Saudi Arabia’s government-owned defense giant has appointed Thamer AlMuhid as its new Chief Executive Officer, five months after previous CEO Walid Abukhaled stepped down, the company’s board of directors announced.
“In his role as CEO, Eng. AlMuhid will lead SAMI’s mission to develop cutting-edge technologies, manufacture world-class products, and forge strategic partnerships,” according to a statement from Saudi Arabian Military Industries.
The company said AlMuhid served earlier in several executive positions from CEO of Saudi Chemical Company to the vice chairman of the board of directors of the National Academy of Military Industries.
As CEO of SAMI, one of AlMuhid’s primary responsibilities will be to push SAMI to realize Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goal of localizing 50 percent of defense production in the country.
“I’m extremely proud to say since the inception of SAMI, we became one of the top 100 defense companies in the world,” then-CEO Abukhaled told Breaking Defense in an interview at the World Defense Show in Riyadhi in February 2024. “Whether it’s a vehicle land vehicle, a futuristic UAV that is a concept, some C4I systems, C2 systems, smaller versions of UAVs, converting a manned boat to unmanned boat — we’ve done it, it’s us. The shift is already happening.”
SAMI recently highlighted a number of its achievements over the last year, including launching the first locally developed combat management system in Saudi Arabia and expanding the size of its workforce of 71 percent nationals.
