Feras Al Shaikh: Red Hat seek to establish strategic partnerships with organizations and companies in Saudi Arabia

1- Can you provide insights into how Red Hat's open-source solutions are transforming industry?

- Our goal is to provide and guarantee that our partners and clients have access to the most cutting-edge technologies by combining superior products and solutions with tailored, industry-specific services. At Red Hat, we empower enterprises to revolutionise customer experiences by focusing on fundamental business activities and lowering costs related to expensive infrastructure maintenance.

Since we are open-source platforms, we aim to revolutionise the way companies conduct, develop and maintain artificial intelligence, further democratising technology and altering corporate environments and processes. When we discuss the platform aspect, we really mean taking our customers on a journey that starts with everything they already have — all the infrastructure they have invested in, all the skills they have been developing, etc. This is what we have been doing with them for decades now in Enterprise Linux, OpenShift and automation with Ansible, in the field of AI.

At present, businesses are seeking to standardise the data environment, consolidate database servers into a single platform and streamline data operations to save licensing costs. Our Red Hat Data Services assists businesses in managing their data efficiently when in motion, at rest and throughout operations, producing valuable business insights. Furthermore, our open, reliable database solutions provide stable and secure data to enable organisations to operate effectively and expand quickly.

Similar work is done by our Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation, which abstracts the storage architecture and enables data to be stored in many places while operating as a single permanent repository. This data service provides Kubernetes administrators with scalability and developers with easy access across cloud, on-premises and virtual deployments. Red Hat OpenShift Data Science provides a self-service sandbox environment where machine learning (ML) engineers and data scientists can collaborate on data preparation, testing and model training.

Customers can further create customised environments with the data science and AI/ML tools in the industry by utilising AI/ML solutions offered by Red Hat partners and independent software vendors. The Red Hat Ceph Storage, which is the data plane for Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation, delivers on these key requirements and serves as an open and scalable storage solution for modern data pipelines, including advanced analytics, media repositories and artificial intelligence.

2- Considering Red Hat's evolution thus far, what strategic directions or advancements do you anticipate for the company in the next five years?

- By embracing open-source technology, we have achieved remarkable growth and evolved dramatically throughout the previous years. Taking into account the competitive landscape, market demand and technological advancements, we have big ambitions and anticipate substantial growth over the next five years. To make things more manageable, we need to figure out a way to navigate the current intricacy of applications and the underlying infrastructure. 

In the upcoming years, the infrastructure supporting these applications will become even more crucial. Because there are several environments, including bare metal, hypervisors, public and private clouds, Linux, VMs (virtual machines) and microservices, it becomes imperative to prioritise management and security. In light of this, we aim to provide our clients with more feasible and efficient solutions.

Furthermore, business-critical applications are being developed using Linux and open-source development tools. At Red Hat, we have already established ourselves as a leader in providing these tools and related infrastructure. Moreover, our open-source solutions and enterprise-grade support showcase our dual capacity to meet the ever-changing customer expectations and demands. We are well-positioned to capitalise on opportunities, continue pursuing excellence and long-term success, and deal with any potential challenges. Our previous successes and achievements, such as the development and adoption of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), are a testament to our extensive expertise.

3- What is Red Hat’s short-term, and long-term plans for KSA regarding market growth/expansion?

- We seek to establish strategic partnerships with government organisations, technological companies and local businesses in Saudi Arabia to expand our market reach and fortify our position. In my opinion, such partnerships hold enormous potential to foster long-term growth and deeper integration into the local ecosystem. In line with our strategy for both short- and long-term market growth, we aim to further tailor our solutions to the specific requirements of most prominent industries in Saudi Arabia, including oil and gas, finance and healthcare. We believe that this approach will eventually ensure relevance and competitiveness in industries.

In addition, we plan to engage with the local open-source community by participating in conferences, seminars and industry events. We aim to guarantee long-term brand loyalty and rapid market penetration by implementing strategic partnerships and raising awareness on our products within the country’s market. Our ambitious plans for development and expansion in Saudi Arabia also include offering localised support, training and consulting services in Arabic, as well as addressing the specific cultural and business needs of Saudi Arabian firms. 

We will continue investing in educational initiatives, workshops and certifications to empower local IT professionals, which will further promote rapid adoption of the Red Hat technologies and skill development. In the long-term, this will result in a pool of skilled and highly qualified professionals that can support the market’s continued innovation and growth.

4- Could you elaborate on any recent industry trends in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that you believe will significantly impact Red Hat's operations or market strategy?

- Saudi Arabia has embarked upon an advanced digital transformation journey. The leaders of the Kingdom have been collaborating closely with both public and private sector organisations to accomplish their objectives, achieve the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030 strategy and execute several giga projects. Furthermore, generative AI (GenAI) use cases are already being explored and invested in by several prominent Saudi Arabian companies. 

In the future, IDC believes that these companies will need to be prepared for an ‘AI Everywhere’ world. According to IDC, Saudi Arabia’s ICT spending will exceed USD 36.6 billion by 2024, while the annual spending on AI-centric systems worldwide is expected to reach USD 300 billion by 2026.

Our solutions play a major role in achieving these objectives and perfectly align with the country’s focus on digital transformation, cloud adoption and AI/ML. We are currently witnessing a rising demand for cloud-native and AI-driven technologies owing to the increased investments in digital infrastructure and smart cities, as well as the establishment of the Saudi Data and AI Authority. Furthermore, a dynamic environment for us to thrive and achieve success is created by the country’s major emphasis on workforce development, fintech, open banking and sustainability. 

In light of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to developing local talent and integrating eco-friendly technology, we, at Red Hat, have innumerable opportunities to invest in training programs, forge strategic alliances and provide localised solutions. We can further make a substantial contribution to the Kingdom’s technical progress and economic diversification by aligning with these trends and focusing on crucial industries such as finance, healthcare and energy. This will further strengthen our commitment to innovation and growth in the region.

Our success in the KSA is defined by our commitment to our corporate social responsibility (CSR), in addition to driving innovation and various technological advancements. Beyond business operations, our approach to CSR is deeply ingrained in our ethos of open collaboration and community engagement. As part of our open culture, Red Hatters actively engage in initiatives that assist and benefit local and international communities.