08/01/2025
Great way to start our day: Rafael (Rafi) Benami, General Manager of Applied Materials אפלייד מטיריאלס is very optimistic about the future of this sector -
"There is the storm in Israel that we are dealing with as managers in a challenging environment. However, our business is shaped by the semiconductor industry's global state, which is at the heart of global technology.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬—𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐈, 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲—𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐲 𝟓𝟎% 𝐛𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟑𝟎, 𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭.
Additionally, Applied Global has significantly increased its investment in us. Since 2021, we have nearly doubled our workforce and financial investments in the Israeli branch. We now have a campus with three buildings, and we’re constructing a fourth as part of this expansion.
This growth reflects our confidence in the industry’s direction and the company’s future. From a business perspective, I am very optimistic about where we’re heading. On the national level, however, the challenges are immense."
Rafi Benami explains why Applied Materials is investing in its largest R&D hub outside the U.S.