Accenture and AWS step up Middle East push into cloud and AI

Accenture and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have joined forces in the Middle East to help businesses and governments embrace cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI). This strategic partnership aims to accelerate the migration of legacy technology to the cloud and deploy AI across various sectors, including energy, financial services, and government.

The six-year agreement covers the modernization of outdated systems, migration of critical workloads to the cloud, and the implementation of AI technologies. To support this initiative, Accenture will form a dedicated regional team of architects and delivery specialists, while customers will also benefit from AWS's Migration Acceleration Programme.

Imran Sayyed, managing director and AWS Business Group lead at Accenture Middle East and Africa, emphasized the transformative shift occurring in the Middle East, stating that businesses need to adapt to this new era. The Gulf region is making significant investments in data centers, chips, and computing infrastructure to develop and run powerful AI systems.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is spearheading this push, with Abu Dhabi constructing the 5-gigawatt UAE-US AI Campus. The first phase of the Stargate UAE cluster, comprising 200MW, is projected to be completed in the third quarter, positioning it among the largest AI infrastructure projects outside the US. The 5GW campus, estimated to cost over $30 billion, will bring together industry giants such as G42, Khazna Data Centers, OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank.

Saudi Arabia is also ramping up its AI infrastructure capacity, with operational data center capacity reaching 467MW in the first quarter of 2023, up from 68MW in 2021. The kingdom has invested more than $15 billion in data centers and digital infrastructure, with further expansion planned. Humain, an AI-focused AI company backed by the Public Investment Fund, aims to establish about 6GW of data center capacity by 2034, with initial deployments of up to 250MW in 2027.

Humain, AMD, and Cisco are collaborating on an AI data center project at Oxagon, Neom's industrial city on the Red Sea. The joint venture plans to deploy 100MW by 2028, with the entire campus anticipated to reach 1.5GW. AWS is also focusing on enhancing its presence in Saudi Arabia, with its first Saudi cloud infrastructure region set to launch in December 2023, representing an investment of over $5.3 billion.

Additionally, AWS and Humain plan to make up to 50MW of capacity available in Saudi Arabia's first dedicated AI Zone by 2028, utilizing AWS Trainium chips and Nvidia infrastructure.