Prime Highlights

• UTEC’s Wael Gad says manufacturers must now support assets from design through long-term maintenance, not just supply equipment.
• Saudi Arabia’s data centre market is set to grow from $1.6 billion in 2024 to $5.3 billion by 2032.

Key Facts

• UTEC, part of Bawan Engineering Group, manufactures transformers, substations, switchgear, and modular data centres.
• Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is driving major investment across power, transport, digital, and urban sectors.

Background

Wael Gad, chief executive of Bawan Engineering Group’s UTEC, says industrial manufacturers must move beyond producing equipment and take on the role of long-term infrastructure partners as Saudi Arabia accelerates its Vision 2030 programme.

Gad argues that project owners across the Kingdom now expect partners to remain engaged from early design through to installation, commissioning, maintenance, and future upgrades. He says hardware alone no longer determines value, continuity, governance, and service capability carry equal weight.
The shift is playing out across large-scale national projects where infrastructure operates as an interconnected system. Power networks must simultaneously support mixed-use developments, industrial zones, data-heavy operations, and renewable energy integration, Gad notes, adding that technical complexity is raising the bar for engineering partners.

In Saudi Arabia, data centre industry trends mirror this phenomenon. The market size is expected to grow from $1.6 billion in 2024 to $5.3 billion in 2032, fueled by developments in smart cities, cloud computing and hyperscaling. According to Gad, the growth in this industry will bring about an increasing need for power stability, heat dissipation capabilities and sustainable services.

As a response to changing trends, UTEC shifted its focus, going beyond transformer, substation, switchgear and modular data centre manufacturing. The company now covers installation, testing, preventive maintenance, retrofits, engineering modifications, and turnkey project execution.
Gad stresses that sustaining this model depends on people. He says engineers, technicians, and site teams collectively shape the client experience, and that lasting performance requires a culture of shared technical accountability.

He describes Saudi Arabia as entering a delivery-intensive phase where engineering capability and durable partnerships are becoming central to long-term market positioning.