AI skills for 5,000 university students based on a strategic partnership and volunteering as a pathway to employment.
Skills for the Future gives university students across Saudi Arabia access to AI training through IBM SkillsBuild, implemented by IAVE and our local delivery partner, Ghadan Consulting and Capacity Building.
The learning rests on three foundations: AI mastery, pathways customized for each participating university, and volunteering as a pathway to employability. It advances Vision 2030’s commitments to a knowledge-based economy and to promoting volunteerism, and marks the Saudi Council of Ministers’ designation of 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence.
Equipping students with future-ready AI skills for a knowledge-based economy.
Strengthening the recognition of volunteering as a credible pathway to professional empowerment and hiring.
Students are mobilized through university and volunteering clubs across Saudi campuses, with Lead Learning Facilitators supporting each university and Volunteer Facilitators providing peer support. The hybrid program combines IBM SkillsBuild self-paced learning with 48-hour Start Challenges, webinars, and hands-on workshops, alongside support to earn digital credentials and add them to students’ CVs.
Learning pathways are co-developed with participating universities and tailored to students’ fields of study, readiness levels, and skills aligned with the Saudi labor market.
For students in Engineering, Information Technology, Information Systems, and multi-disciplinary faculties:
For higher-readiness students and faculties with a stronger focus on advanced technical applications.
Optional, for students already taking one of the pathways above:
A Saudi social entrepreneurship company founded in Jeddah in 2012. Ghadan has helped institutionalize volunteer work in the Kingdom, developing national standards and establishing volunteer units within ministries and universities.
IBM’s skills program, built on a skills-first approach, offering over 1,000 courses in technology, workforce readiness, entrepreneurship, and green skills, with verified digital credentials.
A global network founded in 1970, IAVE connects and supports volunteer leaders, organizations, and partners across more than 100 countries, advancing volunteering as a force for a more just and sustainable world.
Skills for the Future adapts the model IAVE developed with IBM SkillsBuild through Reskilling Revolution Africa (RRA), where the approach has been piloted across South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia. The model connects digital skills development, volunteering, and practical challenges to help young people build workforce-relevant skills and pathways to employment. Skills for the Future brings this proven approach to Saudi Arabia, tailored to the university context and local labor market.