In an interview with Arab News, Amazon MENA Vice President Ronaldo Mouchawar talks about the company’s first-of-its-kind immersive curriculum that combines both theoretical knowledge and hands-on training in order to offer Saudi talent a competitive edge in the regional and global job market.

Here are the excerpts:

What was the thought process behind initiating the Amazon Academy Program that will be launched to train and certify trainees in the digital field?

Saudi Arabia is undergoing a major digital transformation that impacts many areas such as 5G and artificial intelligence to online purchasing, digital payments and a digitalized customer service experience. We believe that certified training and expertise in future-facing sectors will help Saudi talent to develop the in-demand skills required to achieve career growth and advancement. Therefore, we developed Amazon Academy, a multi-year program, designed specifically with Saudi talent market needs at its core and aligning with Saudi Vision 2030’s human capability development goal.

The program aims to equip over 30,000 Saudi citizens with sought-after competencies for the current and future labor market. According to recent research by Boston Consulting Group, the market value of e-commerce in Saudi Arabia is expected to more than double to SR57 billion by 2025, up from SR25 billion in 2021.

Amazon Academy’s tailored curriculum will cover in-demand skills across cloud computing, artificial intelligence, logistics and retail to enable Saudi Arabia to accelerate its economic potential through a future ready workforce.

What kind of planning and R&D went into developing this first initiative of its kind in the Middle East targeting the logistics, retail and cloud computing sectors?

Amazon Academy’s innovative curriculum combines the global expertise at Amazon Web Services, Amazon Operations and Amazon’s Customer Experience teams with its understanding of the Saudi talent landscape to support capacity-building objectives, as outlined in Vision 2030. We see ourselves as a partner in this journey and that is why we spent time and effort on evaluating the current and future talent market needs and designed Amazon Academy specifically to assure Saudi Arabia’s competitiveness on the global stage.

For example, one of the focus areas of Saudi Vision 2030’s path to a diversified economy is to establish the Kingdom as a worldwide logistics hub. Amazon Academy’s logistics certification courses cover our proven capabilities in building and managing customer-centric operations at scale, including training to empower local entrepreneurs to set up and manage their own last-mile businesses, thus equipping talent for a more advanced e-commerce and logistics sector in the Kingdom.

Second, Saudi Arabia has implemented a cloud-first policy to drive the Kingdom’s digital transformation, encouraging public and private sector companies to boost digital capabilities through cloud technologies. Amazon Academy’s cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics and other transformative technology certifications by Amazon Web Services will equip talent with the necessary cloud skills to support the rapid growth in cloud adoption across the Kingdom.

And third, the academy’s leadership curriculum is designed to build Saudi’s leaders of tomorrow – covering management and leadership models that unlock customer obsession, passion for invention and innovation in their careers and at their companies, all underpinned by Amazon’s ‘customer backwards’ philosophy.

What innovations will this three-year training program initiate?

All courses offered by the academy will impart Amazon’s “customer backwards” philosophy, which aims to unlock customer obsession among learners and create a passion for invention and innovation. The courses will cover learning paths in the areas of cloud computing, retail, and e-commerce logistics, equipping learners with management and leadership models to strive for innovation in each of these fields. The cloud computing curriculum path will deliver transformative technology certifications. The operations learning path will incorporate Amazon’s distinctive end-to-end fulfillment and last-mile capabilities, including training to empower local entrepreneurs to set up and manage their own logistics businesses. By enhancing knowledge, skills and values, the program will initiate a culture of innovation among talent and organizations.

What are the key features of the program that will help realize the aim of developing more than 30,000 trainees of national competencies?

Amazon Academy aligns with MCIT’s Future Skills Program that focuses on opportunities for training and increasing partnerships to equip local talent for the current and future labor market. Candidates who join the academy will benefit from a higher bar of learning through regular assessments and examinations that will prepare them for a competitive job market at both regional and international levels.

The first-of-its-kind immersive curriculum combines self-paced virtual learning, with in-classroom sessions and hands-on workshops to ensure a dynamic, job-ready talent pool. Course offerings will cover in-demand technology certifications in cloud architecting, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics that will ensure career advancement in future-facing sectors.

Deploying Amazon’s distinctive capabilities in customer-centric operations at scale and innovations that power customer experience, the academy’s operations learning tracks will also empower local entrepreneurs to set up and manage their own scalable e-commerce operations. The training and certification courses across basic, advanced and specialized levels are open to all candidates, from novices to experts, at no cost.

How will this initiative help support policies to ensure the Kingdom’s competitiveness?

Amazon Academy is designed to deliver a high bar of learning through a first-of-its-kind immersive curriculum that combines both theoretical knowledge and hands-on training. Individuals who complete the academy’s courses will leave the program with cutting-edge expertise, innovative leadership models and in-demand certifications to equip them for career advancement and entrepreneurship success in today’s promising sectors – cloud computing, e-commerce logistics and retail.

A recent study by LinkedIn has revealed that the most in-demand jobs in the UAE and Saudi Arabia in 2023 will be in the technology sector in response to the region’s growing emphasis on digitalization. The world-class knowledge and skills gained through the academy will give Saudi talent a competitive edge in the regional and global job market.