SDAIA targets top potential AI talent
AI authority launches program to attract, train and retain top national talent
#Saudi #talent - The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) has launched the Future SDAIA Graduate Development Programme to attract, train and retain new talent for the authority. Future SDAIA takes national university graduates and develop their capabilities in Generative AI, so increasing their chances of landing new job roles with the authority, whilst offering them an exciting package of benefits.
SO WHAT? - SDAIA is the government authority responsible for Saudi Arabia's National Strategy for Data and AI (NSDAI), which includes ambitious goals for skilling-up Saudi talent. Meanwhile, according to LinkedIn data, the authority itself has grown its headcount by 42 percent over the past two years. The new Future SDAIA programme has been designed to both help the authority hire top university talent, in an increasingly competitive job market, and also provide an example to other large organisations showing how to recruit and develop new AI talent.
Launched this week, the Future SDAIA Graduate Development Programme will involve participants in a four-month intensive training camp, followed by a two-month on-the-job training programme with a leading global technology company.
The main focus of the Future SDAIA training will be data engineering, infrastructure, large language model (LLM) development and software development.
The training will then lead to a two-month on-the-job training programme with a leading global technology company.
Participants in Future SDAIA will receive financial incentives during their training period.
After completing the programme, successful participants will be made job offers to join SDAIA with competitive salaries, great job benefits and advanced training.
The SDAIA will also offer successful graduates scholarships to continue their studies at top international universities.
The Future SDAIA programme is open to Saudi nationals, who are graduates of computer science and related technical disciplines. The selection process for the new programme will include tests and personal interviews.
Registration for the new programme is open and will end on Monday, 15 January 2024.
ZOOM OUT - The innovative new recruitment programme closely aligns with SDAIA's goals to build national capacity, develop Saudi talent and create employment opportunities for nationals in AI and emerging technology roles. The authority has already implemented a broad range of national education and training initiatives to prepare students for STEM jobs, create more national capacity in AI development and coding, and provide training options for young Saudis to develop careers in data, AI and other technologies.
Under the National Strategy for Data and AI, SDAIA aims to train 25,000 specialists in data and AI by the year 2030 and teach 100,000 Saudi youth in core digital skills. Another goal is to train one in every 100 Saudi nationals in coding by the end of the decade. Last year the authority launched one of its most ambitious education initiatives to-date: the National Olympiad for Programming and Artificial Intelligence, or ATHKA, which aims to train 300,000 middle and high school students in AI and coding.
IMO - The SDAIA's multi-layered approach to talent development continues to impress year after year. In the midst of a global skills shortage that will see many countries struggle to find suitable talent for their AI and data programmes, Saudi Arabia has 'taken the bull by the horns'. What's most impressive about the Future SDAIA programme, is that it both provides a clear and exciting path for top Saudi computer science talent and the inspiration for all. Future SDAIA is a great advertisement for eligible Saudi graduates, students will see that there are interesting, high quality, well paid jobs that await them in the future, while the programme also provides a great best practice example for other large Saudi organisations that need to hire top talent.