Last week’s inaugural AI Everything Summit in Cairo brought together over 350 AI companies, 100 investors, and leaders from the public and private sectors across more than 30 countries, showcasing Egypt’s AI goals and potential.

At the summit, three sector leaders—Bassem Ahmed, Africa Senior Manager at F5; Eng. Hossam Seifeldin, CEO of Capgemini Egypt, and Mohamed Sadat, Group Chief Information Security Officer at Paymob, shared their insights on AI’s major impact on infrastructure, sustainability, and finance.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND NATIONAL SYSTEMS

Ahmed delved into AI’s transformative impact on the region’s infrastructure, focusing on cybersecurity, national systems, government policy, and regional collaboration.

He pointed out that AI shows its greatest immediate value when used in national systems and critical infrastructure, improving security and operational resilience with results that can be quickly measured and enhanced.

Citing F5’s 2025 State of Application Strategy research, Ahmed noted that 96 percent of organizations are deploying AI models, while the AI Readiness Index shows 71 percent have already augmented security with AI, with another 27 percent planning to do so. “That points to near-term impact in security operations: improving detection and response, prioritizing threats, and reducing manual effort,” he said.

He added that observability and reliability are the next important areas. AI helps organizations use operational signals to detect incidents faster, troubleshoot, and recover quickly, keeping vital digital services running smoothly. To grow safely, teams are putting guardrails in place.

Referring to the AI Readiness Index, Ahmed noted that security teams prioritize data protection, encryption, and prevention of prompt injection attacks. “The overarching point is that leaders treat AI as infrastructure—a platform for security, observability, growth, and innovation, not just a standalone feature,” he said.

Ahmed explained that AI represents a shift from traditional IT because its unpredictable outputs, which change based on context, prompts, and tool integrations, increase the attack surface and introduce new threats such as data poisoning and prompt injection. “The ability to use natural language significantly lowers the barrier for attacks, enabling threat actors to operate faster and more prolifically,” said Ahmed.

Many risks arise during live operation, when AI interacts with users, data, and business workflows. “AI security is not a one-and-done effort,” Ahmed said, warning that mistakes can lead to compliance problems, damage to reputation, loss of trust, and slowed innovation.

With 96 percent of organizations deploying AI models—and all using multiple models—Ahmed highlighted the growing prevalence of multi-model, multi-cloud environments. Crafted prompts, workflow manipulation, and the movement of sensitive data across applications increase the risk of misuse, while inconsistent controls and infrastructure bottlenecks can heighten operational risk.

To address these challenges without stifling innovation, Ahmed suggested treating AI as infrastructure instead of a separate feature. This approach supports consistent security, observability, and governance, including steps like proper data labeling and AI firewalls, which 31 percent of organizations use now and 72 percent plan to adopt within a year.

“Cross-functional orchestration and prioritization are key,” he said, emphasizing that aligning security and delivery controls allows organizations to scale AI safely without hindering innovation.

“For national and public bodies, protection must start before deployment. With AI and API threats evolving rapidly, security teams need real-time threat detection and a complete inventory of applications handling sensitive data, applying strong controls,” Ahmed said.

He also stressed the use of secure, fit-for-purpose AI models, guided by trusted intelligence and evaluations. He highlighted the importance of automated AI-driven security, noting that human-only testing cannot keep pace with evolving models. Automated red-teaming can identify vulnerabilities at machine speed, enabling them to be addressed with tailored AI guardrails.

Outlining his vision for a mature, AI-powered national ecosystem, while acknowledging the challenges ahead, Ahmed emphasized regional collaboration and shared digital standards, calling them “essential in turning AI adoption from isolated projects into reliable, secure national capabilities” and added, “They reduce the weakest-link risk that comes from fragmented policies and tooling.”

He emphasized treating AI as shared infrastructure, ensuring consistent security, observability, and governance across public services and critical sectors. Guardrails for data protection, encryption, and prompt injection prevention are vital, and strong governance in multi-model environments is key, with nearly half of moderately ready organizations planning to deploy a firewall within a year.

Ahmed described maturity as AI embedded across services, delivering “measurable improvements in productivity, process efficiency, and experiences,” with multi-model systems that are portable, resilient, and consistently governed. 

He noted ongoing challenges: cross-environment inconsistencies, regulatory uncertainty, infrastructure bottlenecks, and runtime threats. “AI interacts with users, data, and workflows, so protections must be continuous,” he said, concluding that maturity requires orchestration and cross-functional commitment to treating “AI as a core operational capability.”

CLIMATE-RESILIENCE AND ENERGY

Although AI is often seen as a risk or negative factor in sustainability talks, Seifeldin highlights how it can help build climate-resilient cities across the region. “AI can be deployed responsibly by embedding strong governance, transparency, and ethical design into every stage of implementation, ensuring that technology supports both environmental and societal outcomes,” he said.

He notes that 40 percent of organizations expect positive ROI from AI within 1–3 years, and another 35 percent within 3–5 years, with AI agents driving improvements in efficiency, accuracy, and citizen or customer experience. “By combining these capabilities with responsible oversight, AI can help cities move from reactive to proactive climate resilience, ensuring measurable environmental and social outcomes.”

Seifeldin points to climate challenges unique to the Middle East, including rising temperatures, water scarcity, rapid urbanization, and increasing energy demand, noting that these conditions require tailored, data-driven solutions. 

He adds that Capgemini is seeing growing demand for AI applications that support predictive climate modeling, smart water and energy management, and sustainable urban planning. “Aligning AI deployment with regional environmental realities ensures that innovation delivers measurable resilience while supporting economic diversification and sustainable growth agendas.”

He identifies areas where AI can deliver immediate results. “AI can deliver immediate impact by optimizing energy grids, improving demand forecasting, and enabling predictive maintenance across critical infrastructure.”

In water systems, AI supports efficient distribution and early detection of leaks or shortages, while in transport, it enhances traffic management and reduces emissions through smarter mobility planning. Across housing and urban planning, AI-driven insights guide sustainable design, resource allocation, and long-term resilience strategies, making cities more adaptive to climate pressures.

Seifeldin emphasizes the role of governments in directing AI-driven climate resilience initiatives. “Governments are critical enablers of responsible AI adoption. They can set regulatory frameworks, ethical guidelines, and sustainability standards while facilitating public-private collaboration to scale solutions.”

He refers to Capgemini research showing faster AI investment: 62 percent of organizations increased generative AI spending in 2025, 36 percent set aside dedicated funds, and 77 percent of executives prefer proprietary models for better performance and integration.

“Governments that create clear policy direction and provide data and infrastructure support can help cities leverage AI effectively for both climate resilience and economic growth.”

Looking ahead, Seifeldin says success for AI-powered, climate-resilient cities will depend on practical impact and measurable sustainability improvements. “While only 33 percent of executives say their organizations are already using AI for sustainability initiatives, according to a recent Capgemini report, this adoption is rising—indicating momentum toward cities that can harness AI effectively for climate resilience.”

He adds that over the next decade, AI-powered cities will integrate sustainability into every layer of infrastructure, from energy and mobility to public services, supported by strong governance and cross-sector collaboration. 

“Ultimately, the most successful cities will be those that use AI to balance growth with environmental stewardship, turning sustainability into a driver of innovation, competitiveness, and long-term societal value.”

FINANCE AND INCLUSIVITY

Sadat delves into the strides AI is making in finance, as Egypt’s fintech sector continues to skyrocket, growing 5.5-fold over five years as of 2025. He said the technology is increasingly being deployed to expand financial inclusion and build more adaptive payments infrastructure across the region.

He highlighted “smart routing” as a key use of AI, explaining that it can optimize financial systems by tracking disruptions and finding the fastest routes for transactions, which reduces failed or delayed payments. “It can monitor issues in real time and determine the most efficient path for transactions,” he said. He also added that AI-driven fraud detection, using signature-based systems and behavioral analysis, is improving accuracy and boosting security.

According to Sadat, one of the most immediate transformations is taking place in customer support. The growing integration of AI-powered chatbots is enabling faster, more seamless customer interactions while significantly reducing manual workloads. “Customer service is one of the areas where AI is already delivering tangible efficiencies,” he said.

However, he warned that AI also brings new risks. From a security perspective, AI systems can introduce additional vulnerabilities and expand the attack surface. He also pointed out that biases in AI could cause flawed or questionable decisions. “Organizations still need human oversight to make the final call,” he said.

Sadat noted that Egypt’s large base of first-time and digitally inexperienced users may be particularly vulnerable to misuse and fraud. He stressed that banks, private-sector firms, and government entities share responsibility for raising awareness. Educational initiatives, he said, should address not only general cybersecurity but also the risks associated with emerging AI technologies and fintech applications.

Regarding the regional outlook, Sadat said Egypt is well-positioned to capitalize on AI opportunities, citing national frameworks such as the National AI Strategy 2025–2030 and related AI charters. These initiatives, he said, place the country among the region’s early adopters of AI.

Looking ahead five years, Sadat said he expects Egypt to rank among the region’s leading early adopters of AI, particularly in fintech, where local talent is blending creativity with innovation and integrating AI solutions into existing systems.

He also expects more public-private partnerships as the government increasingly works with local fintech firms on AI projects. Because of concerns about data security breaches, he said it makes sense for national institutions to rely on local organizations instead of international platforms. “It makes sense to work with local talent instead of risking sensitive data being handled outside the country,” he said.

Beyond fintech, Sadat said AI is likely to catalyze new products and innovations across multiple sectors, supported by regulatory reforms and a growing talent pool.