Submer, a full-stack AI infrastructure provider, has signed a memorandum of understanding with ACES, a Saudi digital infrastructure company, to accelerate the rollout of high-density, AI-ready data centres across the kingdom. Under the agreement, the two companies will jointly pursue projects serving the growing demands of AI and high-performance computing workloads.

An agreement to accelerate AI infrastructure

Under the agreement, the two companies will jointly pursue projects serving the growing demands of AI and high-performance computing workloads.

The partnership divides responsibilities along complementary lines. Submer contributes engineering and technology spanning the full project lifecycle, while ACES contributes local delivery, infrastructure services, and investment. Together, the companies aim to take customers from early planning through deployment and long-term operation.

The scope of the partnership

The scope of the agreement covers several areas. It includes advisory and consultancy services for facility planning, as well as the design and build of both new and retrofit sites. IT integration is also covered, spanning compute, networking, and monitoring systems.

Thermal and power systems form another pillar of the collaboration, including advanced liquid and immersion cooling technologies. Finally, the agreement opens the door to potential co-investment in Saudi data centre capacity, allowing the two companies to go beyond service delivery and take a financial stake in the infrastructure they build.

Pressures from rising rack densities

The partnership arrives as Saudi Arabia pursues its Vision 2030 digital and AI agenda, a context in which rising rack densities are reshaping requirements for power, cooling, facility design, and IT integration. Data centre designs that were adequate for earlier generations of computing workloads are being challenged by the demands of dense AI systems.

Khalid Aljamed, General Manager for the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa at Submer, framed the challenge in stark terms. "The kingdom's AI ambitions are moving faster than the infrastructure models supporting them," he said. "Rack densities are pushing conventional design to its limits, and customers are too often left coordinating separate parties for engineering, construction, integration, and financing."

He added that working with ACES would allow the companies to strip out much of that overhead and hand over facilities engineered for dense AI workloads from day one.

Combining engineering depth with local execution

For ACES, the agreement pairs its established market position with Submer's technical capabilities. Dr. Akram Aburas, Group CEO of ACES, described the fit between the two organisations.

"This agreement brings together exactly what building AI infrastructure here demands," he said. "Submer offers deep engineering and technology across the project lifecycle; ACES offers proven execution on the ground, market presence, and investment strength."

According to Aburas, the combination positions the partnership to add AI-ready capacity while helping Saudi Arabia's wider digital infrastructure ecosystem continue to grow.

Alignment with Vision 2030

The MoU ties directly into the kingdom's broader push under Vision 2030 to build out its digital and AI capabilities. As AI and high-performance computing workloads grow in the region, demand is increasing for facilities capable of supporting higher rack densities, which in turn require advanced cooling approaches such as liquid and immersion cooling rather than conventional air-based systems.

By covering the full project lifecycle, from advisory and facility planning through design, build, IT integration, thermal and power systems, and potential long-term investment, the partnership is structured to address the fragmentation that Aljamed identified, in which customers must coordinate separate parties for engineering, construction, integration, and financing.

The agreement positions Submer and ACES to jointly deliver data centre capacity purpose-built for AI workloads in the kingdom, at a time when the demands of such workloads are outpacing traditional infrastructure models.

Stay Ahead of Saudi Arabia's Data Center Boom

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