Microsoft plans to invest more than $10 billion in capital and operating expenses across the Middle East between now and 2030 under a new framework that names the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia as its first markets. The company said the spending will expand cloud and AI infrastructure and deepen partnerships with national artificial intelligence champions, including Abu Dhabi’s G42, alongside digital government platforms such as TAMM in the UAE.

Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, and Naim Yazbeck, President of Microsoft Middle East and Africa, set out the framework at a round table held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, attended by senior government representatives from the four countries. Smith said the company’s responsibility was not only to invest in the technology that enables progress but to help provide the digital resilience, security and continuity it depends on. Microsoft also plans to spend more than $400 million on subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the region by 2030, building on cable systems including SeaMeWe-6, which has landings in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The framework introduces a Middle East digital resilience programme of assessments, reference architectures, readiness guidance and continuity planning, and expands data protection and sovereignty commitments through Microsoft Sovereign Public Cloud, Sovereign Private Cloud and Project Digital Shield. Microsoft said it will deepen cybersecurity cooperation with national authorities in the four countries and expand work with the Responsible AI Future Foundation, which it co-founded with G42 and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. The company restated a commitment to help skill more than 4.2 million people across the four countries by 2030.