Infor, the industry cloud complete company, recently announced a strategic collaboration with Zahid Group, a global industrial leader with a diversified portfolio spanning 14 sectors.
Together, the organisations will establish and operate an Innovation Centre of Excellence (CoE) aimed at accelerating Zahid Group’s digital transformation and fostering impactful, industry-specific innovation with a focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Process Mining, and Process Automation.
Located in Jeddah, the CoE will serve as a hub for knowledge transfer and capability-building across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, supporting the goals of Vision 2030 — the nation’s strategic framework for economic diversification. The Centre will empower Zahid Group’s businesses and its broader ecosystem — including customers, partners, and vendors — to develop and apply expertise in design thinking and innovation.
The CoE will leverage emerging cloud-based technologies to help enhance operational efficiency, boost productivity, optimise costs, and deliver tailored solutions that can provide a sustainable competitive advantage. For instance, Zahid Group and Infor will deploy process mining tools in live environments to identify inefficiencies and uncover opportunities for innovation. Another example involves exploring the use of AI to drive accuracy through more efficient spare parts planning to deliver immediate impact for Zahid Group.
Additionally, the CoE will act as a platform for continuous improvement, enabling Zahid Group to curate a library of innovation use cases tailored to the equipment dealership industry. It will also facilitate the evaluation and deployment of Infor’s Velocity Suite innovations to deliver rapid, high-impact solutions across Zahid Group’s operations.
Haytham W. Zahid, CEO, Zahid Group, commented: “Zahid Group is committed to leading digital innovation in Saudi Arabia. Since the 1980s, we have pursued digital enablement, followed by optimisation, with several strategic technology partners. Based on our successful deployment of Infor’s industry-specific cloud solutions, we are confident that this partnership will further our digital transformation and contribute to regional economic development. The Centre of Excellence will deliver groundbreaking solutions to real-world challenges and serve as a key differentiator across our businesses, technology platforms and beyond”.
Kevin Samuelson, CEO of Infor, added: “Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is propelling the nation toward a future defined by innovation and growth. With forward-thinking organisations like Zahid Group, the country is emerging as a regional leader in digital transformation. This Centre of Excellence reflects Zahid Group’s commitment to digital leadership, and we are proud to partner in delivering innovation, industry-specific solutions and measurable value to Zahid Group and the Kingdom”.
Infor’s Advanced Services team will provide strategic oversight to the CoE, conduct workshops and design-thinking sessions, and lead the development of industry-specific innovations. These efforts will be powered by the Infor Velocity Suite — a comprehensive package of solutions and services that simplifies and amplifies process innovation. The suite includes a robust catalogue of Value+ process automations utilising Robotic Process Automation, Generative AI, and Process Mining to drive effective, cloud-first innovation.
Image Credit: Infor and Zahid Group
