AWS And IBM Partner Over Riyadh Innovation Hub To Fast-track Cloud Adoption

RIYADH: Amazon Web Services and IBM Consulting are set to fast-track cloud adoption in Saudi Arabia, with new investments and partnerships designed to accelerate digital transformation, strengthen cybersecurity and support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals.

As part of the collaboration, the companies said they will work to bolster local talent, explore the establishment of a joint innovation hub in Riyadh and support national sustainability goals.

Speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the AWS Cloud Day event in Riyadh, Tanuja Randery, managing director of AWS, said that the company’s Saudi cloud region will go live in 2026 as part of a $5 billion investment in data center infrastructure.

“We are deeply anchored here in this region … we’ve announced that our Saudi region will go live in 2026, and that is about a 5 billion dollar investment that we’re making just purely in the data center infrastructure that supports the innovation that we see,” Randery told Arab News.

She added: “We’re doing that because our customers in the region need public cloud infrastructure to be able to scale, to be able to have a more resilient infrastructure and more secure infrastructure.”

Randery pointed to Saudi Arabia’s fast-growing cloud market, estimated at nearly $11 billion and expanding at 26 percent.

“This region has a very, very bold vision, bold investments,” she said.

She cited AWS’s joint report, which estimated that cloud and AI could contribute more than $700 billion to the Middle East economy by 2033.

“Whenever we do investments in our regions, we see absolutely economic value impact being created,” she said.

Randery also underlined the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence across the Kingdom. “It’s early days of AI — it is changing everything. The speed and acceleration we’re seeing is phenomenal. I anticipate that we’re going to see these numbers go upwards,” she said.

She highlighted key sectors already embracing digital solutions, including banking, media and gaming.

“Here we are working with Savvy Games to strengthen the gaming technology infrastructure, invest in gaming startups, and provide training and skills so they can use the technology,” she said.

On sustainability, Randery said: “When people ask me, how do I become more sustainable, the one thing I always say is move to the cloud. AWS cloud is up to four times more efficient than your average data center environment.

“That means when you move workloads from an on-premise data center towards AWS cloud, you can reduce your carbon emissions by upwards of 90 percent. We are very deeply committed, our global operations are powered by 100 percent matched renewable energy,” she added.

Randery added that AI will play a key role in helping customers monitor and reduce emissions. “AI is going to be key because the data and insights we can provide to measure and monitor carbon footprint will be much easier with AI,” she said.

She noted how Saudi Arabia’s national AI champion, HUMAIN, plans to establish a first-of-its-kind AI and machine learning zone in the region. “This will be connected to our broader data center infrastructure coming in 2026,” she said.

“This way, we are going to be able to accelerate the adoption of AI among both government and commercial organizations.”

Alongside AWS’s expansion, IBM Consulting announced a strategic collaboration with AWS to explore establishing the first IBM-AWS innovation hub in Riyadh, designed to co-create solutions in areas such as oil and gas analytics, contact center intelligence and smart government.

Khaled Al-Ofaysan, country head and managing partner for IBM Consulting in Saudi Arabia, said the collaboration would accelerate cloud services consumption while supporting local skills development.

“This will increase the consumption of cloud services in the Kingdom and also enable and accelerate the digital transformation across different sectors in the kingdom,” he said.

Al-Ofaysan underlined that upskilling Saudi nationals is a critical part of the initiative. “It will look into the people, how can we upskill the future human capital in the Kingdom? What would joint educational initiatives look like?”

He added that the collaboration would also provide a platform for innovation. “It’s another great opportunity where clients and partners can come together in one unique environment to showcase cutting-edge technology and gain hands-on experience with state-of-the-art solutions.”

The Kingdom’s public sector is expected to be among the main beneficiaries. “The public sector is going through a huge transformation led by the Digital Government Authority and all of the mandates on ministries and authorities to expedite their transformation to cloud services, followed by the private sector, oil and gas, and healthcare,” he said.

IBM has launched several initiatives to prepare Saudi talent for the next phase of digital transformation, including Al Baha Delivery Center, which trains specialists in emerging technologies while building capacity for the local market.

“These initiatives will first fulfill the demand in the Kingdom but also have the potential to serve the wider Middle East,” Al-Ofaysan said, pointing to a strategic initiative with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to upskill more than 100,000 people.

He added that IBM’s position as both a consulting firm and a technology company gives it a distinctive role in the Kingdom’s transformation. “We invest heavily in R&D, which is why you will see we are more advanced when it comes to creating our own assets and bringing the next generation of digital workforces into action.”