Cairo did more than host an AI event this week – it made a strategic statement. Ai Everything Middle East & Africa (MEA) Egypt opened today as the world’s first all-AI summit and showcase of the year; placing artificial intelligence firmly within Egypt’s economic and geopolitical narratives, positioning AI not as a future aspiration, but as an active engine of state modernisation, business competitiveness, and foreign investment.
Held under the patronage of His Excellency Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Ai Everything MEA Egypt opened to capacity crowds, convening more than 350 AI enterprises and startups and over 100 investors, alongside public-private sector leaders from over 30 countries. The scale and diversity of global participation underline Egypt’s emerging role as a hub of frontier technologies and a convening capital for AI economies across Africa and the Middle East.
Ai Everything MEA Egypt is presented by GITEX, the world’s largest tech and AI events network, and hosted by Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), in partnership with the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). Opening remarks were delivered by Ahmed Alzaher, Chief Executive Officer of ITIDA, on behalf of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology; alongside Trixie LohMirmand, Chief Executive Officer of inD (Global organiser of GITEX).
Eng. Ahmed Elzaher, CEO of ITIDA, shared, “Ai Everything MEA Egypt 2026 is more than a summit – it is a launchpad for innovation, investment, and collaboration that showcases the strength of Egypt’s AI ecosystem to the world. The event connects startups, global technology leaders, and policymakers to transform ambition into tangible impact, scale innovation, and position Egypt as a trusted regional and global hub for AI development and digital economy.”
On behalf of H.E. Eng. Raafat Hindy, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Ahmed Elzaher added, “Since 2019, our National AI Strategy has positioned artificial intelligence as a core pillar of Digital Egypt — not a passing trend, but a long-term economic priority. As we enter its second phase, we are accelerating AI adoption across different sectors to drive competitiveness, productivity and sustainable development, within a clear and responsible governance framework. In this context, hosting the first regional Ai Everything MEA event reflects Egypt’s strategic ambition to serve as a regional hub for AI innovation, investment and talent.”
Trixie LohMirmand, CEO of inD (Global organiser of GITEX), noted: “Artificial Intelligence represents the fastest industrial transformation of our time, and speed has become the new currency of power. Those who move first, and can mobilise at scale and with speed, will define what comes next. Egypt is very much in that space today. We are not just witnessing the opening of an AI show but the start of a new era for Egypt and the wider region here, as ambition, capability and momentum converge to rewrite the future.”
Egypt Launches National AI Infrastructure at Scale under ‘KARNAK’
On the opening day, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced a series of national AI initiatives and applications including the launch of Karnak – Egypt’s national large language model.
As the highest-ranking Arabic LLM in the 30-40 and 70-80 billion parameters, Karnak serves as local intelligence foundation on which startups, enterprises and public institutions can build local AI solutions.
The Ministry also unveiled a suite of flagship AI applications; powered by Karnak, including SIA, a personalised AI tutor supporting Arabic language and Egyptian history education in high schools, alongside a new AI legal and regulatory assistant to help citizens and small businesses navigate Egypt’s regulatory landscape.
Further announcements highlighted the embedding of AI into Digital Egypt government services, including AcQua, an NLP technology to audit citizens’ calls and interactions with the Digital Egypt call centre, alongside locally trained healthcare AI engines supporting early detection of diabetic retinopathy, macular edema and breast cancer – with solutions available to partners in collaboration the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Additional applications announced included Torgoman, an automated specialized translation engine, and BelMasry application, a suite of NLP engines for colloquial Arabic. To further augment national capabilities, a new LLM-based application namely Loghat was launched to democratise English-language education, aimed at expanding workforce readiness and private-sector employment pathways.
Egypt at the Centre of a Recalibrating AI World
Unlike many global AI gatherings dominated by theory or long-term promises, the tone of Ai Everything MEA Egypt is deliberately outcomes focused. From live infrastructure deployments to sector-specific use cases in government services, healthcare, fintech, cybersecurity, and smart cities, the message is consistent: AI is moving from strategic thinking to production-ready systems.
Running until 12 February at the Egypt International Exhibition Center, Ai Everything MEA Egypt prominently features Arabic-first AI models and globally trained systems designed for the regulatory and operational realities of Africa and the Middle East. The showcase reflects a wider shift in the global AI economy, as investors and technology leaders increasingly look towards emerging markets where AI can be built closer to end-users, deployed faster, and scaled with clearer commercial and societal impact.
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