Creative Industry Summit Riyadh Thinks The Panel Discussion Is Dead

Saudi Arabia’s creative crowd has a new date to circle. From October 3rd to 5th, Cairo-born Creative Industry Summit returns to Riyadh for its second Saudi edition, bringing its latest experiment in what a creative conference can actually be to JAX District in Diriyah.

After more than a decade and 15-plus editions, the summit has had plenty of time to figure out what works. Founded in 2014 by Mai Salama and Neamat Khalil, Creative Industry Summit has grown from an Egypt-based conference into a wider MENA network focused on connecting, developing and, in its own words, enabling the region’s creative economy.

But there is a slightly awkward question that comes with becoming good at something: what happens when the format itself starts getting in the way?

For Salama and Khalil, the answer is to change it.

“Our role and what we’ve always done is to ‘enable’ the ecosystem,” Salama tells SceneNowSaudi. “We don’t impose a point of view; we look at the market, identify its needs and gaps, then act accordingly. That’s exactly what we’re doing this year in Riyadh.”

Which brings us to the panel discussion. Or, more accurately, its apparent demise.

The summit’s new format, Threads, is designed to replace the familiar one-off panel with something considerably more involved. The concept was developed from early 2025 and first introduced at the summit’s Cairo edition in June. Instead of gathering a handful of experts for a single conversation before moving on to the next topic, Threads takes one subject and follows it across three days and three different perspectives.

Think of it less as a panel and more as a triangle: the same moderator and guests approach a subject from different angles, allowing the conversation to build rather than disappear when the timer runs out.

A panel might give each expert enough time to say something interesting. Threads are designed to give them enough time to actually get somewhere and reach a conclusion.

And Threads is only one part of the format overhaul. This year’s summit introduces Inside the Mind Of, a series of high-level conversations built around the thinking and experience of individual creative figures. Executive Circles bring people working in the same field together for deeper, more focused conversations away from the broader conference floor. The Formula takes a more practical approach, putting successful professionals in the position of explaining how they got there, what they learned and what it actually took to build a career.

The distinction matters because the creative economy is full of people who have become very good at talking about creativity. The harder question is how much of that knowledge actually gets passed on. The summit’s answer this year is to make the exchange itself part of the format.

There is also a more experiential side to the programme. Creators’ Square is dedicated to content creators and influencers, while Saudi brands will discuss the role of homegrown products in both the local economy and the wider creative economy. Directors from Saudi Arabia and across the region will look at new tools and changing approaches to directing, advertising and film.

And then there is the subject currently sitting over almost every creative industry conversation: AI. This year’s Saudi summit takes “The Human Behind the AI” as its theme, placing artificial intelligence within a conversation that is ultimately about human intelligence. Rather than treating AI as either the industry’s inevitable replacement for humans or its latest shiny toy, the summit is looking at how creative professionals are actually using it.

It is a useful distinction at a moment when much of the conversation around AI still gets reduced to a binary question: who gets replaced? That question extends beyond technology. Sustainability will also be examined from several angles, including how creative industries can remain viable during economically difficult times. It is an especially relevant conversation for an industry whose workers are famously prone to working until the workday becomes a vague theoretical concept.

For Salama, the summit should offer something that can get lost in the machinery of creative work: a place to stop. To meet people, talk, learn and play. And, occasionally, remember that having a creative career is supposed to involve being around other creative people.

That may ultimately be the point of rethinking the conference format. Creative Industry Summit is not trying to manufacture a new way of sitting in a room and listening to experts. It is trying to create more reasons for people in the room to actually engage with one another. After all, if the creative industry is built around the ability to make something new, its conference probably should be too.

Creative Industry Summit takes place October 3rd to 5th at JAX District in Diriyah. Registration and ticket options, including Stage Access, Creators Lounge Access, Early Bird Tickets and select workshops, are available through creativeindmena.com.

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