RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's education sector is undergoing a strategic transformation as it focuses on specialized fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics and nuclear energy.
Based on the Vision 2030 economic diversification plan, this marks a decisive step in equipping the Kingdom's future workforce with the highly in-demand skills needed to secure the jobs of tomorrow.
Mansoor Ahmed, managing director of the Middle East and North Africa region at Colliers, a Canadian professional services and management company, says the shift towards artificial intelligence and technology is creating new job opportunities and driving higher education reforms.
“Graduates with expertise in these areas will fill highly sought-after roles and help reduce youth unemployment,” Ahmed told Arab News.
Launched in 2020, Saudi Arabia's National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence aims to attract $20 billion in investment by 2030 and cultivate a workforce of 20,000 AI and data specialists.
Ahmed says the emergence of this highly skilled technology workforce will in turn help attract foreign investment and “position Saudi Arabia as a potential leader in innovation.”
Artificial intelligence could add more than $320 billion to the Middle East economy. PWC's analysis predicts that Saudi Arabia will have the largest gains in absolute terms, worth $135.2 billion, and the United Arab Emirates will see the largest overall impact at 14 percent of its expected gross domestic product in 2030.
“The development of nuclear power plants and the integration of artificial intelligence across different sectors will create specialized roles in engineering, data analytics and machine learning,” Ahmed said. “This underscores the need to prioritize education in technology, artificial intelligence, robotics and nuclear power.”
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Saudi Arabia has confirmed its commitment to future technologies by becoming a hub for global events and forums such as LEAP, the Global AI Summit and the International Exhibition and Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Computing.
However, if the Kingdom hopes to lead in these specialist fields, it must first close the gap between market demand and educational output.
The report, produced by Colliers, found that the current distribution of enrollments at the kingdom's public universities is “out of sync with the labor market”, with students still favoring humanities and Islamic studies.
That is changing now. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology has an Artificial Intelligence Initiative focused on research and graduate education, while KAUST Academy focuses on developing talent in AI with programs aimed at external students.
“KAUST aims to address this gap by offering specialized training and development programs in areas of high demand, helping students transition from traditional fields of study to more market-oriented fields,” KAUST Academy Director Sultan Albarakati told Arab News .
“We focus on upskilling a wide range of university students to prepare them for future labor markets.”
YOU KNEWKNOW?
Saudi Arabia's National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence seeks to attract $20 billion in investment by 2030.
Kingdom aims to produce 20,000 AI and data specialists by the end of the decade.
AI could add more than $320 billion to the Middle East economy, with Saudi Arabia alone gaining $135.2 billion.
Supported by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, KAUST Academy's AI program covers the entire field, from basic to advanced, with projects that allow students to demonstrate their knowledge.
The program focuses on improving skills in key areas such as deep learning libraries, optimization, linear algebra, machine learning, computer vision, artificial intelligence applications, Python programming, and large-scale deep learning.
To support AI research in Saudi Arabia, Silicon Valley tech giant Google recently awarded five seed grants to KAUST faculty members. The grants, totaling $100,000, will fund projects focused on multilingual, multimodal machine learning, specifically generative and large language models.
KAUST Academy focuses on developing talent in AI with programs aimed at external students. (Supplied)
Ahmed says the kingdom's investment in artificial intelligence spans multiple sectors, integrating into healthcare, robotics, manufacturing and services – introducing new roles that require a combination of technical and analytical skills.
“This cross-disciplinary application will greatly expand employment opportunities for graduates,” he said.
Artificial intelligence is expected to change the world of work in the coming years. About 23 percent of jobs are expected to change by 2027, with 69 million new jobs created and 83 million lost, according to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs 2023 report.
To ensure alignment of educational outcomes with labor market needs, Saudi Arabia's Human Capability Development Program has set out to review university degrees based on their recent and expected employability outcomes.
“Training in these high-demand skills will prepare Saudi citizens for success in a technology-driven economy, with the HCDP emphasizing critical thinking, problem-solving and technical expertise,” Ahmed said.
