Saudi Arabia launches SAMAI 2 workforce AI initiative
National AI literacy and capacity building initiative targets government workforce
#SaudiArabia #education – Saudi Arabia Minister of Education and King Saud University Board Chairman Yousef Al-Benyan and Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) President Dr Abdullah Alghamdi have launched the SAMAI 2 initiative in partnership with 11 government ministries. The announcement was made during the the International Conference on Data and AI Capacity Building (ICAN 2026) at King Saud University in Riyadh. The initiative aims to empower the workforce in targeted government sectors to adopt AI technologies, increase productivity and enhance workplace efficiency through specialised training and awareness programmes.
The new initiative builds on the success of SAMAI 1, which empowered more than 1.1 million Saudi citizens with training and accredited certifications last year. SAMAI 2 will focus on building AI literacy and capacity in government ministries including health, finance, media, justice, industry and mineral resources, transport and logistics, education, human resources and social development, municipalities and housing, sport, and energy.
SO WHAT? – The first edition of SAMAI was a massive milestone for SDAIA and the national AI strategy, improving AI literacy for 1.1 million Saudi citizens via a public education and training programme. SAMAI 2 aims to affect a similar change in the government workforce. SDAIA has been working closely with the Kingdom’s government ministries over the past six years, on digital transformation, data transformation, government cloud, AI strategy and AI education and training. Saudi Arabia’s public sector employs about 1.2 million people and so increasing AI literacy among a significant proportion of that number could have a profound short-term and long-term impact.
Here are some key points about the SAMAI 2 initiative:
Saudi Arabia Minister of Education and King Saud University Board Chairman Yousef Al-Benyan and Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) President Dr Abdullah Alghamdi have launched the SAMAI 2 initiative in partnership with 11 government ministries. The minister and the SDAIA president presented the SAMAI 2 charter to assembled government officials.
The announcement was made during ICAN 2026 (International Conference on Data and AI Capacity Building) at King Saud University in Riyadh, which was held under the theme “The future of education and work in the AI era”.
SAMAI 2 aims to empower the workforce in targeted government sectors to adopt AI technologies, increase productivity and enhance workplace efficiency through specialised training and awareness programmes focused on sector-specific applications.
The initiative will include 11 ministries including health, finance, media, justice, industry and mineral resources, transport and logistics, education, human resources and social development, municipalities and housing, sport, and energy.
SAMAI empowered more than 1.1 million Saudi citizens with high-quality training and accredited certifications during 2025, representing an unprecedented national achievement, accomplished in record time and with 52 per cent female participation.
Established by Royal Order in 2019, SDAIA, serves as the competent authority concerned with data and AI including big data, directly linked to the Prime Minister.
SDAIA operates with legal standing and financial and administrative independence, with sub-entities including National Data Management Office, National Center for AI and National Information Center all organizationally linked to the authority.
ZOOM OUT – Saudi Arabia’s first nation-wide AI training programme SAMAI reached its target of training over one million Saudi citizens in November 2025, with 52 per cent female and 48 per cent male participants. The One Million Saudis in AI initiative was developed by SDAIA in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. Employees constituted 70 per cent of participants whilst students made up 30 per cent, with the programme targeting citizens across all age groups and professional backgrounds reflecting a whole-of-society approach. Final results released by SDAIA that 1.1 million Saudi citizens were trained by the programme last year.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Read more about SDAIA education initiatives:
SAMAI trains over one million Saudis in AI (Middle East AI News)
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)
Saudi launches AI-powered National Skills Platform (Middle East AI News)