Global chip major Intel remains bullish on Middle East prospects

The Middle East remains a key region for Intel, the global chip major, and the company is a key pillar in the company’ global strategy, a senior official said.

“The Middle East is a huge territory, and the requirements here are very different from what’s happening elsewhere, like in Southern Europe. The business dynamics are very unique. What we’ve done is created a sub-regional structure in which the Middle East is a standalone sub-region. So it’s a very important region for us,” Dermot Hargaden, vice-president and general manager for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) at Intel, told Khaleej Times in an interview.

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Intel has been present in the region for over two decades — 25 years in Dubai alone. “We’ve built deep customer relationships, and now we’re expanding the local team to better serve our customers and stakeholders. It’s not just about commercial opportunity, though that’s evident from the construction boom and investments in compute and capital equipment. What’s equally exciting is the innovation. The region’s vision around technology and our philosophy of fostering innovation align very closely. When visionary policy, active technology providers, and real execution intersect, it becomes a very compelling market for us,” Hargaden said.

Intel’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, has set to pillars for the company’s approach — 1. We need to have world-class products—and world-class execution behind those products; and 2. We must be deeply customer-centric and committed to delighting our customers.

“Whenever leadership changes, it’s always interesting to see how new priorities take shape. Coming from Cadence and with a strong background in venture capital, Lip-Bu has a deep understanding of the ecosystem. He’s pushing us to build deep engineering connections with our customers. That’s crucial because the region is evolving rapidly. What customers need today could be entirely different two years from now. The way to stay ahead is by driving innovation through close engineering collaborations, feeding insights back into our product roadmaps, and executing on those roadmaps flawlessly. So in many ways, it’s a return to core principles: build the best products and use that foundation to deliver outstanding customer value—whether it’s to OEMs, software providers, enterprises, or governments,” Hargaden said.

For Intel, AI  spans the entire compute continuum: from cloud to data centres, network infrastructure, the edge, and down to clients. “As workloads evolve, especially with emerging trends like Agentic AI, it’s clear that one-size-fits-all compute doesn’t work. That’s why we focus on providing optimized compute solutions for different customer needs. Where the data resides, how the compute is deployed, the energy budget—all of that varies,” Hargaden said.

Intel has launched a range of new products aimed at the future market demand. These include — 

• Gaudi 3: An AI accelerator, designed for enterprise-scale deployments. It’s optimized for both training and inference at scale and offers great value.

• Core Ultra: With this, Intel has essentially created a new category—AI PCs. These come with CPU, GPU, and a dedicated NPU, enabling on-device AI for use cases like education and productivity, even at home.

• Xeon 6: In Intel’s data centre portfolio, we’ve embedded AI deeply into the architecture of all our products.

As AI deployment progresses in the region, AI and technology integrated into nearly every aspect of government strategy—it’s across ministries, agendas, and even societal initiatives. “We’ve increased our local sales force to better engage with public sector, enterprise, OEMs, software providers, and system integrators—the full ecosystem. Because building AI solutions isn’t something one company can do alone.

The Middle East strategy is about 80 per cent aligned with Intel’s global and EMEA strategy, but about 20 per cent  is uniquely tailored, Hargaden said. “For example, sovereignty requirements here are different from those in Europe or the US. We’re working to build an ecosystem that understands and respects those regional specifics while delivering world-class technology,” Hargaden said.

Energy consumption remains one of the major challenges in AI and data centre deployment. “From the manufacturing side, we’ve been investing in renewable energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and driving environmental initiatives. On the product design side, performance-per-watt is a critical metric. It’s not just about raw performance anymore—it’s about energy-efficient performance. For instance, in our Lunar Lake and Core Ultra processors for AI PCs, battery life is optimized. The entire design philosophy is built around energy efficiency. And in data centers, we’re working with OEMs and hyperscalers to ensure our products contribute to building the most energy-efficient environments possible,” Hargaden said.

Intel has a unique value proposition to offer the Middle East, Hargaden said. “We don’t just design our chips—we manufacture them. And we don’t just manufacture for ourselves—we manufacture for others too. That gives us three different seats at the table: as a designer, a manufacturer, and a service provider. This region has a clear vision and investment focus. It aligns strongly with our open ecosystem philosophy—open architecture in both hardware and software. That allows everyone to co-develop and participate,” Hargaden said.

Somshankar Bandyopadhyay

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somshankar@khaleejtimes.com

Somshankar Bandyopadhyay is a News Editor with close to three decades of experience. Currently, he manages the business section, ensuring that the top economic and business news of the day reaches its readers.