Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud company, today announced its growing presence in the Middle East with the establishment of a new regional headquarters (RHQ) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and general availability on Google Cloud in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to better meet the Kingdom’s data residency and sovereignty requirements so that data can reside within the country’s borders.
As Saudi Arabia rapidly accelerates its digital transformation journey under Vision 2030, data sovereignty and privacy have become central to its strategy. The Kingdom’s Personal Data Protection Law of 2023 (PDPL), underscores the national priority on data integrity, privacy, and security. Working in parallel, the Saudi Arabian data analytics market is projected to exhibit a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% during 2024-2032, highlighting the Kingdom’s commitment to leveraging data-driven insights and AI technologies.
“Snowflake’s expansion in Saudi Arabia is a pivotal step in our commitment to supporting and empowering Saudi organisations to meet local data regulations with faster, cost-efficient, secure, and compliant data solutions,” said Mohamed Zouari, General Manager, Middle East, Africa and Turkey at Snowflake. “With our local deployment on Google Cloud, organisations in the KSA can use a foundational data strategy to unlock deeper data insights powered by AI, driving business innovation, all while meeting the highest standards of data residency and sovereignty.”
Customers across the Middle East have already been using Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud to discover and securely share data, as well as execute diverse analytic workloads, via Snowflake’s existing regional deployment in Dubai. With the addition of Snowflake’s deployment on Google Cloud in the KSA, regional customers have further flexibility of choice for deployment, and are able to choose a geographical region that best suits their operational needs.
Organisations such as Almarai are using Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud to better access data to drive business decision making, all in a secure and governed platform.
“The availability of Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud in Saudi Arabia aligns seamlessly with our commitment to having secure and governed data solutions, where data resides within regional boundaries,” said Dr. Faisal Al-Nasser, CIO, Almarai. “This deployment marks a significant advancement in our ability to manage and analyse data, paving the way for new opportunities in our digital initiatives.”
Snowflake will host a launch event to mark Snowflake’s presence in KSA at the Saraj Venue, KSA, on January 19th, 2025. Click here for further information.
