Aramco has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft to deepen their longstanding partnership and jointly explore AI-powered industrial solutions based on the Microsoft Azure platform. This collaboration aims to enhance operational efficiency, strengthen global competitiveness, and build a new model of technology-enabled energy and industrial systems.
Ahmed O. Al-Khowaiter, Executive Vice President of Technology & Innovation at Aramco, stated: "We are transforming the energy sector by creating a secure, intelligent, and collaborative digital ecosystem. Partnering with Microsoft will help us scale our digital and AI solutions while maintaining the highest standards of safety and governance, ensuring both efficiency and innovation."
Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, added: "This marks a deepening of our collaboration with Aramco, aiming to move industrial AI from pilot projects to core operations, improving efficiency and resilience at scale. Our focus is on building sovereign-ready digital infrastructure, trustworthy governance, and a skills foundation to support a responsible AI transformation, in alignment with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030."
Key areas of the MoU include: Digital Sovereignty and Data Residency, exploring a roadmap for deploying solutions on Microsoft Cloud to enhance sovereign control; Operational Efficiency and Digital Infrastructure, optimizing the digital framework for global operations; an Industry Alliance Framework, defining collaboration with Saudi technology integrators to expand AI application across the industrial value chain; and Industrial AI IP Co-Innovation, establishing a global market and promoting Saudi expertise through the co-development of an operating system for the energy industry.
Both parties also plan to accelerate the development of digital and technical skills in the Kingdom, including building capabilities in AI engineering, cybersecurity, data governance, and product management. These initiatives build upon Microsoft's existing impact, which has already trained thousands of Saudi learners through cloud, AI, and data projects.
