Salesforce starts $500m Saudi AI plan with new hire

Salesforce has started building its Saudi team as part of a US$500 million, five-year plan to boost AI adoption in the kingdom.

The company will establish a regional headquarters in Riyadh and aims to hire up to 40 employees by the end of 2025.

The company has appointed Ibrahim Alseghayr, previously with SAP SE, as regional vice president and managing director for Saudi Arabia.

According to Mohammed Alkhotani, senior vice president of Salesforce Middle East, the investment will focus on local hiring, training programs, and various initiatives.

Salesforce’s expansion aligns with Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation agenda, which includes a US$100 billion AI project.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as a major global AI hub through unprecedented investments

Saudi Arabia’s technology landscape is transforming rapidly, with Salesforce’s $500 million investment representing just a fraction of the kingdom’s broader AI ambitions.

The country recently highlighted over $14.9 billion in AI investments at the LEAP 2025 conference, signaling its commitment to establishing itself as a regional technology hub 1.

This investment strategy includes a $1.5 billion commitment to AI chip startup Groq to establish a major data center in Dammam, leveraging Saudi Arabia’s geographic advantages and energy resources 1.

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has launched a comprehensive National Strategy for Data and AI with the ambitious goal of positioning the kingdom among the top nations in AI by 2030 1.

Economic forecasts predict that AI could contribute between $135-235 billion to Saudi Arabia’s GDP by 2030, potentially accounting for 12.4% of the entire economy, which is among the highest projected AI contributions in the region 2, 3.

2️⃣ Tech giants are recalibrating their Saudi relationships amid economic diversification

Salesforce’s move represents a significant shift in how global tech companies approach Saudi Arabia compared to just a few years ago.

In 2018, many tech leaders withdrew from Saudi investment forums and reconsidered their relationships following the Jamal Khashoggi controversy, creating uncertainty in tech-Saudi relationships 4.