At the end of October, the Future Investment Initiative (FII) 9th Edition in Riyadh gathered global leaders in energy, finance, and technology under the theme “The Key to Prosperity”. This edition was the largest gathering yet, drawing thousands of leaders from around the world and building on the $250 billion in deals closed through the FII platform since its inception less than a decade ago. This year’s theme centered on three paradoxes shaping the world’s future: Progress, Innovation, and Fragmentation. Each one reveals a tension between abundance and limitation:

• The Paradox of Progress: The world generates more energy than ever before, yet large amounts of power are underutilized because it can’t reach demand.
• The Paradox of Innovation: Technology promises efficiency, yet new breakthroughs like AI demand vast resources creating new pressures on infrastructure.
• The Paradox of Fragmentation: Globalization has connected the world, but rising geopolitical divisions threaten to break that same connectivity apart.

As a Strategic Partner, MARA joined the global dialogue to share a practical vision for addressing these paradoxes: digital energy — using flexible compute to turn underutilized energy into value, build grid resilience, and generate digital capital the world can trust.

MARA’s Chairman and CEO, Fred Thiel, participated in panels, private meetings, and roundtables to share how MARA’s approach helps countries and companies turn energy into intellegence, resilience, and opportunity.

Power Infrastructure Meets Compute at the Edge

Joining Aramco’s EVP of Strategy and Corporate Development Ashraf A. Al Ghazzawi, Fred Thiel explored how AI and data centers are reshaping electricity demand and what it means for global energy markets.

“The biggest challenge is not building generation — it’s building transmission. Getting electricity from the generator to the load is the biggest problem [in the energy sector] globally.” - Fred Thiel

He explained how on-site flexible loads, like MARA’s data centers, can alleviate these constraints. By locating data centers near generation, MARA utilizes energy that would otherwise go unused, helping reduce grid congestion and balance power supply and demand.

Fred also highlighted how AI inference, the type of AI that drives real-world results, has many applications at the edge. Establishing AI closer to where the decisions are made reduces latency, secures sensitive data, and enables more efficient use of remote energy assets.

Saudi Arabia, he noted, is uniquely positioned for this new model: abundant energy, ample land, and a long-term plan under Vision 2030 make it a natural hub for low-cost compute and secure AI infrastructure.

Watch the panel: What Will Determine the Future of Energy Demand?

The Next Era of Energy Security

On a second panel, Fred joined global leaders in energy and technology to discuss how industries can meet rising power demands from AI, digitalization, and industrial growth. He highlighted how MARA’s flexible data centers enable grid operators to plan more effectively by increasing demand when power is abundant and scaling down when it’s constrained.

Fred also pointed to a Duke University study showing that if AI workloads were designed to be more flexible, existing U.S. power capacity could already meet most of the projected increase in demand over the coming years. The findings reinforce MARA’s view that the challenge isn’t energy scarcity, but coordination and that intelligent, flexible compute can unlock capacity already available within today’s grids.

In his interview with FII TV, Fred expanded on how Bitcoin mining can bring this flexibility to AI. Data centers running AI inference typically have rigid power requirements, whereas mining can dynamically adjust power use. When combined, the two workloads can create a grid-responsive platform helping ensure that no available energy goes to waste and that the grid remains stable even as AI demand fluctuates.

Watch the panel: Is Innovation Enough to Secure Energy for High-Stakes Sectors?

MARA’s Booth: Addressing the Three Paradoxes

Throughout FII9, MARA’s booth served as an extension of the conversations happening on stage. Attendees, from energy executives to financiers and investors, explored how MARA’s model directly addresses the three paradoxes at the heart of FII:

• Progress: By transforming wasted and stranded energy into productive digital infrastructure, MARA turns excess into value.
• Innovation: By integrating AI and Bitcoin mining, MARA creates smarter, adaptive systems that help grids handle surging demand.
• Fragmentation: By contributing to the Bitcoin network, MARA helps secure decentralized digital capital in an increasingly divided world.

Visitors engaged with recent MARA reports, including the 2024 Social Responsibility Report and the FII Flagship Report: Unlocking Abundance in the Age of Bitcoin, which outlines how MARA’s work reframes each paradox as an opportunity.

These materials showcase the company’s global projects, ranging from wind farms in Texas to district heating in Finland and data centers in the UAE, illustrating how digital energy can enhance the resilience of energy infrastructure.

From Paradox to Possibility

Throughout the week, one theme was clear: the future of energy isn’t just about producing more, it’s about using what we already have more intelligently.

From panels and roundtables to the booth floor, MARA explored how digital energy can unlock both abundance and stability simultaneously. The company left Riyadh with a shared sense of purpose with peers across energy, technology, and policy to power the future responsibly, efficiently, and intelligently.

Read MARA’s full FII flagship report, Unlocking Abundance in the Age of Bitcoin