Aramco, a Saudi-owned integrated energy and chemicals company, and IBM, a global provider of hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting services, have announced their intended collaboration on opportunities to advance artificial intelligence, agentic AI, automation, material science and other mutually agreed domains in the industrial sector.
The announcement was made at THINK Boston, IBM’s global flagship event, in the presence of Arvind Krishna, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IBM, Sami Al Ajmi, Senior Vice President of Digital & Information Technology at Aramco, along with senior executives and other distinguished guests from industry, the public sector, and academia.
Sami Al Ajmi, Senior Vice President of Digital & Information Technology, Aramco said, “Technology and innovation are central to Aramco’s long-term strategy. This collaboration with IBM enables us to assess how industrial AI and other mutually-agreed domains can further enhance operational excellence and resilience, while reinforcing our leadership in Industrial AI—particularly in reliability, safety, and mission-critical environments.”
“Combining innovation and advanced technology represents the next frontier in enterprise transformation,” said Saad Toma, General Manager, IBM Middle East and Africa. “By collaborating with Aramco, we are exploring how emerging technologies are addressing some of the world’s most complex industrial challenges, while reinforcing our shared commitment to continuous investment in innovation.”
In a press release the companies revealed that the collaboration will explore applications of AI, hybrid cloud, and advanced technologies across industrial and energy systems, including industrial AI use cases in mission-critical environments. These efforts aim to leverage the organizations’ complementary strengths to unlock greater value and accelerate innovation at scale.
Aramco and IBM have been working together since 1947. The planned collaboration is subject to the parties reaching definitive agreements.
Readers would recall that in February 2026, Aramco had signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft to explore a series of digital initiatives designed to accelerate industrial AI adoption, enhance digital capabilities, and strengthen workforce development in Saudi Arabia. Then in March, while sharing its fourth quarter earnings, Aramco, which has its roots in oil and petrochemicals, and has also made its foray into technology, especially AI, reported big gains from AI. Aramco reported Technology Realized Value (TRV) of US$ 5.3 billion in 2025 from AI, digital and other technology solutions, bringing cumulative TRV to US$ 11.3 billion since 2023.