Cloud software leader, Salesforce CRM, has declared its intention to invest $500 million in Saudi Arabia to bolster artificial intelligence (AI) development.
What Happened: Salesforce will roll out Hyperforce, its platform architecture, in Saudi Arabia in a strategic alliance with Amazon Web Services AMZN. The company announced that it will collaborate with Capgemini, Deloitte, Globant, IBM IBM and PwC to expand the use of Agentforce, its customer service agent solution, and introduce Arabic language support for its AI-related product suite.
The announcement was made at the LEAP 2025 global tech event in Saudi Arabia, where the country secured $14.9 billion in fresh AI investments. This initiative aligns with Salesforce’s broader strategy in the region, which involves setting up a regional headquarters in Riyadh and equipping 30,000 Saudi citizens with new skills by 2030.
Why It Matters: This investment comes on the heels of Salesforce’s recent strategic moves in the AI sector. Last week, the company cut 1,000 jobs while simultaneously ramping up hiring for AI sales roles. The company was said to be hiring 2,000 employees for sales roles to promote its artificial intelligence products, as announced by CEO Marc Benioff in December.
This latest investment in Saudi Arabia underscores Salesforce’s commitment to expanding its AI capabilities and footprint globally. The company is not just focussing on enhancing its AI initiatives but is also concerned about its environmental impact. Yesterday, it launched a tool, AI Energy Score, in partnership with Hugging Face, Cohere, and Carnegie Mellon University, to evaluate the relative energy efficiency of different AI models. Boris Gamazaychikov, Head of AI Sustainability at Salesforce emphasized how important it is have to a standardized approach to measure and disclose such information.
Meanwhile, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives identified Palantir Technologies PLTR and Salesforce as the leading AI software investments for the year. He stated in a note that 2025 will experience a surge in enterprise consumption, broad adoption of large language models (LLMs), and an expansion of generative AI applications.
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