Rogier Egberink, VP, Sales, Quest and Paul Virgili, VP, Sales, Quest, outline the value of AI as a driver of economic diversification and the $350 million commitment made to their own platform in this exclusive interview.
Quest Software talks about “building a foundation for trusted, AI-ready data at scale and speed.” What does that mean in practice, especially for organisations in the Middle East?
The excitement around AI here at GITEX is undeniable — there’s even a dedicated hall focused entirely on AI, underscoring how central it has become to national visions and enterprise strategies across the Middle East. Yet, according to a recent MIT report, only about 5% of AI projects globally are considered true success stories. The main reason many initiatives fall short is that the underlying data and security foundations simply aren’t built to support them.
That’s exactly where Quest focuses its expertise — and why we’ve recently committed $350 million to accelerate the development of our AI platform and capabilities. This investment is about enabling customers to build secure, governed, high-quality data ecosystems that can scale rapidly and power AI innovation with confidence. It means breaking down silos, ensuring data lineage and integrity, and embedding governance and compliance from the ground up.
In a region that’s investing heavily in AI as a driver of economic diversification — from Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to the UAE’s National AI Strategy — getting the data foundation right is essential. Quest’s mission is to ensure that these bold ambitions are supported by infrastructure that makes AI adoption successful and sustainable, not just experimental.
Cybersecurity remains a top concern globally. How is Quest integrating AI to help organisations in the region build resilience?
Cybersecurity is the backbone of trust — and trust is essential for successful AI adoption. As organisations accelerate their digital transformation and embrace emerging technologies, they are also prioritising stronger, more intelligent security strategies to protect their data, applications, and identities.
One of the most critical challenges we see today is securing hybrid identity environments. As enterprises operate across on-premises and cloud platforms, the rapid growth of non-human identities— significantly expands the attack surface. At the same time, Tier 0 assets remain high-value targets that require the strongest possible protection.
Cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated every day, and AI has become essential to staying ahead of them. Quest leverages machine learning and AI-driven analytics across our security and identity solutions to detect anomalies in real time, automate threat response, safeguard sensitive data and strengthen overall resilience. Quest solutions enable organisations to work proactively and try to prevent next attack which helps organisations to strengthen their current defence chain.
Everything to protect one on of the most important assets a company have, their Data.
Migrating to modern platforms for AI readiness is one of Quest’s strategic pillars. How does this support customers in the Middle East on their digital transformation journey?
AI readiness isn’t just about algorithms — it’s also about the infrastructure that supports them. Many organisations still rely on legacy systems that simply weren’t designed for the speed, scale, and complexity of AI workloads that today’s worlds require. Quest helps bridge that gap by modernising databases, data applications, and platforms to scalable architectures.
We work closely with customers to ensure migrations are seamless and secure— all while optimising for performance and cost.
This is particularly relevant in the Middle East, where investment in cloud, data centres, and digital hubs is growing at one of the fastest rates globally.
By modernising platforms, organisations can unlock the agility they need to deploy, and scale AI solutions quickly.
How does Quest demonstrate its long-term commitment to the Middle East region as part of its global AI and data strategy?
The Middle East is one of the most exciting regions in the world when it comes to Artificial Intelligence — and Quest is deeply committed to being part of that journey. Our recent $350 million investment into our AI platform underscores our belief in the transformative power of AI and our determination to bring those capabilities to our customers worldwide, including here in the region.
Our strategy is built around long-term investment and partnership. That means expanding our regional presence, growing our partner ecosystem, and building local expertise through training, enablement, and knowledge-sharing initiatives. A key part of this approach is our collaboration with leading technology partners such as Microsoft, Snowflake, and Databricks. By integrating Quest solutions with their platforms, we enable customers to build scalable, AI-ready data environments, enhance interoperability, and accelerate time-to-value for their AI initiatives.
We’re also working closely with governments, enterprises, and regulators to align our solutions with national priorities — from AI and data sovereignty policies to smart city and cybersecurity programs. This collaborative approach ensures that our technologies don’t just meet global standards but also address local needs and ambitions.
Image Credit: Quest
