Overview
About the program
KAUST Academy is how KAUST extends its world-class expertise to working professionals, the people who will lead the transformation of their sectors. We design and deliver professional training, micro-credentials and customized corporate programs that help organizations deploy emerging technologies with confidence.
Every program is tailored in scope, level, duration and location to the organization it serves: from five-day courses to multi-week programs, and from early-career staff to the boardroom. Since 2022 we have trained 3,100 working professionals in 94 courses for leading organizations, among them PIF, Aramco, YASREF and Tahakom.
Technical upskilling
Hands-on AI, data and emerging-technology skills, built on real use cases.
Workforce development
Cohort programs shaped around an organization’s capability goals.
Executive education
Technology strategy and leadership for decision-makers.
In numbers
3,100
working professionals trained since 2022
94
courses delivered for organizations since 2022
9
programs delivered in 2026–27
186
participants in those nine programs
More figures, from each program’s participants to its results, on Professional programs by the numbers.
Training solutions
Program structure
Specialized training tailored to each organization’s needs, industry and use cases, in four forms.
Micro-credentials and short courses
Short, focused courses of about five days, customized with use cases relevant to the audience.
Offered to clients
Introduction to AI
Computer vision
Text processing
Introduction to data science
Customized corporate training
Multi-week programs designed around one organization’s goals, operations and data.
Recent deliveries
YASREF Comprehensive AI Program: 200 hours
PIF GDP Pathways, AI & Finance: 225 hours
Advanced technical and emerging technology
Deep, hands-on specialization in frontier methods, from computer vision and large language models to energy modeling.
Recent deliveries
Tahakom AI Early Careers Program, with the University of Oxford
AI for Sports, with experts from Vista’s portfolio companies
Executive and leadership development
Strategy, governance and adoption programs that turn AI ambition into an executable plan.
Recent deliveries
PIF AI Pathways: AI Leadership & Management
PIF Qiyas leadership tracks for experts and unit heads
Every offering is tailored in scope, level, duration and location. The recent deliveries are 2026–27 examples of the 94 courses delivered since 2022.
For every seniority level
One partner for the whole workforce, from first role to the boardroom.
Early careerTechnical foundations and practical, hands-on skills. Delivered: Tahakom AI Early Careers, with 8 research projects; PIF GDP Pathways, with 10 graduates and 100% completion.
Professionals and specialistsAdvanced technical expertise and specialization. Delivered: YASREF AI Program, 31 completed in 200 hours; AI for Sports, 20 participants and a 4.8/5 instructor rating.
Managers and leadersTechnology adoption, AI implementation and transformation. Delivered: PIF AI Pathways for leadership, 27 leaders rating it 4.6/5; PIF Qiyas for unit heads, 17 leaders with 94.7% attendance.
ExecutivesAI strategy, technology leadership and strategic decision-making. Tailored on request, built on the AI leadership curriculum delivered for PIF; from our catalog: AI for Leaders.
Working with us
How to apply
From your business needs to tailored training: an evidence-driven journey in five steps.
Understand business needs
We start from your strategy, your operations and the outcomes your leadership expects.
Identify capability gaps
We map the skills each role and seniority level needs against those goals.
Design customized training
We build the curriculum, use cases, format and faculty for your context.
Deliver
At KAUST, at your site, online or with international partners such as the University of Oxford.
Evaluate impact
We measure attendance, assessments before and after, participants’ satisfaction and capstone projects, and report the results to you.
Let’s design the program your workforce needs next: send us a message and choose “Training for organizations”, or email academy@kaust.edu.sa.
Our clients
Track record
94 courses delivered for leading organizations since 2022.
Selected engagements
PIF: six leadership and AI programs
127
participants. In the Qiyas leadership track, overall assessment scores rose from 54% to 80%.
YASREF: Comprehensive AI Program
200 hrs
over five weeks at KAUST and in Yanbu, for 31 employees, with a Net Promoter Score of +41.
Tahakom: AI Early Careers Program
8
engineers, each completing an individual research project in computer vision or NLP/LLM, with the University of Oxford.
Organizations we train
Ministries, government entities and companies across the Kingdom and beyond.
Ministry of Interior
Saudi Aramco
Public Investment Fund
YASREF
Center for National Health Insurance
Digital Government Authority
Ministry of Hajj and Umrah
King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE)
Tahakom
UN Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries
Jeddah Airports Company (JEDCO)
Prince Musaid bin Abdulrahman University
Golf Saudi
Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States
Vista Equity Partners
In the classroom
Gallery
Questions
FAQs
Who are the programs for?
Organizations, for their employees at every level: government entities, companies and institutions, from early-career staff to executives.
How long is a program?
From short courses of about five days to multi-week programs, such as YASREF’s 200-hour Comprehensive AI Program. The length is agreed with each organization.
Where does the training take place?
At KAUST, at your organization’s site, online or with international partners. Recent programs ran at KAUST, in Yanbu, at PIF Academy, online and at the University of Oxford.
Can a program use our own use cases and data?
Yes. Customized corporate programs are designed around one organization’s goals, operations and data, and short courses are customized with use cases relevant to the audience.
How do you measure results?
Through attendance, assessments before and after, satisfaction ratings and Net Promoter Score, and capstone projects, reported back to the organization.
How do we start?
Send us a message and choose “Training for organizations”, or email academy@kaust.edu.sa. Tell us about your organization, the teams you want to train and what you want them to be able to do.
