Lily Sawyer is an in-house writer for EME Outlook Magazine, where she is responsible for interviewing corporate executives and crafting original features for the magazine, corporate...
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IBM and Aramco are exploring a strategic collaboration to accelerate industrial AI, automation, and innovation across Saudi Arabia, combining decades of expertise to tackle complex, mission-critical industrial challenges.
IBM and Aramco have announced their intention to collaborate on opportunities to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI), agentic AI, automation, material science, and other advanced technologies across the industrial sector in Saudi Arabia.
The announcement was made at THINK Boston, IBM’s flagship global event, attended by Arvind Krishna, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IBM, and Sami Al Ajmi, Senior Vice President of Digital & Information Technology at Aramco, alongside senior leaders from industry, academia, and the public sector.
Building on a longstanding relationship between the two organisations, the planned collaboration aims to combine IBM’s enterprise-grade AI platforms, consulting expertise, and research capabilities with Aramco’s industrial scale, extensive operational data, and decades of experience in the energy sector.
Together, the companies intend to explore practical applications of AI and hybrid cloud technologies across industrial and energy systems, with a particular focus on mission-critical environments where reliability, resilience, and operational efficiency are essential.
COMBINING TECHNOLOGY AND SCALE
The proposed collaboration reflects both organisations’ shared emphasis on innovation and operational excellence, as well as their ambition to solve increasingly complex industrial challenges through advanced technology.
Sami Al Ajmi, Senior Vice President of Digital & Information Technology at Aramco, highlighted the strategic importance of technology and innovation within the company’s long-term vision.
“Technology and innovation are central to Aramco’s long-term strategy. This collaboration with IBM enables us to assess how industrial AI and other mutually-agreed domains can further enhance operational excellence and resilience, while reinforcing our leadership in Industrial AI – particularly in reliability, safety, and mission-critical environments”
Sami Al Ajmi, Senior Vice President of Digital & Information Technology at Aramco
By combining IBM’s AI and hybrid cloud capabilities with Aramco’s energy expertise and industrial operations, the organisations plan to explore high-impact solutions capable of delivering value at scale.
A LONGSTANDING PARTNERSHIP
Aramco and IBM have worked together since 1947, developing a partnership that has evolved alongside successive waves of technological transformation.
Over the decades, the relationship has spanned foundational systems, digital platforms, and modern enterprise technologies, underpinned by a shared commitment to innovation, investment, and long-term impact.
Saad Toma, General Manager, IBM Middle East and Africa, said the collaboration demonstrates how emerging technologies are reshaping industrial transformation.
“Combining innovation and advanced technology represents the next frontier in enterprise transformation. By collaborating with Aramco, we are exploring how emerging technologies are addressing some of the world’s most complex industrial challenges, while reinforcing our shared commitment to continuous investment in innovation”
The planned collaboration remains subject to definitive agreements between the parties.
This article was produced by the editorial team at EME Outlook and published as part of the Outlook Publishing global network of B2B industry magazines.
Outlook Publishing delivers industry insights, company stories, and sector coverage across manufacturing, mining, construction, healthcare, supply chains, food production, and sustainability.
EME Outlook provides ongoing coverage of organisations and developments shaping industries across Europe and the Middle East.
Lily Sawyer is an in-house writer for EME Outlook Magazine, where she is responsible for interviewing corporate executives and crafting original features for the magazine, corporate brochures, and the digital platform.
