Abu Dhabi's G42 Cloud teams up with SAP to boost UAE public sector digital transformation

Partnership will help users experience more secure and powerful enterprise solutions

Talal Al Kaissi, chief executive of G42 Cloud, seated right, and Zakaria Haltout, managing director of SAP, signing the agreement between the two companies. Photo: G42 Cloud

G42 Cloud, a unit of Abu Dhabi's artificial intelligence company G42, and German software major SAP have signed an agreement aimed at helping companies accelerate their digital transformation using cloud technology.

Under the partnership, SAP services will be used in the operations of companies in the public sector and regulated enterprises, as well as customer initiatives in the private sector, G42 Cloud said on Friday.

The partnership is "transformational" and will play a role in "supporting regional customers in advancing their digital transformation journey", said Talal Al Kaissi, chief executive of G42 Cloud.

"This is a milestone partnership for the regional technology industry, which will enable our customers to experience more secure and powerful enterprise solutions," he said.

The UAE has long championed the critical role digital transformation plays in its economy and society, as the country positions itself as a global hub for innovation.

The adoption of cloud technology is growing because of the rise in data consumption and evolving economic and societal landscapes that have become increasingly digital.

With the cloud being the "underlying foundational pillar" for many industry verticals, it provides a level of confidence by offering data residency as well as sovereignty, Mr Al Kaissi had told The National at last month's Gitex Global event in Dubai.

The global digital transformation market is projected to hit about $3.95 trillion by 2030, from about $608 billion in 2021, growing at a compound annual rate of more than 23 per cent, according to data from Grand View Research.

Global end-user spending on public cloud services alone is expected to approach the $600bn mark in 2023, with inflationary pressures dictating how much growth the industry will be able to carve out, a study from Gartner showed earlier this month.

The partnership between G42 Cloud and SAP will allow enterprises to transform their operations by achieving faster time-to-market, or the period between conceptualising a product and having it available for sale, the statement said.

SAP will also be able to take advantage of G42 Cloud’s secure and scalable infrastructure, which offers customers benefits including data sovereignty and potentially better business results, it said.

Aside from the cloud, the initiative will also bank on the newest innovations in artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain to improve operations, said Sergio Maccotta, SAP's senior vice president for Middle East South.

“This joint initiative between SAP and G42 Cloud seeks to empower enterprises across the public and private sectors to align with the UAE government’s digital transformation targets," he said.

G42 Cloud is looking at countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe to expand into, and organisations in those areas are looking to replicate G42's solutions there, the company said last month.

Its parent, G42, has geospatial intelligence company Bayanat and data centre services provider Khazna under its umbrella.