Saudi Arabia-Riyadh : Customer experience is no longer a support function sitting at the edges of a business. It is increasingly becoming a CEO-level priority–and, according to Genesys CEO Tony Bates, Saudi Arabia is emerging as one of the most important markets where that shift is happening at speed.
In an exclusive media session in Riyadh, Bates described how businesses are moving from a “service economy” to an “experience economy,” where loyalty is shaped by how effectively and empathetically companies engage with customers across channels and touchpoints.
“Efficiency isn’t enough anymore,” Bates said. “What customers expect is a personalized experience–one that understands context, history, and the moment a customer is in.”
A cloud-first shift-and a major Saudi investment
Bates confirmed that Genesys is planning to launch a full-service Genesys Cloud region in Saudi Arabia by the end of 2026, positioning it as a strategic investment that will enable more organizations in the Kingdom to accelerate their move to secure and compliant cloud-based experience orchestration.
He noted that Saudi Arabia’s regional headquarters for Genesys is designed as a hub for the broader Middle East, centered on three pillars: education and enablement, building cloud and AI expertise, and strengthening an ecosystem of customers, partners and employees.
From automation to “orchestration”
Bates emphasized that the next phase of AI in customer experience goes beyond deploying individual automation tools. Instead, he framed the opportunity around agentic AI–systems that can learn, adapt and make decisions in real time, supporting both autonomous engagement and human agents.
The differentiator, he said, is not simply adding AI to workflows, but having the intelligence to decide when an AI virtual agent should handle a task and when a human should step in.
“That dynamic choice–knowing what to do and when–is what we call experience orchestration,” Bates explained. “It’s how you deliver a customer journey that feels human, even when it’s powered by AI.”
“AI as a teammate,” not a workforce replacement
Addressing concerns that AI will replace jobs, Bates said Genesys is not seeing significant contact-center headcount reductions today. Many companies, he explained, are using AI to automate repetitive tasks and augment agent performance–allowing teams to handle demand more effectively.
Over the longer term, he acknowledged that some roles heavily weighted toward administrative work may evolve, butmaintained that the goal is to combine human judgement and empathy with AI speed and scale.
He described AI as a “digital teammate” that changes how businesses think about onboarding and training–not only for employees, but also for how organizations introduce AI into daily operations.
Partnerships designed to simplify enterprise complexity
Bates also spoke about the expanded partnerships with Salesforce and ServiceNow, noting that large enterprises often operate across multiple disconnected systems originally built around departments–sales, marketing, HR, customer service–creating operational friction.
Genesys’ approach, he said, is to connect front, mid and back office processes into a more unified experience, helping customers reduce complexity and create more consistent engagement at scale.
Saudi growth momentum
Genesys says its business momentum in the Kingdom is accelerating. In the second quarter of its current fiscal year, Genesys Cloud ARR grew by over 55% year-on-year growth in Genesys Cloud ARR in Saudi Arabia, while its customer count in the Kingdom grew by nearly 25% year-on-year. By sector, Genesys Cloud ARR exceeded 115% in Technology, 85% in Public Sector, and 45% in Industrial in Saudi during the same period.
Globally, Genesys Cloud ARR reached nearly $2.2 billion, up nearly 35% year-on-year. Genesys Cloud manages more than 2.2 billion customer interactions per month, enabling companies to use scale and real-time data to drive smarter decisions and personalization.
Vision 2030 alignment
Bates linked Genesys’ Saudi expansion to Vision 2030 priorities, arguing that customer experience is becoming critical not just for private-sector competitiveness, but also for public services, tourism journeys, and digital government engagement.
“Saudi Arabia is building one of the world’s most dynamic digital economies,” he said. “We want to grow our business here, but also help organizations deliver better experiences for citizens, travelers, patients, and consumers–experiences that build trust and improve quality of life.”
