The question today is no longer how much organizations spend on AI, but whether their leaders can understand what they are buying, define the limits of its use, and hold it accountable when it makes mistakes.

As the use of AI expands within companies, a new gap is emerging between adopting technology and actually governing it. Owning the tools or allocating budgets to them does not necessarily mean that an organization can document how they work, measure their performance, and assign responsibility when something goes wrong.

A Leader Does Not Need to Be an Engineer

Practical expertise in AI does not mean that a CEO must become a technical specialist. What matters is having enough understanding to ask the right questions: What data does the system rely on? What are the limits of its decisions? And when should a human intervene?

This understanding also helps leadership distinguish between tasks that can be delegated to AI and sensitive decisions that require human oversight, while recognizing which data should not be shared with these tools.

What Does This Mean in Saudi Arabia?

SDAIA’s Principles of AI Ethics link the use of technology to an organization’s responsibility throughout the system’s life cycle. They include principles such as accountability and responsibility, privacy and security, and reliability and safety, underscoring that adopting AI does not end with simply purchasing the technology or contracting with an external provider.

For Saudi companies, this means that an investment decision involving AI must be accompanied by clearly defined responsibilities, human-oversight mechanisms, and continuous assessment of operational, legal, and reputational risks.

The Next Challenge: AI Agents

This challenge is growing as AI agents become more widespread. These systems can execute a series of tasks and take actions with a greater degree of autonomy.

The greater these systems’ authority and access to organizational data, the more complex leadership’s role becomes: What can be delegated to a machine? And when should it stop and hand the decision back to a human?

Conclusion

The real test facing Saudi boards is no longer how extensively the CEO uses AI, but whether they can determine what may be delegated to a machine and what must remain under human decision-making, while ensuring that the investment delivers value without creating risks that are difficult to control.