Technology and rapid mechanization models are changing the landscape of the industry in the Kingdom
Technology is speedily reshaping and transforming Saudi Arabia’s Supply Chain landscape and ecosystem through massive ‘Vision 2030’-related investments, focusing heavily on AI, Big Data, IoT, Machine Learning and digital infrastructure, Robotics and Automation among other technologies.
The technology Renaissance is well and truly changing Saudi Arabian industry and businesses across the spectrum, from oil and gas, the mainstay of the Kingdom’s economy to Government services and mega-projects like NEOM, driving economic diversification, boosting efficiency, and creating a digital-first society with high internet penetration and e-commerce growth, aiming to become a leading technology hub.
Dr. Mutab Zaydan Saleh Alenzy, renowned Saudi Arabian academic and Assistant Professor, Supply Chain Management at Taibah University in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, is in the forefront to train and empower young Saudi professional talent and personnel, intending to make their mark in the logistics and supply chain domain in the Kingdom.
As a professional Supply Chain Consultant, Dr. Mutab Alenzy, with his vast expertise and experiences in this field, seeks to interface with and bridge the world of academia and technology with the operational and functional aspects of Saudi logistics and supply chain businesses.
With the Kingdom’s quest to position itself as a major logistics hub at the confluence of three continents, Dr. Mutab Alenzy has his work clearly cut out for him. LogisticsGulf.com conducted an exclusive interview with Dr. Alenzy on the eve of the 7th Supply Chain and Logistics Conference 2025 to be staged in the Saudi capital Riyadh on the 15th and 16th of December.
The following is the transcript of the interview where Dr. Mutab Alenzy addressed multiple and wide-ranging issues related to the industry and its implications for the trade.
LogisticsGulf.com (LG): Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as a global logistics hub under the aegis of the ambitious and foresighted Saudi Vision 2030, yet there’s persistent and lingering talk of talent shortages in the sector. From your perspective, both in the classroom and working with businesses, is that narrative accurate?
Dr. Mutab Alenzy (DMA): The narrative tells only a part of the story, but it is incomplete. We do not necessarily have a shortage of logistics workers and personnel; the core issue is a structural mismatch between what companies need and what the pipeline produces.
A warehouse manager in Riyadh ten years ago managed inventory counts and safety compliance. Today, that same individual interprets demand forecasting dashboards, understands network positioning, and contributes to optimization decisions. The job changed fundamentally in a decade.
This pattern is consistent across sectors I work with—manufacturing, retail, industrial. Companies are not waiting for the market to produce qualified talent. They take experienced operators and invest aggressively in upskilling. It works short-term. However, it signals something important: the external pipeline is not matching and producing what companies need.
LG: This appears to be a pragmatic corporate response. Why is it insufficient?
DMA: It masks a deeper constraint: mobility. Saudi Arabia needs professionals moving across companies, accumulating expertise, building networks within the sector. When knowledge stays trapped inside organizations, the system can’t evolve as effectively.
As a case in point, I consulted with a food manufacturing company in Jeddah a few years ago. They invested heavily in developing supply chain talent internally. Then their Supply Chain Director pursued an opportunity with another employer in the region, as is common in competitive global labour markets.
That expertise transitioned to another organization. When that pattern repeats across multiple companies, you lose institutional learning faster than you can replace it. This reflects a dynamic observable in the sector structure: expertise does not as yet circulate as fluidly as seen in long-established logistics markets.
LG: So the constraint is structural, not just company-level. What would need to change?
DMA: Three institutions need to work together toward one objective: producing professionals who can operate at a global competitive level.
Most Saudi universities teach supply chain management well. The Saudi Logistics Academy delivers operational training with direct employment partnerships. These are strong independently but disconnected. There’s limited coordination between them on emerging capability needs.
National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP) as central strategy, you would likely see real velocity: universities updating programs more frequently, vocational institutions developing advanced specializations, professional certifications aligned with market demand and so on.
LG: What does the market in the Kingdom look like right now?
DMA: There is a noticeable performance gap opening between companies that invested in supply chain capability three years ago and those that have not.
In food manufacturing and industrial distribution, companies with mature supply chain practices are outperforming their peers noticeably. These sectors are directly linked to ‘Vision 2030’ clusters. One industrial company reduced logistics costs 12 percent in eighteen months through network redesign.
That performance gap exists even though competitors have access to the same technology and infrastructure. Companies with strategic supply chain leadership are pulling ahead, and that gap appears to be widening in some areas.
LG: That suggests real urgency. What specifically needs to happen?
DMA: Two things. First, develop specialization strategies aligned with Saudi strengths. Every strong logistics region becomes the global reference point in specific supply chain domains. Singapore dominates transshipment.
The UAE integrated trade finance with logistics. The Netherlands leads in food supply chain innovation. For Saudi Arabia, that could be food manufacturing supply chains given Jeddah’s cluster development, or chemicals-sector logistics given energy sector proximity.
This is where specialization becomes strategically important. Each specialization requires different educational pathways and creates distinctive competitive advantage, because specialization is what enables countries to become global reference points rather than general-purpose operators. Specialization is how logistics hubs differentiate; general capability typically does not create competitive advantage at scale.
Secondly, create mechanisms for industry to shape education continuously. When companies identify emerging needs, those become courses within months, often taught by practitioners. Universities that do this systematically produce professionals who move into increasingly senior roles across the sector, creating lasting networks and becoming institutions companies recruit from repeatedly.
LG: Why is workforce capability the limiting factor more than infrastructure investment?
DMA: Infrastructure gets built. Port automation, warehouse systems, industrial clusters—those are capital projects. But if the people running those facilities don’t understand supply chain optimization at a sophisticated level, you operate below potential.
I have seen companies invest millions in advanced systems—AI-driven demand planning, network optimization software—where implementation disappoints. Investment in supply chain talent tends to return multiples through better decisions and operational resilience. The constraint on Saudi Arabia’s logistics transformation appears to be less about capital and more about expertise development.
LG: Where does the Kingdom stand relative to what it is trying to build?
DMA: Stronger than most regions globally, but with a critical gap. Government investment through NIDLP is real and sustained. Leading companies understand supply chain excellence as competitive advantage. Universities are willing to partner. Having all three aligned simultaneously is uncommon globally.
What is missing is integration. There is no single body ensuring educational institutions produce the capabilities the sector needs. Retaining expertise can be challenging in competitive regional labour markets—a dynamic observed globally.
There’s no explicit specialization strategy. The Kingdom could establish this framework within eighteen to twenty-four months if the priority is set. It is not technically complex. It is a matter of priority and sustained coordination among institutions.
LG: Do you see any evidence that integration is starting?
DMA: Piecemeal, yes. I am seeing more company-university partnerships than two years ago. Some vocational institutions are expanding beyond entry-level training. But these remain individual initiatives rather than systemic. Individual partnerships benefit those companies. Systemic coordination could potentially lift broader sector capability.
When industrial clusters are fully operational, the gap between what’s needed and what’s been built may become more visible. If coordination progresses, competitive advantage could accrue to whoever has mature talent infrastructure. If it does not, that advantage may go elsewhere.
LG: If that integration happens, what becomes possible?
DMA: The transformation could shift from executing operations competently to developing expertise that’s distinctively competitive. Supply chains could become optimized rather than functional.
Professionals might build careers here because the learning environment is sophisticated and specialized. Competitive advantage would potentially be harder to replicate than infrastructure because it’s built into organizational culture.
LG: What should the Kingdom actually do in the next eighteen months to make this real?
DMA: Three things. First, map what the sector needs at each capability level—entry-level operations, mid-level planning, senior strategy.
Second, assign clear responsibility: which universities develop which specializations, which vocational institutions build which pathways.
Third, create institutional accountability. One person or small team measuring whether educational institutions are producing what the market needs. That accountability mechanism doesn’t currently exist. Without it, good intentions often drift.
LG: Where does the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stand in the current regional logistics and supply chain continuum?
DMA: Saudi Arabia has built excellent logistics infrastructure and has the sophistication to operate it competently. In eighteen to twenty-four months, you will have visibility on whether it is built the talent ecosystem to leverage that infrastructure at its potential.
That strategic choice is being made now. Leadership in supply chain talent is what tends to separate logistics hubs that sustain competitive advantage from those that do not differentiate strategically.
The Kingdom has the positioning and commitment to make that distinction, if the talent ecosystem receives the same intentional development as the infrastructure itself.
