Magna AI, a global integrated-value-chain sovereign AI transformation leader, has announced a strategic collaboration with Emaar Executive Company (EEC), a Saudi-based company specialising in data centre construction, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), systems integration, and infrastructure services.

The agreement is designed to support the planning, development, and delivery of sovereign AI data centres, AI factories, secure AI platforms, and large-scale AI transformation programmes across Saudi Arabia, with the potential to extend into wider Middle East and North Africa (Mena) markets.

The framework was formalised in Riyadh at the Global AI Show (June 29 and 30) by Dr Moataz BinAli, Chief Executive Officer of Magna AI, and Karthik Ramaswamy, CEO of Emaar Executive Company.

Magna AI was born of a joint venture between cybersecurity leader Trend Micro and hardware giant Wistron, powered by NVIDIA groundbreaking technology and a member of the NVIDIA Inception Program.

As Saudi Arabia continues to advance its national digital transformation agenda, the need for trusted AI infrastructure is becoming increasingly central to the kingdom’s long-term competitiveness. 

The kingdom’s AI data centre market is forecast to grow from $0.63 billion in 2025 to $1.74 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of over 22 per cent, according to Mordor Intelligence. This growth is driven by Vision 2030 digital investment, government data-sovereignty mandates, and rising demand for locally hosted AI workloads.

Dr BinAli signs the agreement with Dr Yaser Alobaidan, CEO of Naver Innovation.

Sovereign AI data centres and AI factories are expected to play a critical role in enabling organisations to train, fine-tune, deploy, and operate advanced AI models while maintaining control over data, workloads, governance, and compliance.

“Sovereign AI is only as strong as the infrastructure beneath it, and that infrastructure has to be built and operated to the highest engineering standards, in-kingdom,” said Dr BinAli. “Emaar Executive Company brings the proven construction and engineering discipline to turn AI ambition into operational data centres on the ground. Together, we can give Saudi Arabia’s government and enterprise organisations AI infrastructure they own, control and can scale with confidence.”

As part of the agreement, Magna AI will lead AI factory architecture, platform development, and AI security and governance, while Emaar Executive Company will deliver the engineering and construction backbone, including EPC execution, data centre construction, civil, mechanical, electrical and low-voltage systems integration, on-site project management, facility support, and regulatory coordination.

EEC’s capabilities are supported by ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certifications and a dedicated in-kingdom workforce. Together, the companies aim to support the deployment of secure, scalable, and locally aligned AI infrastructure for government entities, regulated industries, enterprises, startups, and academic institutions.

The collaboration is expected to span from the earliest stages of infrastructure development through to long-term operation. This includes site identification, feasibility studies, and business-case development; systems integration for AI data centres; energy, cooling and sustainability optimisation; and secure, compliant operations aligned with Saudi data-residency and cybersecurity requirements.

“Building national-scale AI infrastructure calls for engineering discipline, local capability and trusted delivery,” said Ramaswamy. “By combining our EPC systems-integration strengths with Magna’s AI Factory expertise, we are positioned to build and operate the data centre infrastructure that underpins the kingdom’s AI agenda, to the standards national and enterprise institutions require. Together, we aim to help customers translate AI ambition into deployable infrastructure and measurable outcomes.”

Magna AI and Xerox officials sign the partnership.

Among other agreements at the show, Magna AI signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Saudi Xerox, official representation of Xerox Trading Company in Saudi Arabia, and Naver Innovation Company, a joint venture between Naver Cloud and National Housing Company (NHC) to accelerate urban transformation ambitions through an integrated digital ecosystem, aligned with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The strategic framework with Saudi Xerox will enable both companies to advance AI data centres, sovereign AI Factory capabilities, secure AI platforms and large-scale AI adoption for both government-led national initiatives and enterprise customers. The collaboration is aligned with Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation agenda and Vision 2030 objectives, with a focus on enabling secure, scalable, and locally relevant AI adoption across the public and private sectors.

“Saudi Arabia is building one of the most ambitious national AI agendas in the world, and that requires infrastructure with governance and security built in, shaped around the organisation’s own requirements rather than a vendor’s defaults which creates the conditions for genuine long-term control,” said Dr BinAli. “By combining Magna’s full value-chain AI Factory capabilities with Saudi Xerox deep on-ground presence in the kingdom, we can help government and enterprise organisations move from AI ambition to AI at scale on infrastructure they own and control. This alliance also reflects our commitment to working with local partners to build the AI capacity, resilience, and ecosystem required to support long-term national transformation.”

Under the agreement, Magna AI will drive AI Factory architecture, platform development, AI security, and governance frameworks, while Saudi Xerox will support local infrastructure integration, security operations, compliance alignment and on-ground execution across the Kingdom.

The two companies intend to collaborate across several areas, including sovereign AI Factory development for large-scale model training, fine-tuning, inference, agentic AI operations, and data pipelines; secure AI operations aligned with Saudi data-residency and cybersecurity requirements; sector-specific AI applications for government and enterprise; and AI skills development and capacity building.

Meanwhile, Magna AI and Naver Innovation Company are partnering to advance Saudi Arabia’s AI ecosystem by developing trusted AI infrastructure, secure platforms, and sovereign capabilities for government and enterprise. The collaboration will accelerate production-scale AI adoption through secure, scalable, and locally governed solutions, aligning infrastructure, intelligence, security, and transformation to support sustained economic and societal value under Vision 2030.