IBM and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have expanded their collaboration to host IBM’s suite of enterprise solutions and digital products on AWS Cloud Regions in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, strengthening regional IT sovereignty and supporting national digital transformation priorities.
Under the agreement, customers in both markets will gain access to IBM’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) portfolio — including AI, data, and automation tools such as IBM watsonx — directly on AWS’s local infrastructure. The move enables public and private sector organizations to accelerate digital transformation while maintaining full compliance with local data residency and regulatory requirements.
“Our clients want to build and scale AI and cloud solutions with speed and confidence,” said Ana Paula Assis, IBM’s Senior Vice President and Chair for EMEA and Growth Markets. “By offering IBM’s enterprise-grade software and watsonx portfolio on AWS, we’re giving organizations in the UAE and Saudi Arabia the flexibility to innovate while upholding trust and transparency.”
AWS first launched its Middle East Cloud Region in the UAE in 2022, with the Saudi Cloud Region expected to be fully operational by 2026. Until recently, regional customers relied on AWS infrastructure hosted outside the Gulf.
Tanuja Randery, Managing Director and Vice President EMEA at AWS, said the collaboration “will play a key role in enabling the region’s digital transformation goals” by combining IBM’s enterprise-grade software with AWS’s secure, agile, and resilient cloud infrastructure. The partnership aims to drive innovation across key industries and help Gulf-based organizations scale AI, data, and automation solutions more efficiently.
This expanded agreement builds upon the companies’ longstanding global partnership and earlier regional collaborations, marking a new phase of cloud localization and enterprise technology alignment across the Gulf.
