one of the key members of the Technology Innovation Institute and a driving force behind UAE's Falcon LLM.

Metaverse-related investments rose to US $120 billion in the first five months of 2023, and continue to scale. How relevant is it today and what problems does it solve for us? More importantly, what are the trends that we see here in the middle east region in markets such as Saudi, UAE and others.

In this episode we speak to Leslie Shannon, author of 'Interconnected Realities' to gain insights on her experiences. Leslie was kind enough to provide a augmented reality image of herself for the podcast as well. Now hear this!