Microsoft to open Saudi Arabia East Azure cloud region in November 2026
Microsoft confirmed Monday that its Saudi Arabia East datacenter region will be available to customers in November 2026, giving government agencies and private-sector organizations the ability to run cloud and AI workloads locally within the Kingdom.
The region is located in the Eastern Province and will comprise three Azure Availability Zones, the company said. It will provide customers with local data residency, enterprise-grade security, high availability, and low-latency access to Microsoft cloud and AI services.
Microsoft made the announcement on the first day of the LEAP 2026 conference in Riyadh, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
"Today's milestone is about much more than bringing cloud infrastructure closer to our customers," said Ayman AlGhamdi, Microsoft Arabia President, in a statement. "It is about giving organizations across Saudi Arabia the foundation to take AI from experimentation into everyday operations."
The company said the region represents the next phase of its long-term investment in Saudi Arabia and is intended to support organizations moving from AI experimentation to deployment at scale, in line with the country's Vision 2030 economic diversification goals.
Microsoft also announced that a Microsoft Innovation Hub in Saudi Arabia is scheduled to launch in November alongside the cloud region. The hub will offer workshops and hands-on engagement with Microsoft AI and cloud technologies, the company said.
Additionally, Microsoft announced the AI Arabia Center of Excellence, developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Skills Council, and Gulf Intelligence. The center is designed to support AI capability development and research in the Kingdom.
Microsoft said it has helped 1.6 million people in Saudi Arabia acquire digital and AI skills and has committed to reaching three million people by 2030.
An IDC study sponsored by Microsoft projected that Microsoft, its partners, and customers using Microsoft cloud technologies could generate an estimated $44 billion in new revenues for the Saudi economy between 2027 and 2030, with the Saudi Arabia East region contributing approximately 13.4% of that figure. The study also projected the creation of around 100,000 new jobs in Saudi Arabia during that period.
Eng. Nasser AlNasser, Deputy Minister of Technology at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, said in a statement that the region "represents an important step in accelerating AI adoption, empowering innovators, entrepreneurs and organizations across all sectors to create new opportunities for growth and competitiveness."
