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SAP to Asharq Al-Awsat: Saudi Arabia Is Now Home to One of Our Largest Global Investments

SAP’s commitment to Saudi Arabia dates back to 2012, when the company invested $500 million to establish a robust enterprise technology ecosystem in the region. (SAP)
SAP’s commitment to Saudi Arabia dates back to 2012, when the company invested $500 million to establish a robust enterprise technology ecosystem in the region. (SAP)
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SAP to Asharq Al-Awsat: Saudi Arabia Is Now Home to One of Our Largest Global Investments

SAP’s commitment to Saudi Arabia dates back to 2012, when the company invested $500 million to establish a robust enterprise technology ecosystem in the region. (SAP)
SAP’s commitment to Saudi Arabia dates back to 2012, when the company invested $500 million to establish a robust enterprise technology ecosystem in the region. (SAP)

Saudi Arabia is accelerating AI adoption across various sectors, enabling businesses to harness data-driven insights, enhance efficiency, and scale operations with agility. At the LEAP 2025 conference, which concluded in Riyadh on Wednesday, SAP, the global leader in enterprise software, reaffirmed its long-term commitment to the Kingdom.

In an exclusive interview at the conference, Ahmed Jaber Al-Faifi, Senior Vice President for SAP in the North Middle East and Africa, highlighted the company’s significant investments in cloud infrastructure, AI-powered business solutions, and workforce development in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, he stated: “AI is not just another tool for improving efficiency; it is a revolution that will redefine industries. Just as the internet transformed business operations, AI is set to become an essential component of every organization’s strategy.” He further warned: “Companies that fail to adopt and scale AI will become irrelevant within the next five years.”

SAP’s commitment to Saudi Arabia dates back to 2012, when the company invested $500 million to establish a robust enterprise technology ecosystem in the region. Over the years, this investment has focused on two key areas. The first is building a strong local partner network, with SAP working alongside more than 100 Saudi partners to expand its reach and provide tailored solutions for local businesses.

The second focus has been talent development. SAP has provided over 400,000 training days for students, partnered with 33 universities, and launched a free two-year diploma program to equip Saudi professionals with the skills needed to succeed in the digital economy.

Al-Faifi emphasized: “Talent development is critical to digital transformation. We are not just bringing technology to Saudi Arabia; we are building the skills and expertise necessary to support and scale these innovations over the long term.”

One of the most defining aspects of Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation is the rapid shift to cloud computing. As companies increasingly migrate their operations to the cloud, SAP has been at the forefront of facilitating this transition. In Saudi Arabia alone, 75% of SAP customers have already moved to the cloud, and this figure is projected to reach 95% by next year.

Al-Faifi explained: “Saudi Arabia has embraced a cloud-first strategy at a pace faster than most markets. Through our data centers in Riyadh, SAP ensures that critical business data remains within the Kingdom while providing enterprise-grade security, scalability, and AI-driven automation.”

Despite the rapid adoption of AI and cloud technologies, Saudi businesses face three major challenges in scaling these innovations, according to Al-Faifi. The first challenge is legacy system migration, as many organizations still rely on outdated infrastructure that must be modernized before they can fully leverage AI and cloud solutions.

The second challenge is data quality and management, since AI-powered decision-making depends on clean, well-organized, and high-quality data, which many businesses struggle to maintain. The third and most pressing challenge is the talent shortage, with demand for AI and cloud computing experts far exceeding the available talent pool, leading to fierce competition for skilled professionals.

“Migrating to the cloud is not just about transferring data; it requires a fundamental shift in how organizations manage, analyze, and secure their information. AI can only deliver value if the underlying data is clean and structured,” Al-Faifi said.

Recognizing that talent is the key to unlocking AI’s full potential, SAP has launched exclusive training programs in Saudi Arabia, including the SAP Engineering Academy—the only one of its kind outside the United States. The academy has already trained over 600 Saudi professionals, including talent from the Ministry of Interior and Aramco.

Beyond technical training, SAP is also focused on executive AI education, helping CEOs, CFOs, and other decision-makers understand how to integrate AI into their business strategies. The company has established partnerships with Saudi universities to provide hands-on experience with SAP’s latest technologies. Additionally, SAP is launching AI literacy programs for organizations to ensure that businesses maximize AI-driven efficiencies and data-driven decision-making.

Al-Faifi noted: “Forty percent of companies that have implemented AI solutions have reported a clear return on investment, while another 40% are in the process of refining their AI use cases. AI is rapidly transitioning from an experimental technology to a core business function.”

SAP’s Business Network, one of the world’s largest B2B trading platforms, was previously hosted in the United States. However, with the rapid digital expansion in Saudi Arabia, SAP recognized the need for a localized version of the platform to comply with Saudi data residency regulations.

Today, the SAP Business Network operates at full capacity from Riyadh, ensuring that all transactions, procurement activities, and supply chain data remain within the Kingdom’s regulatory framework. Al-Faifi highlighted the network’s economic impact, stating: “In 2023 alone, SAP Business Network facilitated $550 billion in transactions—equivalent to 5% of Saudi Arabia’s GDP. This demonstrates the scale at which Saudi businesses rely on SAP’s solutions.”

The network now includes 156,000 local Saudi suppliers, enabling businesses to source from domestic partners, reduce dependency on international procurement, and strengthen national supply chains.

Discussing this transformation, Al-Faifi said: “With Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 mega-projects, the need for a localized business network became clear. The SAP Business Network in Riyadh enables Saudi companies to trade more efficiently while ensuring compliance with local regulations.”

With Saudi Arabia preparing to host Expo 2030 and the 2034 FIFA World Cup, the Kingdom is gearing up for massive technological advancements in infrastructure, smart city planning, and event management. SAP has previously deployed its enterprise solutions at Expo 2020 Dubai, where it helped manage logistics, ticketing, and crowd control. Al-Faifi revealed that SAP is currently in discussions with Saudi authorities to implement similar AI-driven solutions for upcoming mega-events.

From AI-powered crowd management to real-time logistics optimization, SAP’s solutions will play a pivotal role in ensuring smooth operations for large-scale events. The company is particularly focused on intelligent ticketing platforms, smart transportation systems, and digital security solutions, ensuring seamless experiences for millions of expected visitors.

Beyond the events sector, SAP is actively collaborating with major Saudi entities such as Aramco, NEOM, and the Red Sea Project to integrate AI, cloud computing, and business intelligence into some of the Kingdom’s most ambitious development projects.

Al-Fafi stressed: “Saudi Arabia is now home to one of SAP’s largest global investments. Our goal is to empower the Kingdom with AI-driven solutions, ensuring that businesses and government entities have the tools to innovate, scale, and thrive in the digital economy.”

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Business

Hormuz Under Insurance Pressure as ‘War Premiums’ Violate Int’l Laws

A vessel at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman’s Musandam province, April 12, 2026. (Reuters)
A vessel at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman’s Musandam province, April 12, 2026. (Reuters)
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Hormuz Under Insurance Pressure as ‘War Premiums’ Violate Int’l Laws

A vessel at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman’s Musandam province, April 12, 2026. (Reuters)
A vessel at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman’s Musandam province, April 12, 2026. (Reuters)

As military tensions flare in the Strait of Hormuz, another battle is unfolding behind the scenes, one no less dangerous. Insurance companies have emerged as key players shaping the fate of global shipping.

With premiums surging to unprecedented levels, experts told Asharq Al-Awsat the world is approaching a “moment of truth.”

The closure of the waterway threatens not only oil flows, but also bread supplies in the world’s poorest countries, while putting the international legal framework that protects trade at risk of collapse.

War risk insurance premiums in the Strait have jumped to between 1% and 7.5% of vessel value, up from less than 1% before attacks escalated. In practical terms, insurance for a single voyage of a large oil tanker worth $100 million can now range between $2 million and $9 million, compared with about $250,000 before tensions intensified.

Rabih El-Amine, head of the Lebanese Executives Council, said the Strait of Hormuz is no longer just a narrow maritime passage, about 21 miles wide, but “it has become the single lung through which the global economy breathes.”

“When that lung is threatened, it is not only oil that suffocates, but food, medicine, and hope as well,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

He added that the situation is alarming, not just on a theoretical level, but because its consequences are already affecting companies and markets, with marine insurance premiums rising by 30% to 120% in a matter of months.

When major insurers withdraw entirely from covering vessels forced to transit the Strait, it signals not only higher costs, but a breakdown in the entire system of commercial trust, he warned.

Numbers tell the story

El-Amine said more than 230 loaded oil tankers are currently waiting for clearance to pass through the Strait and are unable to depart.

The International Energy Agency has described the situation as the largest disruption to oil supply in the global market's history. Natural gas prices in Europe have surged by more than 70%, while jet fuel prices have climbed 95%, forcing some European airports to ration fuel.

Some estimates suggest oil could approach $200 per barrel if the closure persists.

Yet El-Amine warned that wheat and fertilizers are an even greater concern. The Gulf region is not only a global energy hub, but also a key supplier for global agriculture, with 35% of global urea exports passing through the Strait.

India imports 70% of its needs from the region. Urea prices have jumped 26% to $585 per ton, a level not seen in years.

“When fertilizer prices rise, bread prices follow,” he said. “The heaviest burden is not borne by European or American farmers, but by poor families in Africa and South Asia, where an estimated 45 million people are now on the brink of acute food insecurity.”

He added that geopolitical crises carry costs that are unevenly distributed, as negotiators debate strategic interests behind closed doors while poorer nations face soaring commodity prices.

He stressed the need for insurers, companies, and governments to shift from crisis response to disaster prevention, calling for a flexible regional insurance system, emergency financing mechanisms, and dialogue channels that prioritize food and energy security over other considerations.

Testing the legitimacy of the international system

Saeed Salam, director of the Vision Center for Strategic Studies, said the current crisis in the strait has evolved beyond a military confrontation into a test of the legitimacy of the international system.

“The precise calculations of global insurance companies have become the real driver of trade flows, outweighing international laws and agreements,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

According to Salam, the escalation that began in late February, followed by Iran’s closure of the strait and attacks on 19 to 20 commercial vessels that did not comply with its transit conditions, has created a state of comprehensive “economic shutdown.”

Insurance costs have risen sharply due to unprecedented risks, making navigation through Hormuz commercially unviable.

Tankers have been forced to seek longer, more expensive alternative routes, while major powers and international actors attempt to secure supply flows through exceptional interventions that have so far failed to restore confidence.

Salam said this reality undermines the maritime legal system established in 1982, exposing a wide gap between the legal right of transit passage and the threats imposed by Tehran, which he said is attempting to reshape the rules of engagement in the region.

He added that the involvement of major powers in providing government guarantees to vessels further complicates the situation, giving commercial shipping a direct political dimension and turning ships into targets in conflicts they have no stake in.

This, he warned, could fragment the global maritime system into competing spheres of influence governed by power and coercion rather than freedom of trade.

At the same time, competition among global powers has extended into the insurance and technological domains.

While Western systems attempt to manage risk at high cost, China has begun offering parallel guarantees for vessels linked to it, potentially dividing the world into rival insurance blocs aligned with geopolitical agendas.

Salam pointed to cyber threats as the most dangerous emerging front. Maritime mines are no longer the only concern, he said, as digital systems that manage ports and control vessels have become vulnerable to disruptions that can halt global supply chains within moments, risks not covered by traditional insurance contracts.

Salam said the failure of the Islamabad talks signals a prolonged period of uncertainty. Companies will need to move beyond financial hedging and adopt hybrid strategies that combine insurance, cybersecurity, and strategic alliances to navigate these risks.

“The era of safe, internationally guaranteed navigation is over,” he said. “The world is entering a new reality where threat itself becomes the governing rule in the Strait.”

He added that companies that survive will be those with high flexibility and the ability to anticipate risks, while passive waiting is a gamble that could push the global system into inevitable stagflation, at a time when securing trade routes has become the only benchmark for sustaining production and growth.

Business

IMF Says World Is Drifting Toward More Adverse Growth Scenario as Energy Disruptions Continue

Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Director of IMF Research Department, speaks during an economic outlook briefing during the 2026 IMF and World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (AFP)
Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Director of IMF Research Department, speaks during an economic outlook briefing during the 2026 IMF and World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (AFP)
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IMF Says World Is Drifting Toward More Adverse Growth Scenario as Energy Disruptions Continue

Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Director of IMF Research Department, speaks during an economic outlook briefing during the 2026 IMF and World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (AFP)
Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Director of IMF Research Department, speaks during an economic outlook briefing during the 2026 IMF and World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, on April 14, 2026. (AFP)

The world may be already drifting towards the International Monetary Fund's "adverse scenario" forecast of weaker 2.5% global growth in 2026 even as it released ‌on Tuesday ‌a more benign ‌reference ⁠forecast of 3.1% growth, ⁠IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said.

Gourinchas told a news conference that the reference forecast assumes that the conflict is ⁠resolved quickly and that energy ‌prices ‌normalize in the second ‌half of 2026, but acknowledged ‌that the war's developments are fluid and changing daily. He said the reference forecast ‌was "not quite yet" irrelevant.

"I would say that we ⁠are ⁠somewhere in between the reference scenario and the adverse scenario," Gourinchas said.

"And of course, every day that passes and every day that we have more disruption in energy, we are drifting closer towards the adverse scenario."

Business

Iraq Says Has ‘Understandings’ to Bypass Hormuz Blockade

A worker rides a bicycle at the Zubair oil field in Basra, Iraq, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)
A worker rides a bicycle at the Zubair oil field in Basra, Iraq, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)
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Iraq Says Has ‘Understandings’ to Bypass Hormuz Blockade

A worker rides a bicycle at the Zubair oil field in Basra, Iraq, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)
A worker rides a bicycle at the Zubair oil field in Basra, Iraq, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)

Baghdad's oil ministry said Tuesday it has "understandings" with the United States and Iran to reduce the impact of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz on Iraqi oil exports.

The ministry did not elaborate or say when these reported understandings were reached.

But Iran announced earlier this month -- before the fragile ceasefire was reached last Wednesday with the United States -- that it would allow Iraqi shipping to transit the key waterway.

Iraqi oil ministry spokesperson Saheb Bazoun told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) "there are understandings with the American and Iranian sides to circumvent the blockade imposed on the Strait of Hormuz, and with all parties to guarantee exports".

A founding member of the OPEC oil cartel, Iraq normally exports the majority of its crude through the strait, but like other exporters in the oil-rich region, it has been left scrambling for alternative routes.

Bazoun told INA that Iraq was continuing to use secondary export routes, including a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan and via Syria's Baniyas port.

Authorities announced earlier this month Iraq has begun exporting crude using tanker trucks through Syria, after resuming oil exports of 250,000 barrels per day through Ceyhan.

The Middle East war has wrought havoc on energy markets, especially after Iran tightened the screws on the Strait of Hormuz -- through which roughly a fifth of global oil and gas passes -- sharply slowing maritime traffic, and reportedly charging transit fees.

Despite the two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, and after a failed attempt to reach an agreement, Washington imposed a blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, sending tremors through global energy markets.

Oil exports account for some 90 percent of Iraq's budget revenues, which plummeted more than 70 percent in March compared with February.