Alamy via Reuters Connect
- Funding to aid global expansion
- Highlights investment in AI
- World Economic Forum report
Saudi networking platform Halo AI has secured $6 million in seed funding to expand globally in a funding round led by Raed Ventures and Shorooq Partners, highlighting the Gulf region’s enthusiasm for artificial intelligence.
Halo AI seeks to connect content creators and brands using highly autonomous or “agentic” AI technology developed by tech leaders such as Amazon Web Services, Snapchat and Meta.
The funding will be used as part of the company’s immediate plans to expand into Dubai and Kuwait, with long-term growth aspirations across Mena, Europe and North America.
The Middle East’s adoption of AI has seen billions of dollars invested in projects and companies such as Halo AI but also introduces new vulnerabilities, according to a report.
“The region’s focus on cybersecurity must keep pace with advancements in AI to ensure resilience,” said Akshay Joshi, head of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Centre for Cybersecurity.
The WEF’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025 report, released on Monday, emphasises the increasing complexity of the global cybersecurity ecosystem.
“Geopolitical uncertainties, advances in emerging technologies and supply chain vulnerabilities are among the key factors contributing to complexity in cyberspace,” Joshi said.
Shift to ‘cyber resilience’
The report calls for a shift from traditional cybersecurity to cyber resilience, defined as an organisation’s ability to mitigate the impact of cyber incidents.
The WEF report found that 66 percent of organisations expect AI to have a significant impact on cybersecurity by 2025. However, only 37 percent have established processes to evaluate the security of AI tools before deployment.
The Middle East remains optimistic about its cybersecurity capabilities. According to the report, nearly three-quarters of respondents in the region expressed confidence in their ability to handle major cyber incidents – substantially higher than in Europe or North America.
This confidence stems from significant investments in digital infrastructure and cybersecurity, including Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the UAE’s Smart Government programme.
However supply chain vulnerabilities and geopolitical tensions are the greatest barriers to cyber resilience, with 54 percent of organisations globally citing supply chains as their top concern.
A lack of resilience could undermine the Middle East’s ambitions for digital transformation and economic diversification.
The WEF report urged regional leaders to prioritise cybersecurity as a core business enabler, ensuring it supports rather than hinders growth.
