Riyadh: The International Conference on Data and AI Capacity Building (ICAN 2026) launched yesterday a series of specialized workshops led by global experts in technology, education, and human development. These sessions focused on cultivating national talent and advancing leadership skills within the data and AI sectors. The event saw a vibrant turnout, bringing together industry stakeholders, academics, and tech enthusiasts alongside university students.
According to Saudi Press Agency, Atomcamp hosted a specialized session on leveraging data-driven insights within educational environments, focusing on the systematic evaluation of academic, behavioral, and demographic data. Highlighting the practical application of emerging technologies, the workshop featured a live demonstration of agentic AI and a hands-on predictive analytics exercise to identify students at risk of academic underperformance.
The King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba) organized a guidance workshop to support students in university admissions and international entrance exams. The session provided a strategic roadmap for navigating tests like the SAT, IELTS, and TOEFL, alongside techniques for high performance. It also addressed well-rounded student profiling, ensuring students highlight leadership and impactful statements.
In the field of Arabic linguistics, the King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language presented a deep dive into the evolution of Arabic Natural Language Processing (NLP) toward Large Language Models (LLMs). Its session traced the transformative shifts that have shaped the field and identified the primary drivers behind the rise of contextual models. Additionally, the academy explored modern technical opportunities for Arabic applications while addressing current methodological challenges, providing a strategic framework for selecting the most effective linguistic solutions.
Beginners in data engineering, AI developers, and knowledge-seeking students also benefited from the workshops. Amazon conducted a session on exploring AI-powered content, training participants to use Amazon Nova Canvas and Amazon Nova Reel to create and edit images, as well as produce videos using text prompts and interactive notebooks, with the concepts easily applicable across sectors requiring innovative visual content.
On the topic of AI readiness indicators, consulting firm PwC discussed the global AI ecosystem, highlighting aspects such as governance, standards, and responsible AI. It explored a wide range of current global AI readiness indicators, presenting comprehensive results from three international indices (2024/2025) and reviewing the ISO/IEC 42001:2023 standard for AI management systems.
Meanwhile, IBM offered two specialized workshops for leaders and professionals. The first focused on building AI on a foundation of accurate data, covering key topics such as the direct relationship between data quality, availability, governance, and AI performance, as well as common data challenges that can silently undermine AI initiatives.
The second workshop, dedicated to the banking sector, focused on identifying key AI and generative AI use cases across core and support banking functions, and on assessing the suitability of local solutions and private large language models for sensitive data environments in the Kingdom.
These efforts reflect the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority's (SDAIA) commitment to fulfilling the conference's goals by developing globally competitive human capacities, integrating theoretical knowledge with practical applications, and keeping pace with the latest technological advancements shaping the new digital economy.