Saudi Minister of Media Salman Al Dossary affirmed the country’s unwavering commitment to leveraging all available resources to serve pilgrims within an integrated system. He stated that these efforts reflect the wise leadership’s directives and align with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to facilitate Hajj rituals and enhance service quality for both pilgrims and ones performing Umrah.

Read-Hajj 2025 alert: Saudi issues warning ahead of pilgrimage

Al Dossary’s remarks came during the 22nd government press conference, held yesterday to discuss preparations for the upcoming Hajj season (1446 AH). The conference featured key officials, including Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfig Al Rabiah, Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Saleh Al Jasser, Minister of Health Fahad AlJalajel, and members of the Supreme Hajj Committee led by Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz.

Al Dossary emphasised that the “No Hajj Without a Permit” campaign remains a cornerstone in regulating pilgrimage and safeguarding pilgrims, promoting community commitment through vital awareness and security messages, a Saudi Press Agency report said.

Key Highlights

1-Makkah Route Initiative

As of Sunday, 1,070,000 pilgrims have arrived from outside the Kingdom, with approximately 249,000 arriving via the Makkah Route Initiative, which streamlines travel procedures from departure to arrival in Makkah.

2-Mosque preparations

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has prepared over 25,000 mosques in Makkah, Madinah, and the holy sites. Additionally, 2.5 million copies of the Holy Quran and 1.3 million digital ID cards with QR codes have been distributed.

3-Volunteer engagement

Over 25,000 volunteers will participate this year, supported by the National Center for the Non-Profit Sector.

4-Water infrastructure

The daily water system capacity exceeds 1.2 million cubic meters, distributed through a 1,300-kilometer network. More than 4,000 lab tests are conducted daily, overseen by over 2,000 Saudi engineers and technicians.

5-Inspection and municipal services

The Ministry of Commerce completed over 11,000 inspections in Makkah and Madinah. The Ministry of Municipalities and Housing has allocated 22,000 personnel, 980 vehicles, and 177 shelters, with an operations room linked to 911 for rapid response.

6-Digital and AI integration

Advanced digital infrastructure and AI algorithms are being used for crowd and pilgrim management, supported by over 5,000 communication towers, 9,000+ 5G/4G stations, and 2,000 km of optical fiber. Over 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots are available.

7-Hajj Media Forum

The second edition of the Hajj Media Forum, in partnership with the Pilgrim Experience Program, spans 6,000 sq. meters and hosts over 5,000 media professionals. The Saudi Broadcasting Authority is broadcasting globally through a wide range of media services.

8-Hajj readiness

The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah held 78 preparatory meetings and submitted early arrangements to international Hajj offices. Females constitute 53 per cent of arrivals. Most pilgrims (94 per cent) arrived by air.

9-Nusuk card update

Over 1.4 million updated Nusuk cards have been issued, enabling seamless access and services. The Nusuk app has added over 100 services, with 60 new ones launched for this season.

10-Infrastructure trials

Authorities tested electricity and water networks, conducted four simulations, and inspected over 37,000 pilgrim residences, addressing 3,400 observations.

11-Transport sector preparedness

The transport sector, with 45,000 employees, prepared 7,000 flights from 238 destinations. Railway services offer two million seats on over 4,700 trips. Road maintenance covered 7,400 km, with an 82 per cent expansion in cooling services.

12-Bus and taxi operations

Ground transport includes 25,000 buses and 9,000 taxis, with 18 dedicated lanes and road readiness assessments including 247 bridges.

13-Health sector measures

The health sector increased bed capacity by 60 per cent, deploying over 50,000 personnel. Early international health measures included vaccinations. 14 ports were equipped, and over 50,000 health services have been delivered.

14-Heat safety initiatives

Measures to combat heatstroke include planting 10,000 trees, installing 400 water coolers/misting fans, and expanding shaded areas.

15-New emergency facilities

A new 200-bed hospital was established in Mina. Three field hospitals with 1,200+ beds, 71 emergency points, 900 ambulances, 11 evacuation aircraft, and over 7,500 paramedics have been mobilized.

16-Digital health services

The Seha Virtual Hospital provides remote consultations and chronic disease monitoring.

This season also sees the highest private sector participation in health services.

Al Jalajel concluded by urging pilgrims to stay hydrated, avoid direct sunlight, and seek medical attention when needed. He assured that the health system is fully prepared to manage emergencies, ensuring a safe and healthy Hajj season.

As the regulatory and economic landscape across the MENA region grows increasingly complex, businesses are rethinking how they engage with legal and compliance services.

Supporting this transformation is Oryx Legal Consultants, a UAE-based firm founded by Natalie Boyd and Vanessa Abernethy, which is challenging traditional models with its multidisciplinary, partner-led approach.

In this interview, the co-founders discuss rising demand for fractional legal support, the evolving needs of corporate clients, their expansion plans into Saudi Arabia, and how being female founders in a once male-dominated industry has shaped their journey.

What trends are shaping the future of legal and compliance services in the corporate world, particularly in the MENA region?

Rising costs are a major factor, not just in terms of doing business, but the cost of keeping employees on the books and complying with regulatory frameworks. The introduction of corporate taxation adds another layer of pressure but there is growing focus on good governance and the value of having senior legal professionals involved at the top level. Also, the rising cost of office space is making hybrid and remote working more attractive for businesses and professionals. Many senior professionals no longer want to be tied to traditional employment models and are seeking to work independently and set their own schedules whilst still being part of a cohesive and supportive team. That is a dynamic we have leaned into at Oryx, and it is a key reason why our model is resonating on both sides of the market.

How has the demand for fractional legal and compliance services evolved in the UAE and broader Gulf markets?

More often, companies are realising that it makes more sense to use their legal budget on a senior resource part-time than a more junior resource full-time. It allows them to scale up or down quickly depending on internal needs and project cycles. When we first introduced fractional legal support, it felt quite novel to many clients. But that’s changed. There is now a genuine appetite for the flexibility and financial freedom that comes with this model. While we’re predominantly active in the UAE, there is no reason this cannot extend across the wider region. Consultants no longer need to be physically in a client’s office to be fully embedded in the business, although we do offer fractional support with attendance at the client’s office also, where required.

What types of clients typically engage with Oryx, and what kind of support are they seeking today?

Our clients range from financial institutions and sovereign entities to mid-sized and large corporates, as well as startups. Each comes to us with different needs. Mid-sized corporates are often looking for someone to lead their legal team on a fractional basis. Sovereign and institutional clients engage us for support on specific projects or to bridge medium-term vacancies. Financial institutions and large corporates use us regularly for transaction-specific advisory. And startups come to us from the ground up requiring things like structuring, licensing, templates and general advisory. Some of the businesses we supported at inception are now fully regulated firms leading their spaces.

We have also seen an influx of local companies seeking IPO readiness and governance services. Increasingly, clients also engage us for boardroom support, and we often place experienced female directors to help meet board diversity goals plus provide informal advisory that helps them move in the right direction or unlock connections. It’s a mix of strategic and practical value-add.

Oryx offers partner-level support across legal, compliance, corporate finance, and boardroom advisory. What inspired this multidisciplinary approach, and how has the market responded?

It came from direct experience. From the in-house side, we saw how clients were being let down by narrow service models and expensive, non-transparent billing. We wanted to create a model that solved real problems and delivered end-to-end support with complete transparency. From the private practice side, we had both seen how senior partners often wanted to offer more to clients but were restricted by legacy structures. We were determined to do things differently. At Oryx, clients can bring a challenge to the table and trust that a senior team will provide a solution seamlessly, efficiently, and without surprise fees. That client-centric approach has landed well, particularly with businesses that are ready to move away from traditional firm dynamics.

What challenges have you encountered as women founders operating in a traditionally male-dominated industry, and how have you navigated them?

We haven’t faced gender-specific barriers in the region. Our clients know us, trust us, and have worked with us for years. If anything, being female founders has meant we are perhaps more visible – two women building a new business model stands out, and that visibility brings its own opportunities. That said, we have experienced discrimination in earlier chapters of our careers, outside of the UAE. These experiences gave us resilience and the motivation to challenge the traditional frameworks we were working within, which is exactly what we did. Since founding the firm, we’ve only experienced respect for what we are doing and how we are doing it. Clients see the model works, and that is what matters.

What advice would you give to other women aspiring to launch and grow successful professional services firms in the region?

Stay true to your values. It is our rigid adherence to the principle of good and transparent client service that is one of the reasons our clients keep coming back. Our integrity is a very strong value for both of us and would never be compromised for financial gain or any other reason. Many women have a strong sense of what matters to them, even if they are slower to speak about their successes. That quiet clarity becomes a strength in business. If you operate in a way that aligns with your values, you build deep trust and that’s what lasting client relationships are built on. We would also encourage women to be brave and step away from traditional models. There is something uniquely liberating about having control over your time, your income, and the type of work you take on. The structure we have built allows for that, and we believe many more women could benefit from that autonomy.

Looking ahead, what are your strategic priorities for the remainder of 2025 and beyond?

We are focused on growing our compliance offering and expanding our legal team to meet increasing client demand. Fractional support continues to be a core driver of that growth, and we expect it to become even more central. We are also looking at developing tax advisory capabilities, which would complement the services we already provide across legal, regulatory and board-level support. Regionally, we are preparing to expand into Saudi Arabia. We already work with institutional clients there, and we believe the Oryx model, particularly the combination of fractional support and flexible pricing is a strong fit for the kingdom. Saudi is evolving rapidly, and it is critical for us to remain agile and ahead of the curve.

If any nation has the potential to be a global AI powerhouse, it is the UAE. Long before ChatGPT’s landmark launch, it was the UAE that created the world’s first AI ministry.

In the years since, the government has never missed an opportunity to encourage private-sector enterprises to adopt the latest and greatest, and to do so itself. And it shows. Last year, the country’s AI market was estimated at nearly a billion dollars ($949.8m), according to one estimate, and is projected reach $4.3bn by 2030 — compound growth of more than 28 per cent across just six years.

The AI assets race has already begun, spurred by the hype around generative AI that has dominated boardroom confabs for the past two years. DeepSeek’s announcement at the start of the year only emphasised the urgency to get ahead, firmly convincing business leaders that they must earnestly investigate how to maximise returns from inevitable investments. Some, it is projected, will continue to devote budget to Generative AI, which is set to be worth more than $200m this year and grow to $2bn by 2030. This is a CAGR of 46.47 per cent, far outpacing AI as a whole. In pursuit of AI maturity, and a companywide AI culture, decision makers are starting to become more pragmatic about where they route their AI dirhams.

The problem lies in differentiation. AI methods — GenAI, natural-language understanding (NLU), predictive analytics, and so on — are standard, and as DeepSeek recently proved, can essentially be commoditized. If a supermarket invests $1m in trying to better understand its customers, it may receive a revenue bump for a short time, but its competitors need only duplicate the investment to duplicate the advantage.

Competitive edges end up canceling one another out and everyone is a million dollars poorer with no ongoing benefit. The only way around this apparent paradox — which can occur in any industry — is through the development of a technology nobody else has or a business model nobody else has considered.

Stand out, move up

First, let us look at technology-based differentiation. Yes, the models are standard and some powerful ones even available as open-source. But what is unique to each business is its data. The data itself — customer, operational, financial, security — may even suggest a use case, and the model can be built around it. The winners will be those who find ways to go beyond the simple automation that saves on labour and differentiate themselves though applying their unique data to more advanced models. They could also use AI to create richer views from their data, which may be comprehensive but may also be stored messily.

On the business front, organisations can look at ways to deliver ubiquitous AI without eating too deeply into budgets. Generative AI is relatively costly, but not every use case requires GPT-4. If one of the supermarkets mentioned earlier were to deliver 360-degree views of their customers at the cost of, say, $700,000, it would have a cost advantage over its competitors, and may come out on top even if it was not the first to invest. In the real world, simple decisions like slimmed down products, or even selecting investment in CPU hardware over GPUs, can make all the difference. Then there are operational decisions. Do you train and maintain AI models in the cloud or on premises? Given GenAI’s costs of compute, storage, and bandwidth in the cloud, in-house hosting may be the better way to go.

But there is no doubt that when pursuing Universal AI, non-technical employees benefit from more advanced tools built on generative AI. Modern solutions allow more employees to add value. Additionally, the organization solves the problems presented by the regional AI skills gap.

Recruitment is time-consuming and expensive, and newly joined data scientists and AI specialists will also take more time on projects than business-oriented employees. Requirements gathering will no longer be a bottleneck when those who know the business best are tasked with implementing their own ideas with the help of generative AI.

AI potential: Increment versus revolution

Already, industry pundits are expressing the potential of AI by making a comparison between 10 per cent gains and tenfold gains. AI can increase the efficiency of supply chains, enhance customer service, decrease manufacturing faults, speed up R&D, and more. The 10 per cent gains are the marginal boosts of old; the tenfold gains are the stuff of which industrial revolutions are made. What automobiles did for transportation, cloud computing did for the software segment, and smartphones did for payments. Now generative AI has arrived to repeat the disruption across a range of industries.

One stumbling block remains to those who choose to embark on a GenAI expedition, and that is regulatory obligation. Only through the right training and cross-disciplinary expertise can UAE companies successfully navigate the legal landscape. Governance must be designed, and it must be designed up front. Waiting until legal issues arise can be expensive, not just because of the potential fines incurred, but because of the expense of redesigning and redeploying solutions, retraining staff, and possibly procuring further tools.

Fortunately, with the right AI platform, governance can be applied consistently and accurately across the organisation. Everything from role-based data access to predefined dataset views can be established by steering committees before a single project is greenlit. Modern AI platforms can even automate monitoring of live solutions for model shift and emerging trends that may throw off results and lead to negative impacts.

Building an AI business takes will and skill. Never let it be said that diving into the next powerful LLM with arms flailing will guarantee results. Mountains of operational, financial, and legal shocks await those who face our AI future like this. Cool heads must prevail. Choose the AI path that fits your individual business and leverage your individuality to make that path unique in your market.

The writer is the Area VP and GM – Middle East, Turkey & Africa at Dataiku

As generative AI transforms the world of surveillance — from smarter video analytics to the alarming rise of deepfakes — the need for digital trust has never been greater. In this exclusive interview, Leo Levit, chairman of ONVIF, discusses how the security industry is responding to these disruptive changes, the role of international standards in preserving the authenticity of video evidence, and why collaboration across stakeholders is critical to navigating this evolving landscape.

Since its establishment in 2008, ONVIF has played a pivotal role in creating global standards for the interoperability of IP-based physical security products. With more than 500 members worldwide and over 25,000 conformant products, the organisation continues to set the benchmark for trusted and secure video surveillance systems. Now, as the world grapples with AI-driven manipulation and increasingly complex surveillance networks, ONVIF’s mission has never been more vital.

1. How is the rise of generative AI reshaping the global security and surveillance industry, and what key trends are emerging in response to the technology’s growing influence?

The integration of generative AI into the security and surveillance industry is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it enhances capabilities, enabling more efficient video analytics, such as behaviour detection, crowd formation, or object tracking, as well as predictive surveillance geared towards crime prevention. On the other hand, it introduces new risks, for example in the form of manipulated video, fake identities, and misinformation. The rapid development of AI-generated content is pushing the industry to evolve frameworks that can quickly distinguish between authentic and altered footage.

One of the most notable trends is the increasing demand for video authentication and digital watermarking to verify the integrity of footage and its production source. This is especially important for evidence management.

Another trend is greater collaboration between camera manufacturers, software providers, and standards bodies to develop safeguards that work across systems and regions. AI is not only reshaping how surveillance is conducted—it is changing our trust in video authenticity, a cornerstone of the security industry.

2. With deepfake technology becoming more accessible, how are businesses and governments adjusting their security frameworks to protect against digital manipulation and fraud?

Governments and organisations are increasingly prioritising video verification methods in their security protocols. This includes implementing camera tampering detection, encrypting video files, and integrating secure-by-design principles to protect footage from the moment of capture to the moment it’s viewed—whether by police, the courts, or private entities.

At ONVIF, we are developing a method called media signing, which proves that a video has not been altered since it left the camera sensor that captured it. Securing the video at its source is key to ensuring its authenticity.

In forward-thinking regions like the UAE and the wider GCC — where smart cities and AI surveillance are strategic priorities—deepfakes are increasingly seen as a national security issue.

Governments are evolving frameworks that mandate authenticity, auditability, and transparency. The Dubai Police’s move toward zone-based security exemplifies how surveillance is becoming more proactive and technologically sophisticated. But as more data enters the system, ensuring that the footage is real becomes as important as detecting threats.

3. What role do you see international standards organisations like ONVIF playing in ensuring digital trust and interoperability in an increasingly AI-driven surveillance ecosystem?

We play a critical role in safeguarding the integrity and interoperability of security systems in an era of rapid AI evolution. As a global and open industry forum, ONVIF was created to standardise communication between IP-based physical security products, enabling devices and software from different manufacturers to work together seamlessly. Today, ONVIF has become the de facto standard for interoperability in surveillance, with our products used by governments, businesses, and institutions worldwide.

As generative AI becomes more embedded in video and analytics workflows, maintaining trust in the output of surveillance systems is more important than ever. Our standardised interfaces support this by enabling secure and consistent data exchange across platforms—an essential feature when building systems that rely on AI to detect and respond to events.

Moreover, ONVIF’s work on standardising video authentication tools — such as media signing — will allow law enforcement and legal professionals to verify whether video footage has been tampered with, regardless of the device manufacturer. It’s not just about compatibility — it’s about building trust into every layer of the surveillance and security infrastructure.

4. As public scepticism around digital evidence increases, what innovations or best practices are emerging to help restore trust in video as a reliable source for legal, corporate, and security decisions?

That’s a great question. Distrust in video evidence can lead to concerns about reasonable doubt in legal and corporate settings. If AI manipulation undermines the current legal precedents around video admissibility, courts may be forced to redefine what qualifies as valid evidence. This could mean excluding footage where authentication can’t be proven.

Restoring trust hinges on two pillars: transparency and traceability. Innovations such as encrypted digital signatures and embedded forensic watermarking are gaining traction across public and private sectors. These tools help verify when, where, and how a video was captured — and crucially — whether it has been tampered with.