Colocation Is Transforming — and AI Is Driving the Shift in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's data center landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation. As hyperscalers and enterprises shift away from traditional colocation models and into the cloud, a new class of tenants is emerging — and they're not looking for standard 10kW racks anymore.

Welcome to the AI-Driven Colocation Era

Legacy Out, AI In: Traditional colocation tenants with sub-1MW needs are disappearing. Taking their place are AI-first tenants deploying massive clusters powered by NVL72, GB200, and GDX systems.

Liquid Cooling is Now a Must: Air-cooled white space has reached its limits. The new standard is high-density, liquid-cooled infrastructure designed specifically for AI workloads.

Cloud is Fueling a Colo Comeback: Interestingly, the cloud boom is sending AI startups and enterprises back to colocation — but this time, they’re after bare metal, GPU-as-a-Service, and purpose-built AI racks.

Saudi Arabia’s AI Heat Map is Evolving

While Riyadh and Jeddah remain central, new hot zones like NEOM and Dammam are rising fast as AI compute hubs. The conversation has shifted from square meters to megawatts per rack — and cooling capacity per chip.

What This Means for Colocation Providers:

If you’re not already:

• Offering liquid-cooled, high-density white space ( no 10KW planning anymore and don't waste your land acquisition investment!!)

• Supporting GPU-as-a-Service and AI-native workloads

• Partnering with AI hardware vendors and system integrators for reshaping your design and outlining the modern AI-compliant approaches.