Landmark SAMAI initiative trains over one million Saudis in AI
According to SDAIA 52% of those trained in the ptogramme were women
#Saudi #education - Saudi Arabia’s national artificial intelligence training programme SAMAI has now trained over one million Saudi citizens, 52 percent of them female. First announced a the Global AI Summit (GAIN) in September 2024, the “One Million Saudis in AI” (SAMAI) was developed by Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. SAMAI aims to build critical AI capabilities across the population to strengthen national competencies. The news was announced during a gala event at the Ministry of Education in Riyadh on Sunday.
SO WHAT? - SAMAI is the largest AI upskilling programme ever undertaken in Saudi Arabia and one of the largest training programmes of its kind globally. After launching a wide range of education initiatives focused mainly on upskilling students and government workers over the past five years, the government created SAMAI to train such a significant portion of its population in AI. The programme was made open to the Saudi Arabian general public and SDAIA has been campaigning throughout the year to encourage public participation. Training one million citizens in AI during less than on year is a milestone to be proud of.
Here are the key details about SAMAI;
The “One Million Saudis in AI” national training initiative, or SAMAI, has reached its target of training one million Saudi citizens in AI. The initiative was developed by Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.
The largest ever AI upskilling programme organised in Saudi Arabia, SAMAI aims to build critical AI capabilities across the population to strengthen national competencies, and support the Kingdom’s goal of becoming a global leader in artificial intelligence by 2030.
Out of a total number of citizens trained under of the programme of more than one million, 52 percent were women and 48 percent were men. Meanwhile, employees constituted 70 percent of SAMAI’s total participants. Students made up 30 percent of the total number trained.
The news was announced at a gala event at the Ministry of Education in Riyadh on Sunday attended by the H.E. Yousef Al-Bunyan, Minister of Education; Dr. Inas Al-Issa, Deputy Minister of Education; Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, President of SDAIA; Dr. Esam Al-Wagait, Director of the National Information Centre at SDAIA.
The SAMAI initiative operates under Saudi Arabia’s National Strategy for Data and AI (NSDAI), launched in 2020. The strategy’s skills pillar of the strategy emphasises transforming the Saudi workforce through talent development and incorporating AI education to align with labour market requirements.
The initiative targeted citizens across all age groups and professional backgrounds, reflecting a whole-of-society approach to AI adoption rather than focusing solely on technical specialists or certain industries.
Core objectives for SAMAI include:
Raising public awareness of artificial intelligence
Supporting lifelong learning opportunities in AI
Keeping up with labour market demands for AI skills
SAMAI supports Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objectives by building critical AI capabilities across the population to meet evolving labour market demands and strengthen national competitiveness.
SAMAI supports Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objectives by building critical AI capabilities across the population to meet evolving labour market demands and strengthen national competitiveness.
ZOOM OUT - The training of one million Saudi citizens under the SAMAI initiative notches up another massive success for SDAIA and the government. SDAIA already has an impressive track record in AI education and training, training nearly 800,000 citizens in data and AI since its formation in 2019. In 2024, SDAI organised a National Olympiad for Programming and AI, or ATHKA. SDAIA trained more than 570,000 students on fundamental AI concepts in the run up to the competition and then registered 260,000 students from 10,000 schools to participate in ATHKA. We can expect further large scale education programmes as the Kingdom’s national AI strategy continues to gather momentum.
[ Written and edited by a human ]
Read more about SDAIA education initiatives:
SAMAI AI training reaches 424,000 Saudi citizens (Middle East AI News)
SDAIA’s SAMAI initiative trains 330,000 Saudis in AI (Middle East AI News)
Saudi Arabia urges citizens to register for SAMAI training (Middle East AI News)
SDAIA trains 779,000 in data & AI skills (Middle East AI News)
Saudi launches AI-powered National Skills Platform (Middle East AI News)