NTT DATA, a global leader in AI, digital business and technology services, is set to launch the NTT DATA AI Factory Lab in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as it seeks to help organizations across the Middle East and Africa move from AI experimentation to practical business adoption.
Scheduled to open in September 2026, the AI Factory Lab will bring together NTT DATA’s full-stack AI solutions and services expertise with technologies from leading ecosystem partners, including Cisco and NVIDIA.
The facility is designed to give organizations a practical environment to explore AI applications, identify high-impact use cases, validate potential business outcomes and accelerate deployment on a secure and integrated foundation spanning infrastructure, platforms and services.
“While interest in AI continues to grow, many organizations are looking for a practical path from experimentation to business outcomes,” said Hani Nofal, Executive Head of Infrastructure Solutions in Middle East and Africa, NTT DATA. “The AI Factory Lab brings together the expertise, technologies and ecosystem partnerships needed to help clients identify the right use cases, deploy AI securely and scale with confidence.”
Located in one of Saudi Arabia’s leading business and innovation hubs, the lab supports the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 ambitions by helping public and private sector organizations adopt advanced technologies capable of driving productivity, innovation and economic growth.
The AI Factory Lab will offer interactive demonstrations covering real-world AI applications in areas including employee productivity, customer experience, intelligent operations, cybersecurity, networking, software development and industry-specific business processes.
Organizations will also be able to explore how agentic AI can automate workflows, strengthen decision-making, improve customer and employee experiences and unlock greater value from enterprise data.
One of the featured experiences will be the Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA, demonstrating how organizations can build, deploy, secure, govern and scale AI workloads on an enterprise-grade infrastructure foundation.
The experience will showcase the data, infrastructure, security and governance capabilities required to move AI initiatives from experimentation into production while maintaining visibility, compliance and operational resilience.
Cisco intends to provide the critical AI infrastructure foundation for the lab through its networking, security, observability and collaboration capabilities, supporting enterprise AI adoption.
NVIDIA will provide the accelerated computing platform and AI software, including the NVIDIA Agent Toolkit and open Nemotron and Cosmos models, supporting generative AI, agentic AI, computer vision and digital twin workloads.
“In the race to adopt AI, organizations need more than just technology – they need a foundation of absolute trust and control,” said Cassie Roach, VP of Partner Sales, AI Infrastructure & Connectivity at Cisco. “By integrating the Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA into their AI Factory Lab, NTT DATA provides a secure, validated sandbox where customers can test, refine and prove their AI strategies with confidence before making a full-scale commitment, turning ‘what if?’ into reality.”
The lab comes as organizations across the Middle East and Africa increasingly explore ways to transition AI from experimentation into operational and commercial applications.
“Organizations across the Middle East and Africa are moving from AI exploration to production, and NVIDIA accelerated computing and AI software provide the foundation to build, deploy and scale secure AI workloads,” said Dirk Barfuss, Director of EMEA channel at NVIDIA. “Through the NTT DATA AI Factory Lab in Riyadh, customers can experience the Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA firsthand, helping them validate high-impact use cases and move from experimentation to practical business outcomes with confidence.”
The Riyadh facility forms part of NTT DATA’s wider global AI strategy, which focuses on helping organizations adopt and scale AI responsibly, securely and effectively through consulting, infrastructure, technology services and industry-focused solutions.
With the launch of the AI Factory Lab, NTT DATA is positioning Riyadh as a practical environment for organizations to test emerging AI technologies, assess their business value and develop pathways towards secure, scalable enterprise deployment.
The initiative reflects NTT DATA’s commitment to helping organizations across the Middle East and Africa transform AI potential into practical, secure and scalable business outcomes.
