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Saudi state-backed AI champion Humain stole the show at LEAP, the kingdom’s flagship tech event, last week with more than $15 billion in planned tech investments.
Following the event, Humain’s CEO Tareq Amin posted on LinkedIn to say that he was “looking for a few exceptional individuals” to join the company as it prepares to launch an IPO.
Top-tier management consulting experience, strong financial and strategic depth, and experience in investor-facing strategy and IPO preparation, are among the key areas of expertise Amin is searching for.
Amin first mooted the IPO plan last October, saying he hoped to do a dual listing in both Saudi Arabia and New York by 2029.
Meanwhile, Amin announced last week that the company is also looking to tap global and local investors to raise a $2.5 billion fund to finance a new wave of data center expansion across the kingdom, Bloomberg reported.
The fund will help finance data center capacity of 250 megawatts (MW) that Humain is developing in partnership with Al Moammar Information Systems, one of the largest IT companies in Saudi Arabia. The project could eventually be expanded to up to 1 gigawatt (GW).
The moves come amid an ongoing drive by the $900 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF) to rein in capital spending among its portfolio companies and scale back its giga projects.
In August last year, PIF disclosed an $8 billion writedown on its flagship giga projects, reducing their share of the fund’s total assets from 8% to 6%.
Humain’s IPO plans come as Saudi companies have pulled planned listings amid concerns over market volatility and expectations of weak demand due to the ongoing U.S.-Iran war.
In June, Mutlaq Al Ghowairi Contracting announced it was postponing its offering of a 30% stake, which could have raised up to $800 million and made it among the largest IPO in the region this year.
The road to listing may also prove challenging for Humain, given that companies that have pursued dual listings historically face higher compliance costs and more demanding reporting obligations.
However, the wave of deals signed at LEAP last week showed growing confidence amongst investors that Riyadh will become the region’s AI capital.
You can read my article here on the opportunities and challenges facing the future development of Saudi’s AI industry.
Melissa Hancock
As ever, thanks for reading, and do keep in touch with your thoughts and ideas.
melissa.hancock@fortune.com
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com