On the floor at HRSE KSA: what Saudi organizations told Caliber Consulting
A month after HRSE KSA in Riyadh, the themes raised at Caliber Consulting’s stand are still shaping the firm’s conversations with clients across the Kingdom: organization design under transformation pressure, AI-ready HR strategy and culture that keeps pace with growth.
At the start of September, HR leaders, talent managers and workforce specialists from across the Kingdom gathered at The Arena in Riyadh for HRSE KSA. Among the firms on the floor was Caliber Consulting, a Middle East strategy and organization design consultancy, whose corner stand C36 became a two-day listening post for the questions occupying Saudi organizations today.
Now, a few weeks on, the firm has taken stock of what it heard. Caliber Consulting was represented at the stand by a team drawn from across the group, including Rani Salman (Managing Partner & Founder) and Shadi Chehayeb (Strategy Principal), together with consultants and colleagues from Caliber Academy and Caliber Tech.
“We came to Riyadh to listen. The most valuable thing we brought home was a clearer picture of what Saudi organizations are actually wrestling with right now.” – Rani Salman, Caliber Consulting
By design, the team spent far more of the two days asking questions than answering them. Rather than running product demos, they set out to understand where transformation agendas are gaining traction and where they are getting stuck.
The conversations came from CHROs, transformation leaders and people teams across government entities, giga-projects and private sector groups.
Caliber Consulting’s team came to HRSE as one group with three ways to help: Caliber Consulting for strategy, organization design and people & culture advisory; Caliber Academy for masterclasses, in-house programs and coaching; and Caliber Tech for organization transformation, performance management and AI solutions.
What organizations brought to the stand
Across dozens of conversations, a handful of themes came up again and again, consistent enough that the consulting firm now treats them as a snapshot of where Saudi HR agendas stand this year:
HR strategy in the age of AI
Almost every leadership conversation touched on AI, but less as “which tool should we buy” and more as “what does an AI-ready HR function actually look like, and how do we get our people there without losing them along the way?”
Organization design under transformation pressure
Entities restructuring around new mandates asked how to redesign structures, spans and accountabilities fast enough to keep up with strategy, without having to redesign again in eighteen months.
Workforce planning and capability building
With Saudization targets and rapid growth pulling in different directions, organizations wanted practical routes to building critical capabilities in-house rather than renting them indefinitely.
Culture that keeps pace with growth
Fast-scaling organizations described a familiar gap: strategies and structures that have moved on, and cultures still catching up. The question was how to close that gap deliberately rather than hoping it closes itself.
“Many of the organizations we met have rewritten their strategy, but their structures still reflect how they used to work. The design needs to catch up.” – Shadi Chehayeb, Caliber Consulting
From conversations to follow-through
For Caliber Consulting, the weeks since the event have been about turning what it heard into substance. Several of the discussions that began at the stand have since moved into working sessions with clients in Riyadh and across the Kingdom, and the themes above are directly shaping how the firm is prioritizing its KSA agenda for the year ahead.
The event also reflected the firm’s sharpening focus on Saudi Arabia. While Caliber Consulting works with clients in more than 40 countries, the Kingdom is at the center of its regional growth.
