Saudi Arabia has achieved a new global milestone in the field of artificial intelligence by leading in empowering women in AI with a female to male ratio. The country has made progress in job growth and talent attraction in AI, as well as in the number of cutting-edge AI models, according to the Stanford AI Index 2025.
Saudi Arabia has been ranked first globally in empowering women in AI, which reflects the effectiveness of ambitious policies and initiatives launched to support and empower women in technical sectors in line with Vision 2030. This progress has been achieved through providing advanced training programs and professional development opportunities, leading to an increase in female talent presence in this advanced technical field and positioning the country as a global leader in providing equal opportunities in AI.
The country ranked third globally in AI job growth for 2024 and fourth globally in the number of leading AI models, joining seven countries that have deployed leading AI models, including the United States, China, France, Canada, and Korea.
The Saudi Kingdom secured the eighth spot globally in attracting AI talent, showcasing its ability to provide a stable and stimulating environment for national talents, supporting innovation, knowledge transfer, and contributing to the development of an advanced and sustainable system in this vital sector, as well as attracting global talent in AI.
These achievements are a result of Saudi Arabia’s efforts towards global leadership in AI, led by the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), which aims to enhance the country’s position as a leading nation in data and AI through national capacity building, policy development, investment promotion, innovation stimulation, technological infrastructure enhancement, and AI solution adoption in priority sectors aligning with Vision 2030 targets.
In the realm of empowering women, SDAIA has made tangible efforts through initiatives such as the Elevate program in collaboration with Google Cloud, aiming to empower over 25,000 women in technology and AI fields. Specialized training programs and workshops have prepared Saudi women to excel in the AI sector, enhancing their presence globally and locally.
Saudi’s progress in the Stanford AI Index 2025 is attributed to SDAIA’s initiatives focused on national capacity building, including programs like the national U program for university students in AI, the Smay initiative for enhancing AI awareness, and the national AI Olympiad for nurturing emerging talents and polishing their skills.
SDAIA’s efforts to position Saudi Arabia as an attractive destination for AI talent include international collaborations like the completion of the first phase of the Elevate program, which included around a thousand women from 28 countries worldwide, and partnerships with NVIDIA Academy and Microsoft for training and development. Additionally, the establishment of the International Center for AI Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) in Riyadh sponsored by UNESCO contributes to Saudi Arabia’s global leadership in establishing ethical and legislative frameworks for emerging technologies.
SDAIA highlighted Saudi’s efforts by including the Alama giant linguistic model developed on the Hugging Face platform in the world’s best Arabic generative models and introducing it on IBM’s watsonx platform during the IBM Think 2024 conference. This solidifies Saudi’s position as a leading force in developing AI solutions in the Arabic language.
SDAIA operates with a strategic vision aimed at updating the data and AI agenda, providing data-related capabilities and foresight, and continuously innovating in AI to ensure Saudi Arabia’s leadership in data-driven economies and AI as a national reference in data and AI organization, development, and interaction.
