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Nov 29, 2025
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Middle East & Africa
Salesforce Officially Launches in Saudi Arabia with $500M Investment and Arabic Agentforce
NewDecoded
3 min read
Salesforce officially launched its Saudi Arabia operations on November 18, 2025, operationalizing its $500 million commitment to support the Kingdom's Vision 2030 digital transformation agenda. The company held its first Innovation Day in Riyadh, established a regional headquarters, and announced plans to open a new office in the capital's central business district. CEO Marc Benioff emphasized the strategic importance of the market, stating "Saudi Arabia is becoming one of the world's most dynamic digital economies, and we are proud to deepen our commitment to the Kingdom." The investment covers AI innovation, cloud adoption through the Hyperforce platform, digital skills development, and ecosystem growth across Saudi Arabia.
Customer Wins and Arabic Language Support
At the Innovation Day event, regional organizations including Red Sea Global, Almosafer, Cenomi, and SRMG showcased their transformation journeys using Salesforce technology. Red Sea Global is deploying Agentforce 360 to create a unified, data-driven customer experience platform across its regenerative tourism destinations. The timing aligns with a significant product development: Agentforce launched in Arabic on November 26, enabling organizations across the Middle East to deploy autonomous AI agents that understand and operate natively in Arabic for customer service, employee productivity, and operational workflows. Mohammed Al-Khotani, SVP & GM of Salesforce Middle East, called the Arabic support "a major milestone for the region."
Workforce Development Focus
Salesforce committed to upskilling 30,000 Saudi citizens in AI by 2030, with strong emphasis on women's workforce participation. The company partnered with Princess Nourah University, one of the world's largest universities for women, training over 450 women to reach Agentblazer status in the first cohort starting September 2025. The initiative leverages Trailhead, Salesforce's free online learning platform, alongside tailored local programs. His Excellency Abdullah Alswaha, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, joined Benioff at Dreamforce 2025 to discuss AI adoption, telling the audience that "AI is a general purpose technology where nobody should be left behind," calling for governments and industry to work together to bridge emerging digital divides.
Salesforce's $500 million Saudi Arabia expansion represents a calculated bet on the Middle East as a growth market for enterprise AI, particularly as Western markets become saturated. The timing of Agentforce's Arabic language launch just days after the official Saudi operations announcement reveals strategic coordination between product development and market entry. This localization effort addresses a critical barrier for enterprise AI adoption in Arabic-speaking markets, where language support has historically lagged behind European and Asian languages. The partnership with Princess Nourah University and focus on women's workforce participation shows Salesforce navigating cultural sensitivities while pursuing commercial objectives. By embedding itself in Vision 2030 initiatives through training programs and government partnerships, Salesforce is positioning for long-term policy influence beyond typical vendor relationships. The approach mirrors strategies previously deployed in markets like India, where workforce development programs create ecosystems of trained professionals who subsequently advocate for Salesforce solutions within their organizations.
