Open and secure models for Kuwait’s digital ambitions

Kuwait

Hamad Al Marzouq, chief enterprise business officer of Zain Kuwait, talks to The Energy Year about devising connectivity systems for Kuwaiti oil companies and integrating AI into workflows across the energy industry. Zain Kuwait is a provider of telecoms technology and digital transformation services in the Middle East and Africa.

How do you assess AI adoption in Kuwait?
Kuwait has not yet realised AI’s full potential, but we see fundamental disruptions coming. Once AI use cases are demonstrated, adoption will follow. However, there are barriers. For example, power supply is a major constraint. Today’s advanced GPUs consume significantly more power, already requiring several times the capacity of traditional data centre hardware, and upcoming generations are expected to demand up to 10 times more. No data centre in Kuwait is currently prepared for this scale, making entirely new infrastructure essential.
This is where leading digital innovators like Zain can come in. We will invest in the infrastructure because we need AI ourselves, and we can help Kuwait’s industries by bringing these technologies to their doorstep.
Another question is, do we train AI with GPUs hosted abroad, or do we build a sovereign AI infrastructure? The distinction between public, in-country AI and fully sovereign AI is important, and many decision makers in Kuwait are still navigating this complex topic. Data centres from Microsoft and Google are significant advances, offering both private and public cloud services, but they remain privately owned and are not sovereign infrastructure.
Sovereign AI requires strong foundations in cloud, data, cybersecurity and IoT. It should be open and accessible to all sectors – including telecoms, oil and gas players, industrial companies and the government. Zain is ready to play a leading role in building this foundation, not just for our own needs but to serve the entire national ecosystem.
We envision collaborating with the government and major market players to create a national data and AI centre, where Zain can contribute its infrastructure and expertise. Our goal is to enable an open and secure model that supports Kuwait’s long-term digital ambitions. Similar models in the region have already attracted global technology leaders such as NVIDIA, Tesla and others, proving the strong potential and appeal of this approach.

Zain is collaborating with KOC on connectivity and smart services. What does that entail?
KOC has ambitious plans for offshore operations and a major USD 800-million digitalisation initiative. We believe we can bring strong capabilities to support these transformations. We have already demonstrated our expertise by modernising KOC’s surveillance IP network and showcasing advanced drone, robotics and 5G slicing solutions through various trials across Kuwait’s oil sector.
Resource scarcity will make AI indispensable in areas such as DevOps, data handling and application development. We are already using AI assistants internally to improve how we build applications, and this same approach can be extended to Kuwait’s upstream, midstream and downstream developments. Our goal is to integrate AI into operational workflows, reduce reliance on manual work and improve overall efficiency. True digital transformation is about the convergence of OT [operational technology], IT and AI.

What is the status of your drone and robotics offerings for the oil and gas sector?
We have operated in proof-of-concept mode for four years. Our specialised team, which is fully certified for oil zones, has run pipeline inspections, offshore surveys and gas inspections using drones and robotics. While KOC is interested, they are still defining the use cases. The challenge is not flying drones but processing and integrating the data they collect. Once that backend framework is in place, we expect adoption to grow rapidly.

Can you comment on the value that your Open RAN [radio access network] pilots with Huawei and Rakuten Symphony can bring to Kuwait?
Open RAN network architecture utilises disaggregated components and represents a strategic step to overcome global technology divides. Kuwait’s networks have historically relied on certain vendors, while major global cloud providers have different partner requirements. This is why we must work flexibly with both regional and international technology partners. For AI infrastructure, we leverage a mix of regional and global solutions, and for IT workloads, we rely on established hyperscalers present in the country.
We are also moving toward a fully cloud-native, automated network, which aims to reduce costs, enhance managed services and deliver more advanced feature sets. This vision will be fully realised with 6G, which, unlike previous generations, is machine-oriented. This is crucial for AI, which thrives on direct, non-human interactions.
Industry 4.0 was focused on automation. The next phase will go even further, with AI agents communicating directly with each other and bypassing human language altogether. This shift will transform everything from augmented and virtual reality to data interoperability across industries.

What is your broader vision for Zain’s future growth?
Our growth will come from AI. Besides delivering bandwidth, telcos play a crucial role in enabling AI. The energy industry will be a key adoption driver, but we see digital transformation spreading across government and banking as well.
ZainTECH, our digital solutions powerhouse, is spearheading this shift by covering AI, cybersecurity and ICT [information communications technology]. Our 4WARD strategy, launched in late 2024, focuses on accelerating our core business through partnerships and growing our technology offerings. Through it, we have attained our highest revenues in 15 years.

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