IBM is expanding its Strategic Collaboration Agreement with AWS to push secure cloud adoption and speed up digital transformation across the Middle East. The plan brings IBM Consulting’s industry chops, AI strengths, and hybrid cloud know-how together with AWS infrastructure and services. A proposed IBM–AWS Innovation Hub in Riyadh sits at the centre, with new solutions, local talent development in the UAE and KSA, and a firm focus on security and sustainability.
Why this matters for the UAE and KSA
Cloud demand in the region is surging. Public sector, healthcare, banking, retail and manufacturing are moving workloads to the cloud as GenAI, ML and IoT shift from pilots to production.
- AWS already runs Middle East regions in the UAE and Bahrain, with a Saudi Arabia Region announced for 2026.
- National programmes like Saudi Vision 2030 and the UAE’s AI and digital-economy strategies back large-scale transformation.
- Local teams need certified skills to execute secure migrations and ongoing operations.
For organisations in the UAE and KSA, this Collaboration aligns with current realities: production-grade AI, strict compliance, and pressure to modernise without downtime. The two companies say they will invest in talent and certifications across KSA and UAE to help customers move from strategy to run-state with proven patterns.
The proposed Innovation Hub in Riyadh
A joint space to build, test and learn. IBM and AWS plan to explore the first joint Innovation Hub in Riyadh to showcase combined capabilities and support hands-on work with clients.
- Proofs of concept across regulated industries
- Access to IBM tech like watsonx running on AWS services
- Playbooks based on global hubs in India and Romania
A physical hub that brings architects, security leads and data teams into the same room speeds decision-making. It also helps teams pressure-test architectures against local rules for data residency and sector standards. With AWS infrastructure available in the region and a Saudi Region on the roadmap, the hub can trial low-latency designs tailored to KSA customers.
Solutions aimed at Middle East priorities
IBM will develop new solutions on AWS and localise global ones for contact centres, compliance, supply chains, oil & gas analytics, smart government and citizen engagement.
- Contact centre intelligence and GenAI assistants
- Autonomous security compliance and policy enforcement
- Data platform modernisation with industry blueprints
- Oil & Gas analytics and sustainability tracking
- Smart government services and AI service desks
These are not green-field experiments. IBM Consulting lists extensive AWS certifications and competencies, including generative AI, cloud migration and data/analytics — the kind of building blocks needed to productise use cases.
Security and compliance take centre stage
Security is a core pillar of the Collaboration. IBM’s Autonomous Security for Cloud (ASC) will apply AI-driven automation to enforce consistent controls aligned with the AWS shared responsibility model.
- Tailored security assessments for regulated industries
- Mapping to KSA’s NCA Essential Cybersecurity Controls and Abu Dhabi’s ADHICS for healthcare
- Uniform policy deployment across multi-account AWS environments
For regional CISOs, this is the practical bit: aligning controls to national frameworks and proving compliance from day one. AWS already provides the regional building blocks — regions, local zones and services — while IBM wraps managed services and automation on top.
Sustainability and local talent
Both companies say sustainability and skills are embedded. The Collaboration calls out support for the Saudi Green Initiative and the UAE’s sustainability agenda, plus IBM’s Sustainability Disclosure Assist and a Product Ledger for Oil & Gas.
- Track emissions and energy profiles across cloud workloads
- Align reporting to ESG frameworks
- Upskill local practitioners in KSA and UAE with AWS certifications
Sustainability and talent are linked: efficient architectures reduce cost and carbon, and local teams need the skills to design them. The UAE and KSA continue to invest in digital skills and data-centre capacity, reinforcing the case for local execution.
What this means if you’re building in the UAE
Cloud is now a regional default. AWS’s UAE Region (me-central-1) and Bahrain (me-south-1) already host production workloads; a Saudi Region is planned. Teams can design for data residency, latency, and sector rules without shipping data abroad.
- Migrate with patterns proven by certified teams
- Wrap GenAI use cases in security guardrails
- Start with a compliance mapping to NCA ECC and ADHICS
- Plan sustainability metrics alongside cost controls
If you need a quick primer on how cloud shifts are rippling through the local tech scene, see our coverage of AWS teaming with Savvy Games in Saudi and Abu Dhabi’s Hub71 AI cohort, which show how infrastructure, AI and industry programmes are converging: AWS backs Saudi game dev initiatives and Hub71’s AI-heavy startup cohort.
Does AWS have regions in the Middle East today?
What IBM capabilities are relevant to AWS customers here?
IBM Consulting lists thousands of AWS certifications and multiple validated competencies across migration, data modernisation and generative AI, plus offerings like watsonx on AWS.
How does this help with local compliance?
The Collaboration highlights assessments and automated controls aligned to frameworks such as KSA’s NCA ECC and Abu Dhabi’s ADHICS, applied within AWS’s shared responsibility model.
