IBM’s Jonathan Adashek on Saudi Arabia’s AI Ambitions and the Rise of Digital Sovereignty

As AI adoption accelerates across the Middle East and digital sovereignty rises on the strategic agenda of governments and enterprises, organizations are increasingly focused on balancing innovation with control over data, resilient infrastructure, and trusted governance.

These priorities were a key focus during the recent visit of Jonathan Adashek, IBM’s Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, to the region, where he met with clients, partners, and policymakers to discuss the evolving technology landscape and IBM’s long-term commitment to the Middle East.

The visit follows a series of IBM-led discussions across the region, including a media roundtable in Riyadh featuring Ayman AlRashed, Regional Vice President, IBM Saudi Arabia, and Sabine Holl, Vice President of Sales Engineering and Chief Technology Officer for IBM Middle East and Africa.

Together, these conversations explored how sovereign cloud capabilities, resilient digital infrastructure, and responsible AI adoption are helping advance national digital transformation ambitions, including those outlined in Saudi Vision 2030.

Building on these discussions, Entrepreneur Middle East sat down with Adashek to discuss IBM’s AI strategy, the growing importance of digital sovereignty, the company’s investment in the region, and what the next decade of technological innovation could look like.

Q1. IBM has made several high-profile acquisitions in recent years, including Red Hat, HashiCorp, and Confluent. What is the strategic rationale behind these investments, and how do they collectively strengthen IBM’s differentiation in the AI era?

“When Arvind Krishna became CEO in 2020, he set a clear direction for IBM: to become the leading hybrid cloud and AI platform company. Our acquisitions have been deliberately aligned with that vision. A common thread across acquisitions such as Red Hat, HashiCorp, and Confluent is openness. Confluent is the best data streaming platform out there, and it runs on open-source principles, which ties back to what we did with Red Hat.

Together, these technologies support how our entire business operates, running and working across multiple platforms. This is particularly important because our focus is on enterprise AI, not consumer-grade AI. While consumer AI is doing great things to drive awareness, enterprise-level AI is what’s really important. These acquisitions enable clients to deploy AI where it makes the most business sense while maintaining the flexibility, scalability, and trust required by large organizations.”

Q2. At IBM Think 2026, a recurring theme was the shift from AI experimentation to AI-driven operating models. What is driving this transition, and what distinguishes organizations that are successfully scaling AI from those still stuck in pilots?

“Organizations have moved beyond asking whether AI matters and are now focused on how to scale it. The AI race is on, and no one wants to be left behind. This is driving a shift from isolated pilots to embedding AI into how enterprises actually operate.

Our recent IBM Institute for Business Value 5 Trends for 2026 study highlights this. It shows that 90% of Saudi executives see AI sovereignty as a strategic priority for 2026, 63% worry about reliance on specific regions for compute resources. The organizations that are succeeding are those with clear executive ownership, a well-defined operating model, and a willingness to redesign processes end-to-end.

This is where new tools become critical. For example, IBM Bob, our enterprise-focused agentic development assistant, helps developers build and deploy AI with governance and security built-in from the start. It reflects the growing shift from simply experimenting with AI to operationalizing and governing it at scale across the enterprise. But how to implement it, where to use it, and how to manage the change that goes with it, those are the things people are still focusing on.”

Q3. Where is AI heading over the next decade?

“AI will continue to evolve toward more agentic systems, where multiple AI agents work together as digital labor to perform increasingly sophisticated tasks. But if we want to look beyond AI, our next major technological frontier is quantum computing. We believe quantum will be commercially viable by the end of the decade and have publicly outlined a roadmap toward building a fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029.

The pace of progress is accelerating rapidly. Last year, quantum systems were simulating molecules with a few hundred atoms; now, they are on a path to simulating molecules with tens of thousands of atoms. We’re already seen early applications in financial services for portfolio optimization and risk analysis. Quantum will be one of the most important technologies to watch over the coming decade.”

Q4. Do you really have concerns about AI for the future?

“I believe AI will be a transformative technology that drives progress and creates significant benefits for society. Like any powerful technology, there is always the risk of misuse if it falls into the wrong hands, which is why trust, governance, and responsible adoption remain so important. However, I think most organizations are focused on the positive opportunities AI can create.

One area I think about a lot, as I have two children, aged 13 and 16, and we often talk about it, is how to use AI effectively. The real value is not simply in asking a question, but in developing the critical thinking, judgment, and skills needed to work alongside these technologies. 

As technology evolves at such a rapid pace, continuous learning and reskilling will become essential. Ensuring people can adapt and develop new capabilities throughout their careers will be one of the most important challenges and opportunities of the AI era.”

Q5. IBM has maintained a long-standing presence in the Middle East and continues to expand its client, partner, and skills ecosystem. How does IBM define its long-term commitment to the region, and what role will the Middle East play in IBM’s global growth strategy?

“IBM’s commitment to the Middle East is both long-standing and strategic. The company has been present in Saudi Arabia since 1947 and continues to deepen its investment. This has been reinforced through our regional headquarters in Riyadh, the establishment of a software development lab in the Kingdom, and major investments in local skills. IBM recently surpassed its target of training 100,000 Saudis through SkillsBuild, reaching more than 500,000 trainees.

Beyond being a growth market, we see the Middle East as a source of innovation. The region is not only adopting advanced technologies but also helping shape how they are deployed at scale. Organizations are pursuing ambitious digital transformation agendas aligned with national priorities like Saudi Vision 2030, and IBM’s role is to help governments and enterprises build the trusted digital infrastructure, AI capabilities, and skills ecosystems needed to support that transformation while contributing to long-term economic growth.”

Q6. Digital sovereignty is becoming a top priority for governments and enterprises. How do you see the relationship between AI adoption and digital sovereignty evolving, particularly in markets like Saudi Arabia?

“AI and digital sovereignty are increasingly becoming part of the same conversation. As AI becomes more deeply embedded into business operations and national infrastructure, organizations need confidence that they can innovate while maintaining control over their data, models, and critical systems.

IBM’s IBV research shows that AI sovereignty is now a strategic priority for Saudi organizations. With 85% of business leaders concerned about reliance on global semiconductor and hyperscale supply chains, investments in sovereign cloud capabilities, local AI ecosystems, and digital resilience are accelerating across the Kingdom.

The future is about maintaining governance and control while still benefiting from innovation. Saudi Arabia is emerging as a strong example of how innovation and sovereignty can advance together. The Kingdom’s investments demonstrate that organizations do not need to choose between innovation and control; they can achieve both.”

Q7. What role does watsonx play in helping organizations compete in an AI-first economy?

“watsonx was designed to help organizations accelerate AI adoption while improving productivity, governance, and scalability. It provides a platform that allows developers and business users to be more efficient.

Internally, IBM has seen measurable benefits from AI adoption across the organization. More than 100,000 IBMers now use IBM Bob, our AI-powered development partner, which has delivered productivity gains of up to 45% across modernization, security, and new development projects. At the same time, IBM has encouraged employees across all functions to leverage watsonx to enhance productivity and develop AI skills. More than 180,000 employees participated in the watsonx Challenge in its first year, demonstrating strong adoption and growing engagement with AI across the business.

The broader objective is to help organizations operate more efficiently, unlock new capabilities, and scale AI responsibly by giving them the best offering that looks across multiple models and tools.”

Q8. How is AI transforming IBM’s own marketing and communications organization, and what lessons can clients take from that experience?

“AI has had a massive impact on my organization. Rather than treating AI as a standalone tool, IBM has embedded it into content creation, campaign execution, event management, targeting, and approval workflows.

We used to do double the number of events that we do today. Now, at half the number of events, we get 10-20% more leads because we use AI to create better content, improve targeting, and optimize our follow-up.

The results are substantial. A process that once took six weeks, like developing and approving a banner advertisement, can now be completed in around 60 seconds with AI-assisted workflows, including legal approval. Our creative teams, who previously spent about 80% of their time on repetitive production work, now spend less than 40% on it. 

The lesson for clients is that the real opportunity comes from redesigning workflows to enable employees to focus on higher-value work.”

Related: Vision Golfe 2026 Brings Together 1,200+ Leaders to Advance France-GCC Partnerships