Connect | MENA // Debate: What interconnectivity strategy will secure success in an unpredictable digital future?

As artificial intelligence workloads reshape global data flows, connectivity providers in the MENA region face a paradox, traffic patterns are increasingly transformative yet highly unpredictable. Unlike traditional demand, AI workloads swing between massive training bursts and low‑latency inference, making bandwidth usage forecast a major challenge. This debate will explore how subsea and terrestrial cabling strategies can be planned in an environment where over‑provisioning risks stranded assets, yet under‑investment threatens resilience and competitiveness. Stakeholders will examine whether sovereign funds, hyperscalers, and telcos should co‑invest in flexible, modular infrastructure, or commit to mega‑projects that guarantee national resilience. Join us for a deep dive into the most pressing connectivity questions: Can software‑defined networking and automation deliver elasticity without waste? Should governments subsidize over‑capacity as a public utility, or leave risk to private operators? How can MENA maintain itself as an AI‑ready interconnection hub when bandwidth demand is anything but certain?