In August 2023, Tareq Amin quit his role as CEO of Rakuten Mobile and its vendor arm, Symphony, and joined Saudi oil giant Aramco. The move seemed puzzling for someone whose recent career had centered on driving disruptive business plans using new technology platforms, with considerable success at Reliance Jio and more mixed results at Rakuten. There was speculation that Amin was disillusioned with his quest to redefine mobile telecoms economics via Open RAN, and would seek a quieter and more affluent life with Aramco. However, the reason for Amin and Aramco to want to join forces has become clearer now, with Aramco establishing a technology arm that is not just looking to support the oil producer’s own digital transformation,…