PIF-backed Savvy Games and HUMAIN ink AI partnership to bolster Saudi innovation drive
The Public Investment Fund’s gaming arm Savvy signs memorandum of understanding with AI major HUMAIN to deploy full-stack artificial intelligence across operations
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is accelerating its push into artificial intelligence and digital economy sectors through a strategic venture between two of its portfolio companies.
The gaming and esports house Savvy Games Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with full-stack AI provider HUMAIN to deploy advanced AI systems across Savvy’s operations and explore new applications across its business lines.
Under the deal, Savvy will leverage HUMAIN’s data-centres, cloud services and AI-platform infrastructure to enhance functions such as human resources, procurement, and finance.
The agreement also includes joint research and development initiatives and the exploration of AI use cases across the gaming, publishing and esports ecosystem.
HUMAIN, launched earlier this year by PIF with a mandate to build Arabic-language large-language models and next-generation infrastructure, will thus deepen its role in the Kingdom’s digital transformation agenda.
Savvy, which has been identified by PIF as the national champion for games and esports, reported strong growth across its three main pillars—game development and publishing, esports events and ecosystem building.
Its chief executive, Brian Ward, said the partnership with HUMAIN “unlocks ways to enhance how we utilise AI at Savvy” by tapping a full-value-chain operator from data to end-user application.
Tareq Amin, HUMAIN’s chief executive, said the timing was “exciting” and pointed to HUMAIN One, its new agentic AI operating-system, as one of the areas for collaboration.
The initiative exemplifies the increasing internal synergies within PIF’s portfolio, with knowledge-sharing and capability-building between investee firms.
It supports the broader Vision 2030 goal of diversifying Saudi Arabia’s economy beyond oil and positioning the Kingdom as a global hub for innovation, talent development and digital services.
Beyond gaming, Savvy’s access to HUMAIN’s AI stack may enable deeper analytics, automation and productisation of new services in the fast-growing esports ecosystem.
The deal comes amid other significant moves by HUMAIN.
The company recently signed a non-binding term sheet with Saudi Aramco for the oil-and-gas giant to acquire a minority stake, and has flagged plans for a dual listing on the Saudi and NASDAQ exchanges within a few years.
For Savvy, the partnership adds a technological dimension to its expansion strategy—complementing its global publishing reach and local ecosystem-building efforts.
As implementation begins, both companies will likely face operational tests in integrating new platforms, upskilling staff and deploying AI in creative industries traditionally driven by human talent.
However, the agreement marks a clear step in Saudi Arabia’s ambition to build not just data-centres, but end-to-end platforms that support next-generation digital industries backed by state-scale investment.
The gaming and esports house Savvy Games Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with full-stack AI provider HUMAIN to deploy advanced AI systems across Savvy’s operations and explore new applications across its business lines.
Under the deal, Savvy will leverage HUMAIN’s data-centres, cloud services and AI-platform infrastructure to enhance functions such as human resources, procurement, and finance.
The agreement also includes joint research and development initiatives and the exploration of AI use cases across the gaming, publishing and esports ecosystem.
HUMAIN, launched earlier this year by PIF with a mandate to build Arabic-language large-language models and next-generation infrastructure, will thus deepen its role in the Kingdom’s digital transformation agenda.
Savvy, which has been identified by PIF as the national champion for games and esports, reported strong growth across its three main pillars—game development and publishing, esports events and ecosystem building.
Its chief executive, Brian Ward, said the partnership with HUMAIN “unlocks ways to enhance how we utilise AI at Savvy” by tapping a full-value-chain operator from data to end-user application.
Tareq Amin, HUMAIN’s chief executive, said the timing was “exciting” and pointed to HUMAIN One, its new agentic AI operating-system, as one of the areas for collaboration.
The initiative exemplifies the increasing internal synergies within PIF’s portfolio, with knowledge-sharing and capability-building between investee firms.
It supports the broader Vision 2030 goal of diversifying Saudi Arabia’s economy beyond oil and positioning the Kingdom as a global hub for innovation, talent development and digital services.
Beyond gaming, Savvy’s access to HUMAIN’s AI stack may enable deeper analytics, automation and productisation of new services in the fast-growing esports ecosystem.
The deal comes amid other significant moves by HUMAIN.
The company recently signed a non-binding term sheet with Saudi Aramco for the oil-and-gas giant to acquire a minority stake, and has flagged plans for a dual listing on the Saudi and NASDAQ exchanges within a few years.
For Savvy, the partnership adds a technological dimension to its expansion strategy—complementing its global publishing reach and local ecosystem-building efforts.
As implementation begins, both companies will likely face operational tests in integrating new platforms, upskilling staff and deploying AI in creative industries traditionally driven by human talent.
However, the agreement marks a clear step in Saudi Arabia’s ambition to build not just data-centres, but end-to-end platforms that support next-generation digital industries backed by state-scale investment.
