< PreviousFEATURE 40 EDGE | Saudi Special Marc Domenech of NVIDIA discusses the company’s $5 trillion rise, the global demand in compute power, and the region’s growing role in contributing to it. From the data gold rush to sovereign AI, he shares how the Middle East is shaping NVIDIA’s next chapter of innovation Words by Pavneet Kaur INSIDE NVIDIA’S COMPUTE REVOLUTION I t’s hard to imagine a world running out of something we can’t see — but that’s exactly the conversation shaking Silicon Valley today. Not oil, not water, but compute. Compute power – which refers to the ability of machines to process vast amounts of data has quietly become the currency of progress. Every time a chatbot answers a question, a model detects a tumour, or a car interprets its surroundings, somewhere, a data centre lightens up. And when those data centres slow down, innovation does too. Elon Musk recently warned that we’re “running out of data and compute,” calling it the single biggest bottleneck to building the next generation of AI. His words echoed across the tech world, with researchers cautioning that the richest “data mines,” the vast pools of human text, images, and code that fuel modern AI are depleting faster than we can replace them. It isn’t just about how much data is collected, but how much of it is usable. That Edge_EDGE_SAP_KSA Special Edition_Nov2025_42-43_NVIDIA Feature_13758747.indd 4006/11/2025 17:15FEATURE EDGE | Saudi Special 41 scarcity has triggered a new kind of gold rush — a global race to collect, mine, and monetise high- quality human data before the wells run dry. Without compute, AI models can’t train, fi ne- tune, or infer. Without data, those models have nothing to learn from. And without either, the world’s AI revolution, one that promised to rewire entire industries — begins to stall. That’s why nations are racing not just to build AI, but to own the infrastructure that makes it possible. Globally, data centres already draw over 100 GW of power, roughly what 100 nuclear reactors would generate — and that fi gure is expected to soar past 130 GW by 2028. Yet, despite this surge, much of the world still relies on a handful of hyperscalers concentrated in the US and China – which account for 70% of the global total. Which is what makes the Middle East’s current trajectory so fascinating. From Abu Dhabi to Riyadh, countries aren’t waiting for access — they’re building their own compute sovereignty, brick by brick, rack by rack. And at the centre of that transformation is NVIDIA, the company whose chips, systems, and now AI factories are redefi ning what power looks like in a digital economy. On the second day of GITEX 2025, we sat down with Marc Domenech, Regional Director, Enterprise – META at NVIDIA to decode what’s really powering the world’s AI revolution — and why the Middle East has become one of its most ambitious laboratories. As the exhibition halls buzzed with product launches and partnership announcements, Domenech cut through the noise with a simple truth: “We’re moving from general- purpose computing to accelerated computing.” DECODING THE GOLD RUSH On the surface, the headline-number is simple: NVIDIA’s market value has exploded. As of 2025 the company became the fi rst company in history to cross the $5 trillion mark in market capitalisation. That valuation refl ects more than Wall Street euphoria — it signals a global recognition that compute power, and the infrastructure that enables it, has become the strategic backbone of the digital economy. NVIDIA’s Blackwell architecture sits at the heart of what comes next for AI-driven enterprises. According to the company, Blackwell-architecture GPUs pack 208 billion transistors and are built on a custom fabrication process. Marc Domenech puts it this way: “We require increased rack power, increased density — the GPU revolution isn’t just about faster chips, it’s about fundamentally changing how you build compute.” And then there’s the new system that brings We’re moving from general- purpose computing to accelerated computing, hyperscalers will have to move from CPU to GPU / Marc Domenech, Regional Director, Enterprise, META, NVIDIA / GB200 NVL72 delivers 30X faster real-time LLM inference Edge_EDGE_SAP_KSA Special Edition_Nov2025_42-43_NVIDIA Feature_13758747.indd 4106/11/2025 17:15FEATURE 42 EDGE | Saudi Special the compute closer to every enterprise. The DGX Spark — described by NVIDIA as “a new class of computer” — delivers up to 1 petaFLOP of AI performance in a compact desktop or lab-friendly form factor, powered by the GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip and 128 GB of unifi ed CPU/GPU memory. “Five years ago, we had zero GPUs in the region. Today you see partners like G42 and SDAIA with thousands,” notes Domenech. “I can really tell that 5 years ago, the Middle East might have been a bit behind compared to the EU and U.S market, but the speed at which compute is being deployed here is staggering.” The point he’s making is clear - the barrier to entry for advanced AI has shifted: it’s no longer only about having access to the cloud — it’s about owning, connecting and scaling compute infrastructure locally. And, the Middle East is not so quietly building the next generation of what the big tech world has termed as AI factories. THE GREAT COMPUTE SHIFT When NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang was asked recently whether the world had reached “peak AI,” his response was swift: “AI is not slowing down — it’s still growing, and we’re just getting started.” Huang’s claim was backed by a lot of research and the use cases across various industries. Sitting across from me at GITEX 2025, Domenech echoed the same conviction — but through a lens that’s far more technical. “We’re moving from general-purpose computing to accelerated computing,” he said. “Hyperscalers will have to move from CPU to GPU.” “The opportunity between now and 2030 is massive — between three to four trillion dollars,” added Domenech. “When you combine what’s happening globally with what’s happening here in the Middle East, this shift represents one of the biggest transformations of our time.” That transformation defi nes the new economics of compute. CPUs were built for serial workloads; GPUs thrive on parallelism, capable of performing thousands of calculations at once — a necessity for training and running large-language and agentic- AI models. “Just think about agentic AI and co-pilots — all of this will demand more AI compute. Hyperscalers still running on CPUs will eventually have to move to GPUs, because that’s where these workloads are heading.” Domenech explained how this evolution is changing the very anatomy of data-centre design: “Previously, we had racks drawing around three or four kilowatts. Today, we’re switching to 60, 160 — even 600 kilowatts per rack because of Blackwell.” That’s not just an upgrade — it’s a tectonic shift. Each new NVIDIA architecture, from Blackwell’s 208-billion-transistor design to compact systems like DGX Spark, is rewriting what performance per watt looks like. IDC projects that global spending on AI infrastructure will grow at a 37 percent CAGR through 2028, while Gartner expects enterprise GPU demand to double by 2027. Yet, for Domenech, the numbers tell only part of the story. This isn’t just about faster chips; it’s about the transition from general compute to national compute — where every data-centre rack becomes a measure of sovereignty, innovation, and ambition. “In the initial years, we spent a lot of time on building 37% CAGR is the expected global spend on AI infrastructure through 2028 / NVIDIA and TII partner to launch Middle East’s first-ever robotics lab / NVIDIA Grace - a data centre CPU, delivers 10x performance of today’s fastest servers Edge_EDGE_SAP_KSA Special Edition_Nov2025_42-43_NVIDIA Feature_13758747.indd 4206/11/2025 17:13FEATURE EDGE | Saudi Special 43 and growing,” he said. “And right now we can say we are just on the deployment side of this extreme exercise we have done.” BUILDING SOVEREIGN AI FACTORIES Sovereignty has quickly become the defi ning ambition of nations that want to control their data, design their own models, and decide how intelligence is produced and applied. Domenech describes these AI factories as much more than hardware. “It’s a very short word, but it implies a huge exercise behind it,” he said. “You need data-centre readiness, hardware, software, and partners able to replicate what we’re doing elsewhere. That’s what makes the ecosystem work.” At its core, the concept ties directly to data residency and national control. Sovereign AI means building the full pipeline, from silicon to software— inside national borders so that governments and enterprises can innovate securely while protecting sensitive data. It’s a vision now taking shape fastest in the Middle East, where compute power has become as strategic as oil once was. In the UAE, the government’s D33 strategy prioritises digital self-reliance and home-grown AI capacity. In Saudi Arabia, Vision 2030 has turned AI into a national infrastructure project. Players such as G42, SDAIA, and Aramco are already deploying thousands of NVIDIA GPUs to power national models and enterprise applications. The region’s fi rst sovereign AI customer, Aleria, is working directly with NVIDIA to localise training environments, while the new TII Robotics and AI Lab in Abu Dhabi is building research capabilities that could shape global standards. “With the vision and capabilities they have in the Middle East—mainly Saudi and the UAE—they are ahead of this,” Domenech said. “They are the perfect candidates to apply and be among the fi rst on sovereignty.” And as these sovereign AI factories come online, the region is no longer just a consumer of compute; it’s becoming one of its most powerful producers. A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH When asked what’s next for NVIDIA, Domenech smiled, careful not to give too much away. “We’re working extremely close with our customers and the U.S government,” he said, hinting that there’s more in motion than can yet be shared. It was a deliberately measured answer — the kind that refl ects how NVIDIA is navigating an increasingly complex global map. In recent months, the company has seen its China market share dip amid tightening U.S. export restrictions on advanced GPUs, prompting a broader diversifi cation of where and how it grows. The Middle East has become one of those new growth frontiers — not as an alternative market, but as a collaborative partner aligned with regulatory compliance and national ambitions for sovereign AI. That alignment is already visible. Earlier this year, the UAE received its fi rst batch of NVIDIA’s latest AI chips, underscoring the country’s emergence as a serious player in compute infrastructure. For Domenech, this marks the beginning of a new era: one defi ned not by dependence, but by distributed capability. And in that shift lies a deeper story — one where energy becomes intelligence. The same region that once powered the world through oil is now fuelling it with data, compute, and human ingenuity. As sovereign AI factories take shape across the Middle East, the region isn’t just catching up to the global AI race — it’s quietly redefi ning where the world learns what comes next. / By mid-2025, the company had already crossed the 4 trillion mark in market capitalisation I can really tell that 5 years ago, the Middle East might have been a bit behind compared to the EU and U.S market, but the speed at which compute is being deployed here is staggering Edge_EDGE_SAP_KSA Special Edition_Nov2025_42-43_NVIDIA Feature_13758747.indd 4307/11/2025 11:42FEATURE 44 EDGE | Saudi Special Sony vouches for a human-fi rst approach to building the workforce of tomorrow A cross the Middle East, the digital workforce is no longer def ined by cubicles or job titles — it’s a way of living, creating, and connecting. In a region home to more than 200 nationalities, culture is the foundation on which innovation stands. Sony’s Middle East and Africa leadership tells us why designing for people, not product categories, is now the only strategy that scales. On a weekday morning in Dubai, a young producer edits a reel on the metro — noise- cancelled, hotspot tethered, thumbnail already in mind. By evening, she’s gaming with friends in Riyadh. At the weekend, she’s at a beach party, where someone inevitably plugs in a tower CULTURE IS THE OPERATING SYSTEM $1.5M is the expected value of MENA’s streaming market by end of this year speaker and passes around a mic. One person, three contexts: creator, gamer, audiophile. Yet many technology brands still design as if these lives were separate. Putting them in classifi cations such as – “Work” hardware, “play” hardware, “pro” tools, “lifestyle” accessories. It’s tidy on a slide but, if you put thought into it, probably mismatched in reality. The Middle East’s digital workforce keeps rewriting the script. According to recent data, MENA’s streaming market is expected to exceed $1.5 billion by 2025, with Subscription Video -on-Demand (SVOD) subscriptions surpassing 27 million, as shared viewing becomes a regional ritual. The gaming market across MEA was worth Words by Pavneet Kaur Edge_EDGE_SAP_KSA Special Edition_Nov2025_44-47_Feature Sony TV_13758744.indd 4406/11/2025 17:16FEATURE EDGE | Saudi Special 45 the brand aims to turn its community into collaborators. “Our engagement goes beyond selling; it’s about building communities,” Joejoe explains. “That’s how innovation stays authentic.” The company’s gaming ventures echo the same approach. Its founding partnership with the Esports World Cup and the PlayStation MENA Hero Project have helped make gaming a mainstream cultural bridge. “Gaming is more than entertainment; it’s shared identity,” adds Joejoe. “It unites people across borders and amplifi es stories that originate here.” THE DIGITAL WORKFORCE: FLUID, HYBRID, HUMAN Across the Middle East, the workforce of today and tomorrow shifts seamlessly between work, creativity, and leisure. “Our newest devices are designed for this fl uid lifestyle,” says Joejoe. “They deliver performance but also enhance how people live and express themselves.” The WH-1000XM6 headphones illustrate over $4.56 billion in 2024 and projected to double by 2030. The creator economy across MENA continues its steep climb, as governments roll out visas, hubs, and accelerator funds for digital talent. Take into context how in South Africa, Amapiano, once a township sound, has now topped 855 million Spotify streams, shaping how an entire generation defi nes “good audio.” And across the GCC, Gen Z — who make up nearly half of the region’s online population, expect technology design to be intuitive, expressive, and aligned with their values. The gap is obvious: people live fl uid, culture- driven, multi-modal lives. Products too often assume single-use, one-size-fi ts-all. CULTURE AS A DESIGN LANGUAGE If culture shapes behaviour, then listening is a product discipline. The UAE’s cultural mix of over 200 nationalities plays a critical role in the process of co-creating. This in turn leads to the nation becoming a living lab of multicultural consumer behaviour technology. For Sony, this diversity isn’t a challenge; it’s an advantage. “Culture plays a decisive role in shaping our strategy,” says Jobin Joejoe, Managing Director, Sony Middle East and Africa. “From the family viewing traditions driving large-screen BRAVIA demand in the Middle East to Africa’s music- centric lifestyle inspiring our ULT Power Sound series, our localisation starts with people.” Sony’s model serves as an interesting case study, built around localisation, innovation, and partnerships. The brand views culture not as a backdrop but as the blueprint itself. It’s why the company was among the fi rst international fi rms to establish operations in the UAE and why it continues to expand into new markets like Central Asia. DESIGNING FOR A GENERATION THAT CREATES In a region where creation and connection go hand in hand, brands need to rethink product strategies at the intersection of culture and creativity. “We’ve introduced 25 camera systems and over 75 lenses, making us the largest producer of lenses in the mirrorless segment,” says Joejoe. “This ensures every creator — from vloggers to cinematographers — has the right tool to tell their story.” Products and tools are only half the story in Sony’s case. Through Alpha Festivals, Creators Conventions, and Cinema Line workshops, / Jobin Joejoe, Managing Director, Sony MEA Technology brings experiences to life, but culture gives them meaning Edge_EDGE_SAP_KSA Special Edition_Nov2025_44-47_Feature Sony TV_13758744.indd 4506/11/2025 17:16FEATURE 46 EDGE | Saudi Special collaboration,” Joejoe says. “Creativity thrives when diff erent perspectives meet.” That mindset shapes leadership too. “As a leader, I try to foster visionary but inclusive thinking,” he adds. “Innovation happens when you create space for diff erence — both in ideas and people.” FRAGMENTATION FATIGUE Consumers today are tired of friction — too many devices, too little coherence. They want ecosystems that communicate, personalisation that respects privacy, and AI that assists rather than overwhelms. It’s why inclusive innovation in tech has become an imperative. The global ANC (active noise- cancellation) market, for example, is forecasted to triple by 2032, proving that human-centric design, comfort, silence and focus — is the next performance metric. In a region as fast-moving as the Middle East, culture and innovation in technology can’t be separated. The companies that will lead this next decade won’t just optimise products; they’ll optimise empathy. To put it simply - taste, trust, and time are the new diff erentiators: Taste — to sense cultural nuance before data proves it. Trust — to deliver AI-driven personalisation responsibly. Time — to remove friction from the creative process. As Joejoe puts it, “Technology brings experiences to life, but culture gives them meaning.” DESIGNING FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE ROOM If the Middle East is a mosaic, the lesson is clear: don’t design for an average that doesn’t this: AI-based adaptive noise cancelling, improved acoustics, and day-long comfort for creators, commuters, and professionals alike. Another example is Sony’s REON Pocket Pro wearable which showcases inclusive innovation in tech, addressing real-world conditions like the region’s extreme climate, because cooling comfort now counts as productivity. This philosophy underpins Sony’s entire portfolio. Each launch is tested against a simple question: does it fi t the rhythm of human life? GENERATIONAL SHIFTS AND THE CULTURE OF TRUST For Sony, understanding generational intent is crucial. “Gen Z wants technology that’s intuitive, social, and sustainable. Millennials value versatility and productivity. Older users look for reliability and simplicity,” Joejoe notes. That spectrum informs Sony’s cross-category thinking. For example, BRAVIA’s multi-language features for cultural inclusivity; the Alpha camera ecosystem that grows with a creator’s skill; and the INZONE gaming line off ering immersive AI technology features like personalised spatial audio tuned to the listener’s ear. Inside Sony, culture isn’t just a market lens but a management principle. The brand’s people philosophy captures how diversity fuels creativity. “We nurture open-mindedness and / Sony’s REON Pocket Pro Wearable Smart Thermal Device / The PlayStation MENA Hero Porject has helped make gaming a mainstream culture bridge Edge_EDGE_SAP_KSA Special Edition_Nov2025_44-47_Feature Sony TV_13758744.indd 4606/11/2025 17:16FEATURE EDGE | Saudi Special 47 market built on high expectations and early adoption. Africa, meanwhile, is scaling a cultural renaissance where gaming and music evolve within community-driven spaces. The company’s role is not to fl atten these diff erences, but to amplify them. Innovation travels globally, resonance is hyper-local. That insight extends to how Sony listens. Communities like gamers and cinematographers are no longer “personas” sketched in meeting rooms. They are partners shaping product journeys in real time. Sony’s growing roster of regional events, accelerators, and creative programmes refl ect this co-creation mindset. Talent is not something it markets to; it is something it invests in. Inside Sony, the transformation is equally cultural. Leadership is shifting from instruction to interaction. Curiosity is a KPI. Teams are encouraged to interpret change rather than resist it. Joejoe believes every voice can carry an idea worth evolving. That ethos — “Special You, Diverse Sony” — signals a future where making space for diff erence becomes a competitive advantage. The question that defi nes Sony’s long-term strategy in the region is no longer: What will people buy next? It is, how will people choose to feel next? The brands that remain relevant will be those that craft technologies tuned to identity, climate, community, and creativity — the fundamentals that shape everyday life. In this part of the world, culture doesn’t follow innovation. It leads it. Sony’s next era begins in the spaces where art meets engineering, where talent meets opportunity, and where technology fi nally understands the people holding it. exist. Design for the culture that does. Sony’s approach feels less like a marketing exercise and more like anthropology in action — observing, adapting, humanising. “We’ve always believed creativit y and technology belong together,” Joejoe says. “In this region, that means listening — to families gathering around big screens, to gamers building communities, to creators telling their own stories, and building for them.” Because the digital workforce of Middle East isn’t an abstract concept; it’s a human network — the person on your metro, your feed, your living room sofa — switching modes, chasing ideas, and shaping what comes next. When technology keeps pace with that rhythm, innovation fi nally sounds human. THE RISE OF EXPERIENCE-BASED INNOVATION Technology once existed as objects. Today, it exists as experiences. For Jobin Joejoe, that shift explains why Sony’s future in the Middle East and Africa will not simply be defi ned by what it sells, but by the worlds it enables. Across the region, the boundaries between content, interaction, and imagination are dissolving. AI-powered features are reshaping workfl ows in fi lm and photography. Spatial audio and immersive displays are pulling audiences deeper into stories. Wearables no longer wait for specifi c use cases. They step into the background and tune into the user’s life. This convergence is where Sony sees its next leap. “We have an ecosystem spanning entertainment and technology that few can replicate,” Joejoe says. Internally, this advantage fuels a strategy where music, gaming, cinema, and imaging do not operate as siloes. Each reinforces the other, creating a universe where technology unlock s e x pr ession, and expression drives technology for ward. The more creator s ex p e r i m e n t i n s i d e that ecosystem, the stronger it becomes. Such a model demands sensitivity to local nuance. The Middle East remains a premium / Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones / With 25 camera systems & over 75 lenses, Sony aims to cater to every creator in the region Edge_EDGE_SAP_KSA Special Edition_Nov2025_44-47_Feature Sony TV_13758744.indd 4706/11/2025 17:16TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP AWARDS 48 EDGE | Saudi Special 48 EDGE | Saudi Special TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP AWARDS EDGE | Saudi Special 49 The ITP.NET Technology Leadership Awards 2025 celebrated the people and companies defi ning the region’s technology story — from AI and data to cybersecurity and quantum. These leaders are shaping how innovation translates into real-world impact. After a rigorous judging process, we brought the winners together at the One&Only One Za’abeel on the second day of GITEX 2025 to honour their achievements and mindsets — a night that recognised not just progress in technology, but the collective ambition driving the Middle East’s digital future. EDGE | Saudi Special 49Next >