Saudi Arabia: Tuwaiq Academy, Google Cloud Launch AI, Cloud Computing Initiative

Saudi Arabia’s Tuwaiq Academy and Google Cloud have launched the AI & Cloud Champions Program, a six-month initiative running from June through December designed to build national capabilities and empower local talent to develop cloud-based solutions using artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. The programme, unveiled during Google Cloud’s AI Live + Labs event in Riyadh, targets students, graduates, employees, tech startup entrepreneurs and technology enthusiasts and will include training content, hands-on sandbox environments, cloud service credits and vouchers for professional certification exams.

"It is evolving from a communication tool into a space where the full journey happens, from finding and using a service to resolving a problem, all within one conversation," said Fares Akkad, Meta’s regional director for the Middle East and Africa, in a separate interview included at the event — a remark organisers highlighted to underscore the changing expectations around digital services and conversational AI.

Program details and support

The AI & Cloud Champions Program builds on the strategic partnership between Tuwaiq Academy and Google Cloud and is supported by a grant from Google Cloud’s economic and community development team to help drive implementation. The initiative features three main tracks focused on upskilling and ecosystem development:

• Training programs and professional certifications to strengthen participants’ abilities to apply AI in cloud computing, with vouchers provided for professional certification exams.
• Hands-on resources including sandbox environments and cloud service credits to enable practical development and experimentation.
• An intensive startup track that will support more than 60 tech startups with practical consulting, growth sessions and mentoring to accelerate product development and market readiness.

Context and strategic aims

The programme aims to expand the Kingdom’s ecosystem of developers, tech startups and professionals by delivering specialized training content and knowledge-sharing sessions led by subject-matter experts. Organisers emphasise a practical focus: workshops and labs are designed to move participants from theoretical learning to real-world cloud deployments and AI integration.

While the announcement did not disclose the monetary value of Google Cloud’s grant, it places the initiative within a broader regional wave of large-scale tech investments highlighted elsewhere at the event. For instance, separate reporting presented plans by global and regional firms to channel hundreds of billions into AI and semiconductor infrastructure — figures such as a prospective $650 billion domestic investment plan announced by a major South Korean technology firm were cited in the adjacent coverage to illustrate the scale of global capital flows into AI-related capacity.

Outlook

Running through the end of the year, the programme is positioned to generate a pipeline of certified cloud and AI practitioners and to accelerate product-led growth among participating startups. If the training, sandbox access and consulting translate into deployable solutions and funded ventures, organisers expect the initiative to strengthen local supply of AI-capable talent and help Saudi startups compete for regional projects and contracts.

Organisers will likely measure success by the number of professional certifications delivered, startups progressed through the intensive track, and demonstrable cloud-native applications produced during the programme’s December close — outcomes that could inform whether similar collaborations expand in scope or scale in 2027.