'We're the only vendor that PIF has invested in for infrastructure, they know we can do it' – Giovanni Di Filippo, Lenovo

Tahawul Tech

20-02-2025

CNME Editor Mark Forker sat down with Giovanni Di Filippo, President of EMEA, Infrastructure Solutions Group at Lenovo, during LEAP 2025 in Riyadh last week, in order to better understand the sheer significance of its $2bn megadeal with Alat.
In May 2024, Lenovo formally announced that they were entering into a $2bn strategic partnership with Saudi-based conglomerate Alat.
In January 2025, the necessary approvals needed to rubberstamp the project were signed, sealed and delivered, which paved the way for one of the most significant projects announced in recent years in the KSA.
The sheers scale of transformation underway across the region is unprecedented globally, and the appetite and demand for disruptive technologies has been kicked into overdrive.
The leadership of Saudi Arabia have high expectations for their country, as they look to turn the country into a knowledge-based economy, the guiding template for them is their Vision 2030 program.
However, they know they can't go it alone, they need to import expertise and knowledge for these large-scale infrastructure projects.
Enter Lenovo.
The fact that Lenovo remain the only vendor that PIF have invested in for infrastructure only serves to highlight the huge confidence they have in the Lenovo brand.
Giovanni Di Filippo has been the driving force behind the phenomenal growth of Lenovo's ISG business across the EMEA region.
PROVEN TRACK RECORD
During LEAP, CNME spoke to Di Filippo, who couldn't hide his excitement about the partnership with Alat, and reiterated that the reason Lenovo was selected was the fact that they could 'get it done'.
'Look, it is a major, major announcement, and that was signified by the presence of our Chairman and CEO Yang Yuanqing here in Riyadh. He was joined on stage at LEAP by Alat CEO Amit Midha, and the whole megaproject has really captured attention. There are a lot of businesses pledging investment into the region, but they are long way off commencing these projects. However, our project has been given the regulatory approvals needed, and we are ready so start building the infrastructure the Kingdom needs to meet its Vision 2030 objectives. The Kingdom has major expectations, they are attracting huge projects and deals, they have secured the World Cup, EXPO and the Asian Games, and all these events require infrastructure, and as one of the global market leaders in infrastructure they want us be part of this. Lenovo were selected by PIF, because they know we can do it,' said Di Filippo.
MADE IN SAUDI
One of the aspects that stood out between the partnership between Lenovo and Alat, was the 'Made in Saudi' promise.
Di Filippo expanded on the meaning of that concept, and said products made in the Kingdom will be off the assembly line come 2026.
'We're going to build a factory that will produce the 'Made in Saudi' products and services. This was extremely important to them, and was one of the prerequisites of the deal, the products have to be made in the Kingdom, 'Made in Saudi' is not just a soundbite. We are also building an R&D centre, which will include a customer experience centre and an innovation centre, and they will provide the building blocks for the 'Made in Saudi' vision. We also want to always understand the needs of the Kingdom in order to build specific products that will help the country transform and these centres will help us in that regard too. We are going to start with desktops, notebooks and servers, and these will be up and running by 2026, because as we all know in the current climate, and looking to the future, compute is so important,' said Di Filippo.
ON THE JOB
There are so many parts of this deal that stand out, but the fact that it will create around 60,000 jobs is hard to ignore, aside from the economic benefits that will bring from a GDP perspective, as Di Filippo points out, it has real societal benefits.
'We are a market leader when it comes to the global supply chain. We have 30+ manufacturing sites all over the world, and our next one is going to be strategically located in the Kingdom to serve the Kingdom first and also the wider Middle East and Africa region. The manufacturing facility will be based next to the airport, and we want to make sure that our time to market is fast, so if we need to ship to Jeddah, Dammam etc, then being based at near the airport was a strategic decision to ensure that our time to market will be fast. Obviously, this project with Alat will create jobs, and we will directly create 15,000 new jobs, and 45,000 in-direct jobs. We need to build an ecosystem of partners for the supply chain, but we are very proud of the fact that we will be helping to create 60,000 new jobs across the KSA, because outside of all of the above, it's good for society across the KSA and supports the 2030 vision.
THE CHOSEN ONE
It goes without saying that the competition to win the tenders for these megaprojects is fierce to say the least.
The assessments conducted are robust, and of course they need to be, when you consider the sheer scale of investment between Lenovo and Alat.
When asked why Lenovo was the 'chosen one'.
Di Filippo cited a number of factors, but ultimately he believes it comes down to the fact that they are the only vendor that has a complete end-to-end portfolio.
'When they did an assessment on which vendor they would like to partner with, they quickly understood and realised that Lenovo is the only company serving all customer segments, hyper-scalers, international accounts, public sector and SMB, so from a customer perspective, we are serving everyone. We are the only vendor in the market that has an end-to-end portfolio, desktops, mobile, workstations, compute, storage and AI products. People tend to forget sometimes that we have being doing high-performance computing for 12 years. When they did their due diligence on us as a company, they also understood our patents, and that ultimately, we have a long journey of building next-generation products across multiple lines of business. I think when they took everything into consideration, they obviously determined we were the best fit for them,' concluded Di Filippo.
NOT PC
Di Filippo concluded a brilliant exchange by reiterating that this deal in particular really cements their status as major, major global infrastructure player.
'I told you in our interviews in the past, we are so much more than just a PC company, but it can be hard to shift perceptions. I also told you we wanted to replicate our global success in the PC space in the infrastructure market, and I think it's safe to say we did that. We are no longer just a PC company, and this deal with Alat shows that we are one of the world's best when it comes to infrastructure,' said Di Filippo.