HP is expanding its Saudi Arabia strategy beyond hardware sales, using LEAP 2026 to highlight progress in local manufacturing, Arabic-focused artificial intelligence research and workforce development, while also launching a new startup incubator called Garage 2.0.
The developments build on commitments announced at LEAP 2025 and show HP attempting to establish a more substantial operational footprint inside the Kingdom. Its Riyadh manufacturing facility, which opened in October 2025, has now entered commercial production, with locally manufactured HP products being shipped to customers across Saudi Arabia. Production is expected to scale further during 2026.
Local manufacturing is only one part of the plan. HP’s AI R&D Center of Excellence in Dhahran is developing enterprise AI tools alongside Arabic-language AI research. One project, Agent One, is an agentic AI system designed to handle IT support requests, from interpreting a problem and creating tickets through to resolving incidents or escalating them to human staff. HP says it can operate on-premises, potentially making it relevant for organizations that need greater control over sensitive information.
Another project, FlowMaster, combines optical character recognition with multimodal AI to process documents, check information and identify inconsistencies. HP is positioning the technology for administrative workloads such as permits and citizen requests, although its practical impact will depend on how effectively these systems perform when deployed beyond controlled demonstrations.
More interesting from a localization perspective is HP’s research into Arabic large language models, including work focused specifically on the Najdi dialect and Saudi datasets. The Dhahran center is also collaborating with academic institutions on training, knowledge transfer and locally relevant applications, including a student dropout prediction platform.
HP is pairing those investments with education programmes. Its newly established AI Academy covers AI fundamentals, workplace applications, strategy and governance, while the HP AI Foundry programme launched through edX in May 2026. HP says its broader Saudi education initiatives have reached 1.5 million beneficiaries, with additional training delivered through organizations including Tuwaiq Academy.
At LEAP, HP also introduced Garage 2.0, an incubator inspired by the Palo Alto garage where Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started the company. The Saudi programme is intended to connect startups with educators, industry participants and HP expertise, with an emphasis on AI, skills development and turning early-stage ideas into practical projects.
The branding trades heavily on HP’s origin story, but Garage 2.0 will ultimately be judged on outcomes rather than nostalgia. Details such as participating startups, funding, programme duration and measurable targets were not disclosed in the announcement.
Taken together, HP’s announcements illustrate a broader shift in how international technology companies are approaching Saudi Arabia. Local manufacturing, research and talent development are becoming increasingly important alongside selling products and services. For HP, the next challenge is demonstrating that these programmes can develop sustainable Saudi capabilities rather than remaining a collection of individual Vision 2030 initiatives.
