The Middle East’s digital momentum is undeniable. Countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia are rapidly advancing their transformation into global technology leaders, investing billions in AI ecosystems, next-generation data centers, and smart city infrastructure.

As the Gulf moves toward a hyper-connected, AI-powered future, the ability to store, manage, and protect the data driving this transformation is becoming critically important. From real-time analytics to autonomous mobility and predictive systems, digital infrastructure must be equipped to handle data volumes at a scale not seen before.

The numbers highlight the urgency.

According to a PwC report, AI could contribute more than $320 billion to the Middle East’s economy by 2030, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE accounting for nearly two-thirds of that growth. As AI becomes deeply embedded across sectors, the demand for robust data infrastructure and long-term storage capacity is surging in parallel.

Addressing this demand requires meaningful innovation in storage technology. Among the latest developments is Seagate’s 30TB hard drive, available through its Exos® and IronWolf® Pro product lines. Built on the company’s Mozaic 3+™ platform and heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology, the drives are said to deliver one of the highest storage densities in commercial use today. With digital transformation accelerating, such innovations are helping lay the groundwork for the region’s AI-powered future.

“The UAE and Saudi Arabia are rapidly becoming digital infrastructure powerhouses,” says B.S. Teh, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Seagate. He points to Saudi Arabia’s data center market, which is growing at a compound annual rate of 21.87% and is projected to reach 1.19 GW by 2030. The UAE, meanwhile, hosts some of the region’s most advanced data center facilities. Combined, he notes, both countries are fueling a regional data market expected to reach $9.49 billion by the end of the decade.

In such a fast-evolving environment, Teh emphasizes the importance of infrastructure that can scale reliably. “Whether it’s supporting AI development in Riyadh or sovereign cloud initiatives in Abu Dhabi, mass capacity storage plays a key role in delivering the resilience and energy efficiency required to meet the region’s digital goals,” he says.

STORAGE THAT’S SMARTER, NOT JUST BIGGER

In a storage market crowded with incremental upgrades, the company’s 30TB drives mark a more substantial leap. Teh describes them as “smarter, more efficient, and built for the evolving needs of markets like the Middle East.” Their relevance, he says, is especially clear in Saudi Arabia, where the rollout of smart cities, the rapid uptake of AI, and the push for sovereign cloud platforms are central to the ambitions of Vision 2030.

At the core of these drives is Seagate’s Mozaic 3+ platform, paired with heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology, enabling far greater storage within the same physical footprint. “We’ve already shipped over a million Mozaic-based drives,” Teh notes. “This isn’t an early-stage technology. It’s been tested at scale.”

Behind the scenes, that leap required overcoming complex engineering challenges. “We made it simple for customers, so they don’t have to worry about the complexity behind the scenes,” Teh explains. “Achieving 30TB meant packing more data into the same physical space, which we accomplished through our industry-leading HAMR technology. Think of it as fitting an entire library’s worth of knowledge into a compact space, enabling the UAE’s burgeoning AI factories and digital transformation hubs to scale without expanding their physical data center footprint.”

That increase in capacity did not come at the expense of performance. “We ensured that every drive is reliable, energy-efficient, and ready for demanding workloads like AI and analytics,” he says. “That’s why we lead the industry in what’s called ‘areal density’—how much data you can store per square inch of a disk platter.”

BUILDING FOR A REGION REDEFINING AI

As AI continues to move closer to where data is generated—whether in smart factories, retail environments, or autonomous infrastructure—the storage landscape is shifting. Data is no longer centralized, and neither is the need for capacity.

“Today, a significant focus across the UAE and Saudi Arabia is on strengthening digital trust and national data infrastructure,” says Teh. He highlights regulatory developments such as the UAE’s Federal Decree Law No. 45 of 2021 on Personal Data Protection (PDPL) and similar policies across the GCC. “Governments and enterprises alike are keen to keep data within borders, and that’s driving demand for on-premise, high-capacity, and secure storage.”

Edge AI is already reshaping sectors across the region. “Whether it’s a smart factory, a retail chain, or a surveillance network, our 30TB drives help customers address this demand by offering massive capacity, low power usage, and the resilience needed for 24/7 operations,” he says.

And the use cases are multiplying. “In retail, edge storage systems are running AI for video analytics and customer behavior modeling. In manufacturing, predictive maintenance and quality control rely on real-time data capture and analysis. In financial services, fraud detection and algorithmic trading demand ultra-fast access to historical data,” says Teh.

Video intelligence and surveillance (VIA) is also emerging as a key area of growth across the GCC, particularly in cities like Dubai and NEOM. “In the video intelligence and surveillance sector, which is especially critical in the Middle East to ensure the safety and efficiency of key urban developments and national security initiatives, our mass capacity hard drives are powering smart city infrastructure, border security, and public safety systems,” he says. “These are environments where reliability, scale, and speed are non-negotiable.”

THE FUTURE OF AI FACTORIES

The exponential growth of AI infrastructure across the region is driving a new level of collaboration among hardware providers, cloud vendors, and local governments. Seagate, for its part, is working closely with hyperscalers and OEMs to integrate its 30TB drives into emerging system designs.

“One example could be AI factories—data centers reimagined to manufacture intelligence at scale,” says Teh. “We are also working hand in hand with our OEM customers to optimize and futureproof this infrastructure.”

As more organizations move toward disaggregated architectures, where compute, storage, and networking can be scaled independently, flexibility and efficiency are becoming critical. “Our 30TB drives are a perfect fit for this model. They allow customers to scale storage efficiently, reduce power and space requirements, and support AI workloads from the core to the edge,” he adds. “Whether it’s a data center in the Gulf or a sovereign cloud provider in the UAE, we’re enabling them to build smarter, scalable, and more sustainable infrastructure.”

STORAGE INNOVATION MEETS SUSTAINABILITY GOALS

In a region where sustainability now stands alongside digital transformation as a strategic priority, energy efficiency has become a defining metric for infrastructure decisions. “Sustainability is embedded in our design philosophy,” says Teh. “Our 30TB drives offer the highest storage density per watt in the industry, reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint per terabyte.”

The implications go beyond environmental targets. “By enabling customers to store more data in fewer racks, we help reduce cooling needs, floor space, and overall environmental impact,” Teh explains. “This ensures we’re supporting climate goals and business growth agendas in the region, both of which are key pillars of government incentives across the GCC, as they aim to achieve Net Zero by various timelines.”

MEETING THE MOMENT

As the Middle East advances its ambitions to lead in AI and the digital economy, storage infrastructure is gaining strategic importance. No longer viewed as a back-end concern, it is now central to enabling progress. “AI is the new fuel that powers almost every sector, especially in the Middle East,” says Teh. “But AI is only as good as the data it learns from. That means massive, high-integrity storage is now mission-critical.”

Seagate’s introduction of 30TB drives reflects this shift. Beyond technical advancement, the goal is to support the region’s growing digital needs. “Whether it’s a hyperscaler in Dubai’s tech hubs training LLMs or Saudi Arabia’s smart cities analyzing traffic in real time, the demand for scalable, reliable, and low-latency storage is exploding,” Teh says. “Our drives are built to meet this moment, at the core, at the edge, and everywhere in between.”