Saudi Arabia’s enterprises are significantly increasing their investments in artificial intelligence, positioning the Kingdom as one of the world’s most advanced markets for AI adoption and implementation. A new study by Riverbed, the leader in AIOps for observability, reveals that Saudi organizations have boosted their AI investments by approximately 160% year-on-year, demonstrating a strong commitment to technological advancement in line with Vision 2030.
Record Investment and Rapid Adoption
The report, titled “The Future of IT Operations in the AI Era,” highlights the sheer scale of investment flowing into the sector. Over a quarter (26%) of Saudi enterprises invested more than $50 million in AI initiatives last year, a figure significantly higher than the 18% average across other markets surveyed. This financial commitment is translating into tangible results, with 36% of Saudi organizations reporting they are fully prepared to implement their AI strategies today. An impressive 78% expect to achieve full readiness within the next three years. Furthermore, the return on these investments is already proving substantial, as 55% of respondents stated that their AIOps projects had already surpassed expectations.
Data Strategy and Cloud Infrastructure
Underpinning this AI success is a growing emphasis on robust data management and accessible infrastructure. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Saudi organizations are actively developing comprehensive data strategies to support enterprise-wide AI. The Kingdom’s successful digital transformation agenda has attracted billions in investment from global hyperscalers like Microsoft, AWS, Google, and Oracle, who are establishing world-class cloud data centers. While AI-related data is currently spread across public clouds (31%), on-premises data centers (27%), and private clouds (25%), the report anticipates a shift towards edge computing over the next three years to enable faster and more intelligent operations.
The Push for Unified Observability
As AI implementation accelerates, managing system performance and visibility has become a critical priority. The study found that Saudi organizations currently use an average of 13 different observability tools from nine separate vendors. In response to this complexity, 98% are now consolidating these tools to streamline IT operations. A consensus is forming around the need for integrated solutions, with 95% of respondents agreeing that a unified observability platform is key to resolving operational issues more efficiently. This focus is further supported by the growing adoption of open standards like OpenTelemetry, which 39% of Saudi organizations have already mandated to enhance monitoring and automation.
About Riverbed
Riverbed is a technology company that provides solutions for network performance monitoring, application performance management, and wide area network (WAN) optimization. Its platform offers unified observability to illuminate and accelerate every digital interaction, helping organizations deliver seamless digital experiences and drive enterprise performance. Riverbed’s solutions enable businesses to understand, optimize, and secure their digital infrastructure from the end-user to the cloud.
Source: Zawya
