SBR Partners with Jisr to Revolutionise Recruitment with AI in Saudi Arabia

Editorial Team

Last updated 3-10-2025

3 min

SBR and Jisr have signed an agreement to revolutionise recruitment using AI in Saudi Arabia.

Their "Know Your Candidate" AI assesses candidates beyond CVs to match roles accurately.

This collaboration aligns with Saudi Vision 2030, promoting local technology on a global stage.

While promising, AI in recruitment raises concerns about potential bias in algorithm design.

SBR's partnership signals growth in Saudi Arabia's burgeoning start-up ecosystem.

Saudi-based start-up SBR has struck a deal with HR platform Jisr that could shake up how companies across the Kingdom hire new talent. The two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at weaving artificial intelligence deeper into the recruitment process, promising to streamline hiring while cutting down wasted time and costs.

The founders of SBR, Saleh Baarmah and Hamzah Bawazir, know the struggle inside out. They spotted early on that CVs often fall short of showing what a person can really do, while interviews can be hit-and-miss if the wrong candidates are even shortlisted. That nagging inefficiency in the market—especially in Saudi Arabia where roughly two million fresh job seekers, including a quarter of a million graduates, enter the workforce each year—convinced them that smarter data-driven hiring was urgently needed.

Their answer is what they call “Know Your Candidate,” a nod to the banking industry’s “Know Your Customer.” In practice, it means an AI engine that looks beyond a CV and builds an objective picture of a candidate’s skills and experience. I reckon this is spot on, since matching the right person to the right role has always been a bit of a faff in traditional hiring.

A spokesperson from SBR described the agreement with Jisr as a key milestone, pointing out that it enables employers to rely on precise data rather than gut feel. Interestingly, the start-up had already piloted its prototype back in August with more than 20 companies on board. This latest deal suggests they’re now ready to move from demo mode to being a genuine game-changer in recruitment.

Behind SBR is a young, mixed team of analysts, coders, growth leads, and marketers, all seemingly chuffed to bits about taking Saudi technology to a global stage. The founders also speak in nationalistic terms, saying SBR is not just another start-up but part of Saudi Arabia’s wider Vision 2030 push to prove that homegrown tech can compete worldwide. And believe it or not, that patriotic angle resonates well, especially with local investors searching for success stories built on Saudi soil.

At Arageek, we often cross paths with founders who worry about bias in recruitment or the endless slog of filtering CVs. I once sat with a small fintech team who told me they reviewed over 400 resumes in one week—they looked shattered. If platforms like SBR really deliver what they promise, that sort of grind could soon be a thing of the past.

Of course, the proof will be in how well the system performs at scale. AI in HR isn’t without its critics—some fear algorithms may reinforce bias rather than eliminate it if not carefully built. On the flip side, if done thoughtfully, it could be a much fairer way to give graduates and new entrants a fighting chance.

Either way, the SBR-Jisr tie-up offers another glimpse into how Saudi start-ups are aligning themselves with Vision 2030, aiming not only to catch up but to set the pace in the digital economy. And that’s definately a sign the Kingdom’s start-up ecosystem is starting to flex its muscles.

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