The newly established Nokia R&D center in Riyadh focuses on building advanced software and artificial intelligence solutions for telecommunications networks. The initiative expands the company’s regional footprint beyond logistical operations into core software engineering, according to reporting by samanews.ps during the LEAP 2026 conference.
Focus of the New Nokia R&D Center
Engineers at the site will create Service Management and Orchestration platforms, self-organizing network algorithms, and automated energy-saving applications. The primary technical objective is building systems capable of dynamically adjusting radio parameters, diagnosing complex network faults, and optimizing traffic performance automatically using artificial intelligence. This shift enables network operators to manage complex multi-vendor environments with minimal manual oversight.
“AI is reshaping almost every industry, but this shift requires networks capable of keeping pace.”
Mikko Lavanti, Head of Middle East and Africa at Nokia
Real-World Automation and Network Scale
Lavanti pointed to practical validation during the 2025 Hajj season, where automation software applied roughly one million configuration changes over five days without human intervention. That autonomous deployment yielded a 30 percent improvement in network performance during peak high-density demand periods across critical pilgrimage areas.
Furthermore, Saudi data center capacity is projected to grow 29 percent by 2030, increasing technical requirements for high-bandwidth optical transport and cloud interconnect infrastructure. Following its 2025 acquisition of Infinera, Nokia has condensed 800 Gbps transmission hardware from two full rack units down to compact pluggable optical modules to serve this escalating compute demand across hyperscale and enterprise facilities.
Strategic Hardware and Industry Partnerships
Beyond traditional mobile networks, the new Nokia R&D center supports industrial connectivity and mission-critical communications across energy, transport, railway, and smart manufacturing sectors. In addition, Nokia is collaborating with Nvidia on AI-RAN technologies under a 1 billion dollar partnership to merge radio access networks with accelerated computing workloads, enabling edge intelligence on shared infrastructure.
Local Talent and Saudi Digital Vision
Workforce preparation forms an integral component of the Riyadh facility through technical bootcamps, specialized vendor certifications, and long-term engineering employment. The company operates a dedicated practical training program that currently includes 26 Saudi female engineers working directly on live telecom systems and operational network deployments.
Consequently, the output of the Nokia R&D center aims to contribute directly to the “Made in Saudi” initiative by exporting locally engineered software solutions to global markets while building the resilient digital infrastructure required for upcoming major events, including Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup.
