North Highland to invest ‘millions of dollars’ in Saudi workforce development

Global consulting firm North Highland, which recently expanded its global footprint into the Middle East including Riyadh, plans to invest “millions of dollars” in Saudi Arabia to bolster workforce capabilities in line with Vision 2030.

The CEO Alex Bombeck emphasized the company’s focus on supporting the Kingdom’s economic growth and infrastructure, while also highlighting the importance of building a core team of Saudi nationals.

Speaking on the sidelines of the GREAT Futures conference in Riyadh, Bombeck said: “I would say we’re going to be able to bring experience and expertise from folks around the world to Saudi Arabia, but we have to focus on building a national team here in Riyadh.”

He revealed that the company has already hired employees here, and “we are bringing in more as quickly as we can.”

Bombeck added: “Our ambitions here are great, and we’re going to be investing millions of dollars.”

The CEO also emphasized the importance of digital upskilling, particularly among younger workers, who often bring “fresh perspectives and innovative ideas.”

This includes investing in their skills, which will not only “benefit the workforce but also align with the broader goals of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.”

“They’re not as constrained in their thinking, so I think not only can they bring digital thinking to us, but we can also help upskill them in certain technologies and platforms to help grow the workforce because the most important thing for us is one to bring value to the Kingdom,” Bombeck said.

He continued: “We’ve got to ensure that particularly the young portions of the workforce are bringing the differentiated thinking that they can offer and that when we think about stuff like generative AI, we’re actually seeing that some of our younger consultants are bringing fresher, more innovative ideas.”

During the two-day event, the management consulting firm held discussions with Saudi Commerce Minister Majid Al-Qasabi, Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih, and top executives from projects such as NEOM and Red Sea Global.

“Our focus is to take these super ambitious and high growth economic plans and to be able to actually see the value created from them,” Bombeck said.

He added: “In doing that, one of the things that we always focus on is how can we drive progress by being agile and continuously working in partnership with whether it be the Saudi government or in the private sector, to be learning as we go.”

The CEO concluded by emphasizing that Saudi Arabia “needs to be the best at getting better.”