Strategic Vision Lab
Alfaisal University · Riyadh
Vol. I — Established 2026

Strategic visions,
enacted.

Coordination is the scarce resource.

SVL is an applied research and strategy lab at Alfaisal University in Riyadh. We study how long-horizon national visions become institutions, markets, firms, capabilities, and measurable public value. Our anchor case is Saudi Vision 2030.

By coordination, we mean the institutional capacity to align rules, capital, markets, data, firms and capabilities across time.

Read the briefs → Research agenda → Work with SVL →
§ 01Frame

Four connected layers of national transformation.

National transformation works across four connected layers. A vision must be financed, institutionalised, translated into markets, and converted into durable capability. SVL studies those layers together because failure usually appears between them.

i.

Vision & Portfolio

Direction, staged commitments, option value, and strategic attention.

ii.

Institutions

Rules, rails, incentives, governance, and delivery routines.

iii.

Markets & Firms

Capital, talent, procurement, supplier depth, and trust.

iv.

Capabilities

Research systems, sectors, implementation capacity, and public value.

§ 02 Frame

Strategic visions are coordination architectures.

They are not only plans, forecasts, or slogans. They are ways of coordinating institutions, capital, markets, firms, data systems and public capabilities across time.

SVL studies how those architectures work in practice. Saudi Vision 2030 is our anchor case: a digitally enabled institutional transformation at national scale. Comparative cases help separate what is uniquely Saudi from what may travel: sovereign capital, digital public infrastructure, sector formation, talent systems, and delivery routines.

The architecture · seven moves From strategic commitment to diversified, productivity-led growth
  1. i.

    Vision

    Focal point, direction, public commitment.

  2. ii.

    Portfolio

    Staged commitments, option value, capital discipline.

  3. iii.

    Institutions

    Rules, rails, registries, regulators.

  4. iv.

    Markets

    Signals, prices, procurement, demand.

  5. v.

    Firms

    Sectors, suppliers, ecosystems.

  6. vi.

    Capabilities

    Talent, R&D, implementation capacity.

  7. vii.

    Outcomes

    Measurable public value; diversified growth.

§ 03Practice

Four lines of work.

Research, measurement, teaching, and tools — produced for decision-makers in government, capital, universities and firms.

01

Strategic briefs

Sector and policy briefs for decision-makers. Rigorous, short, and intended to be read in one sitting.

02

Diagnostics

Measurement tools for institutions, markets, sectors, and implementation capacity.

03

Executive learning

Workshops, roundtables, cases, and micro-credentials for senior practitioners.

04

Applied tools

Dashboards, simulations, and AI-supported workflows for strategy implementation.

Illustrative decision module Scenario traces · capability readiness · delivery flow
A.Scenario testing
B.Capability readiness
NOW+6M+12M
Talent
Suppliers
Procurement
R&D
Capital
Trust
emerging developing mature
C.Delivery sequencing
  1. i.Draft
  2. ii.Review
  3. iii.Commit
  4. iv.Execute
  5. v.Measure
Illustrative decision module Scenario testing · capability readiness · delivery sequencing

SVL builds prototype tools that help strategy teams test scenarios, map capability gaps, and turn long-horizon plans into staged implementation choices.

§ 04Books

Books.

SVL's books develop the deeper arguments behind the briefs: how Vision 2030 works economically, how AI changes strategy, and how finance adapts when intelligence becomes cheap and coordination becomes scarce.

Jason Potts

The Good Economics of Saudi Vision 2030

A full economic account of Vision 2030 as national strategy: digitalisation, institutional reform, market formation, firm capability, and diversified growth.

In preparation
Julian Waters-Lynch

Strategy After AI

What remains scarce when intelligence becomes infrastructure: judgement, trust, coordination, data, legitimacy, capital discipline, and execution.

Brendan Lambe

Finance After AI

Markets, valuation, credit, risk, and capital allocation when analytical intelligence becomes cheap, abundant, and institutionally consequential.

§ 05Programmes

Programmes.

SVL is Saudi-first and comparative. Each programme couples rigorous theory with a defined site of practice.

Vision 2030

Strategy Architecture

How national visions are structured, governed, sequenced, measured, and adapted.

Institutions

Institutional Acceleration

Digital identity, registries, e-invoicing, data infrastructure, and market formation.

Entrepreneurship

Sector Formation

How new firms, ecosystems, venture capital, universities and giga-projects interact.

Capital

Portfolio Strategy

Sovereign wealth, fiscal discipline, option value, staged investment, and reallocation.

AI & data

Decision Infrastructure

AI-enabled systems, simulations, dashboards, and institutional data flows that improve implementation.

Comparative

National Visions

UAE, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Kenya, Rwanda, and other long-horizon transformation models.

§ 06Atlas

Comparative atlas of national visions.

Saudi Vision 2030 is SVL's anchor case. The atlas places it alongside eight other long-horizon national strategies to compare how countries use capital, institutions, digital systems and public commitments to coordinate transformation.

9 cases · Vol. I
  1. Malaysia
    Wawasan 2020 1991—2020
  2. Qatar
    National Vision 2030 2008—2030
  3. Kenya
    Vision 2030 2008—2030
  4. Singapore
    Smart Nation 2014 →
  5. Saudi Arabia§ Anchor
    Vision 2030 2016—2030
  6. UAE
    Vision 2071 2017 →
  7. Indonesia
    Indonesia Emas 2045 2019—2045
  8. Oman
    Vision 2040 2020—2040
  9. Rwanda
    Vision 2050 2020—2050
§ 07Briefs

Briefs.

Public-facing reports that translate strategic questions into rigorous, usable analysis for decision-makers, educators, and partners.

SVL Working Paper № 01 · MMXXVI
Space as a Forcing-Function Frontier
Industrial strategy · 24 pp.
Working paper Public draft

Space as a Forcing-Function Frontier

A serious space programme is a national capability test. It pulls on engineering talent, supplier depth, sovereign procurement, R&D, and international partnerships. The brief treats space as an industrial strategy instrument and asks what is required for orbit-capable infrastructure to build terrestrial capability.

  • Industrial strategy
  • Procurement
  • Capability stack
Read brief → Request briefing
SVL Working Paper № 02 · MMXXVI
Health Data Markets in Saudi Arabia
Health governance · 22 pp.
Partner preview Available by request

Health Data Markets in Saudi Arabia

Trusted health-data infrastructure could improve population health, clinical quality, and life-sciences research. The institutional question is governance: how to align consent, auditability, registries and research access without compromising public trust. The brief sets out a five-point governance frame and an audit-trail standard for sensitive secondary use.

  • Governance
  • Consent
  • Audit
Request preview → Request briefing
SVL Working Paper № 03 · MMXXVI
From Tokenised Assets to Trusted Claims
Market infrastructure · forthcoming
In preparation Market infrastructure

From Tokenised Assets to Trusted Claims

The durable infrastructure opportunity is the verification, audit and risk-intelligence layer that makes real-world claims legible to capital and regulators. The brief examines how Saudi institutional rails — identity, registries and e-invoicing — could support a trusted-claims architecture for finance and sector formation.

  • Verification
  • Registries
  • Capital
Request preview → Request briefing
Three current · MMXXVI View all briefs →
§ 08People

People.

SVL's founding directors bring institutional economics, entrepreneurship and ecosystems, and finance and portfolio theory to applied work on national transformation.

№ i. JP Prof Jason Potts
Director · Economics

Prof Jason Potts

Institutional and innovation economics; national transformation strategy; Vision 2030 as economic strategy; evolutionary economics.

Google Scholar ORCID iD
№ ii. JWL Dr Julian Waters-Lynch
Director · Strategy & Entrepreneurship

Dr Julian Waters-Lynch

Entrepreneurship, innovation ecosystems, AI and work, product strategy, research-to-practice systems, and applied build capability.

Google Scholar ORCID iD Website
№ iii. BL Assoc. Prof Brendan Lambe
Director · Finance

Assoc. Prof Brendan Lambe

Finance, capital markets, portfolio theory, investment analysis, valuation, and strategic capital allocation.

Google Scholar ORCID iD
§ 09 Partnerships

Turn strategic questions into research, cases, tools, and executive learning.

Contact SVL →

SVL works with public, private, and university partners on briefs, sector reports, diagnostics, executive roundtables, student practicums, and data-to-decision prototypes connected to national transformation.