Saudi enterprises AI spending surges 160%
Survey finds that one quarter of Saudi firms invest over $50 million in AI
#SaudiArabia #investment - Saudi Arabian organisations have increased artificial intelligence investments by approximately 160% year-on-year, according to a new survey by California-based IT performance monitoring company Riverbed. The study found that more than a quarter of enterprises invested over $50 million in AI initiatives over the past year, positioning Saudi Arabia amongst the world’s most advanced AI markets. However, the study also revealed that just 36% of Saudi organisations surveyed feel that they are fully prepared to implement AI strategies today, while 78% expect to achieve complete preparedness within three years. Additionally, 55% of respondents reported returns on investment from AIOps projects had already exceeded expectations.
SO WHAT? - The research report’s findings confirm that Saudi Arabia’s government-led digital transformation strategy is translating into measurable enterprise action and tangible outcomes. The Kingdom’s ability to attract billions in hyperscaler investments from Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google and Oracle has created the cloud infrastructure foundation enabling this rapid AI adoption. The report data further confirms that Saudi enterprises are moving decisively from AI experimentation to scaled implementation, whilst setting new global benchmarks for effective enterprise AI integration.
Here are some key details about the report:
Riverbed Technology surveyed 1,200 business decision-makers, IT leaders and technical specialists across seven countries via research firm Coleman Parkes Research in July 2025.
The new research reveals Saudi Arabia’s outsized commitment to artificial intelligence deployment at scale, with 25% of Saudi enterprises invested over $50 million in AI initiatives last year, significantly exceeding the 18% average across other markets surveyed.
Only 36% of Saudi organisations currently report full readiness to implement their AI strategy immediately, whilst 78% anticipate reaching complete preparedness within three years.
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Saudi organisations are developing comprehensive data strategies to support AI deployment across their enterprises. Currently, 31% of AI-related data is held in public cloud environments, 27% in on-premises data centres, and 25% in private clouds.
The Kingdom’s success in attracting billions in investment from global hyperscalers including Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google and Oracle to establish world-class cloud data centres has created the infrastructure foundation enabling rapid AI adoption across Saudi enterprises.
Saudi organisations currently utilise an average of 13 observability tools supplied by nine different vendors, but 98% are now consolidating these platforms to simplify IT operations and strengthen system performance as AI implementation accelerates.
OpenTelemetry open standards for monitoring and automation are gaining significant traction, with 39% of Saudi organisations already mandating its use and a further 54% planning adoption within two years to achieve AI-driven automation.
IT leaders in Saudi organisations now spend nearly half their work week using unified communications tools and applications, with 17% of IT help desk tickets related to these systems, each requiring an average of 40 minutes to resolve.
ZOOM OUT - The Riverbed global survey reveals that enterprises nearly doubled their AI investment over the past year, rising from $14.7 million to $27 million on average, with 78% of respondents reporting increased spending. Meanwhile, 87% claiming their return on investment from AIOps initiatives has met or exceeded expectations. Despite this being the case, only 12% of AI initiatives have reached full deployment globally, whilst 62% remain in pilot or development phases. Enterprises in Saudi Arabia top global spending with 25% having invested over $50 million in AI initiatives over the past year, compared with a global average of 18%.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]