Artefact strengthens MENA operations with new office in Riyadh

Artefact is strengthening its presence in MENA with a new office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to tap the growing demand for data and digital consulting, as per a media release.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), one of the region’s largest and fastest developing economies, had a big data and artificial intelligence (AI) industry of US$164.98 million in 2020. This is predicted to reach US$891.74 million by 2026, representing a 32.6 percent annual growth rate over the next five years.

This provides Artefact with a big prospective market with tremendous growth opportunities. The firm intends to significantly expand its team in KSA, with revenue forecast to see a threefold increase.

Artefact’s new Saudi Arabia office will be an extension of the company’s worldwide network, which includes operations in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Artefact will bring to the Kingdom its data and AI-related processes, innovations, talent pool, and collaborations. It will also invest in local people to create the diverse skill sets required for next-generation AI-driven economies, with positions including consultants, data scientists, big data engineers, machine learning (ML) engineers, and data architects.

Rahul Arya, Managing Partner of Artefact MENA, says: “As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks to a new and exciting phase in its growth led by economic and social transformation, this is an inspiring time for Artefact to strengthen our on-ground presence there. It will be one of our key focus markets in the years to come and we are committed to making significant investments that will bring our cutting edge workforce and data and technology-led innovations to our clients and partners in the Kingdom.  We see plenty of potential for our data and AI expertise as public and private sector enterprises look to accelerate their journeys to realize their new visions.”

“Thanks to its rapidly expanding economy, Saudi Arabia is a serious proposition for any growing global business, and Artefact is delighted to be firming up its foothold in the country.  With our global expertise and years of relevant experience, combined with our knowledge of the region, we expect to become partners with several clients in the Kingdom as they undertake their data and AI transformation journeys,” says Vincent Luciani, co-founder and CEO of Artefact.

The company’s core products include data vision and strategy, the ‘AI Factory’ (for the launch and scaling up of AI programmes), big data platform implementation, large scale data governance programmes, and data marketing programmes. Artefact also has worldwide agreements with big data infrastructure companies and data platforms such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon.