Riyadh – Sharikat Mubasher: Microsoft announced during the LEAP 2026 conference that it will make its Saudi Arabia East datacenter region available to customers in November 2026, giving government and private sector organizations access to Microsoft cloud and AI services hosted locally in the Kingdom.

Located in the Eastern Province, the region will comprise three Azure Availability Zones, offering local data residency, enhanced security, high availability and lower latency for eligible workloads, according to the company’s press release.

The launch comes as Saudi organizations increasingly move AI projects from experimentation toward large-scale deployment. Microsoft said the new infrastructure will help businesses and government entities run mission-critical workloads locally and support wider AI adoption.

An IDC study estimates that Microsoft, its partners and customers could generate $44 billion in new revenue for the Saudi economy between 2027 and 2030 through Microsoft cloud technologies. The new datacenter region is expected to account for around 13.4% of that value, while the broader ecosystem could contribute to about 100,000 jobs.

Microsoft has also trained 1.6 million people in Saudi Arabia in digital and AI skills and aims to reach 3 million by 2030.

The company will launch a Microsoft Innovation Hub in Saudi Arabia in November and has announced an AI Arabia Center of Excellence with MCIT and other partners.

The fifth edition of LEAP 2026 runs from 31 August to 3 September at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Center in Malham, north of Riyadh.

The event is expected to attract more than 1,000 global speakers and experts, 1,800 technology companies, 600 startups and 1,900 investors and venture capital representatives, highlighting Saudi Arabia’s growing role as a hub for technology and innovation.