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AI-powered personalized learning: The next frontier for Middle East education

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Pearson

By Isil Berkan, Marketing Director, Middle East, Africa & Turkey at Pearson

Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant promise: it’s already reshaping how we live, work, and learn. In the classroom, AI-powered tools are adapting lessons in real-time to each student’s strengths, gaps, and pace. That means less time marking, and more time for teachers to connect, coach, and inspire.

In the Middle East, governments are actively reforming education to build a digital-ready workforce. AI offers a unique opportunity to close skill gaps, increase engagement, and prepare youth not only for today’s jobs but for those yet to come. With thoughtful implementation and the right safeguards, AI-powered learning is reshaping education at an unprecedented scale and speed.

The current state of AI in Middle Eastern education

Across the region, governments are investing significantly in digital transformation in education. In the UAE, AI learning begins from kindergarten, part of its ambition to become a global leader in AI. The country now ranks third globally for attracting AI talent, according to Stanford’s 2024 AI Index report.

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 includes a bold national strategy for data and AI, aiming to position the Kingdom among the world’s top AI-powered economies. Initiatives like “One Million Saudis in AI” and “Artificial Intelligence Hour” are already equipping hundreds of thousands of students with essential skills. Public-private partnerships are accelerating progress, especially in STEM and bilingual education.

Why AI-powered personalized learning is needed

Many traditional classrooms are constrained by fixed curricula and standardized teaching methods. This can make it difficult to meet the needs of individual students. AI can help close the gap—giving every student tailored support based on how they learn best. It doesn’t replace teachers; it gives them better tools to adapt, support, and engage.

The AI in education market is expected to grow to over $20 billion by 2027. Pearson’s own research found that 76% of teachers spend at least an hour a week planning lessons in their own time. This provided inspiration for innovations like our Smart Lesson Generator, which reduces admin and delivers curriculum-aligned content at the right level, in seconds.

Generative AI can identify at-risk learners early, recommend specific interventions, and dynamically adapt materials for better comprehension and retention. These tools tailor content to each learner’s unique needs by offering personalized explanations, summaries, and practice questions.

How it can be implemented and the benefits

AI needs more than access to devices; it works best when integrated into pedagogy. Tools like Mondly by Pearson let learners practise speaking and listening in realistic, role-based scenarios, powered by speech recognition and adaptive feedback.

This kind of real-time assessment is especially valuable for workforce preparation, where language skills, particularly English, directly influence employability. In Saudi Arabia, Pearson’s research shows a 40% gap in English skills across industries, something AI can help address at scale.

Challenges and considerations

In a world where 60% of educators are already implementing AI in the classroom, concerns around data privacy, digital literacy, and equitable access cannot be ignored.

Many schools still lack the infrastructure or teacher training needed to roll out AI programs effectively, with 61% of teachers indicating they would feel more confident using AI if they were properly trained. However, these challenges present opportunities for regional collaboration and innovation. Ethical frameworks, clear data policies, and inclusive curriculum design can mitigate risks.

AI-powered tools that are built on proprietary standards like the Global Scale of English can ensure precision and alignment with real-world learning outcomes. Rather than replacing educators, AI should be positioned as a tool that empowers them, providing real-time assistance during lessons, answering questions, and offering extra resources.

Government initiatives and national strategies

The UAE’s AI Strategy 2031 and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 show a clear commitment to integrating AI across all levels of education. Programs like the King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KASP) are sending students abroad to study advanced technologies, while EdTech partnerships are multiplying across the region.

By 2030, AI is expected to contribute over $96 billion to the UAE’s economy and $135 billion to Saudi Arabia’s. To realise this, education must lead the way.

The road ahead

To make the most of AI in education, we need more than devices and dashboards. We need collaboration.

Educators need hands-on training. Policymakers need to create regulations that promote safe, equitable use of AI. And technology providers must build tools with—not just for—teachers and learners. That includes embedding AI into curricula and teaching the next generation how to use it responsibly.

The Middle East has momentum on its side. If governments, educators, and tech companies act together, the region can set a global example, building an education system that’s more personalised, more agile, and fit for the future.

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VAST Data Partners with Google Cloud to Enable Enterprise AI at Scale Across Hybrid Cloud Environments

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Professional headshot of Cem Kul, General Manager of SO/ Ras Al Khaimah resort

VAST Data, the AI Operating System company, today announced an expanded partnership with Google Cloud, the first fully managed service for the VAST AI Operating System (AI OS), enabling customers to deploy the AI OS and extend a unified global namespace across hybrid environments. Powered by the VAST DataSpace, enterprises can seamlessly connect clusters running in Google Cloud and on-premises locations, eliminating complex migrations and making data instantly available wherever AI runs.

Enterprises want to run AI where it performs best, but data rarely lives in one place and migrating can take months and costs millions. Fragmented storage and siloed data pipelines make it hard to feed the AI accelerators with consistent, high-throughput access and every environment change multiplies governance and compliance burdens.

VAST and Google Cloud address this challenge by making data placement a choice rather than a constraint. In this recorded demonstration, VAST showcased the power of the VAST DataSpace to connect clusters across more than 10,000 kilometers, linking one in the United States with another in Japan. This configuration delivered seamless, near real-time access to the same data in both locations while running inference workloads with vLLM, enabling intelligent workload placement so organizations can run AI models on TPUs in the US and GPUs in Japan without duplicating data or managing separate environments.

“Together with Google Cloud, VAST is building a unified data and computing environment that extends to wherever a customer wants to compute and unleashes the potential of AI by unlocking access to all data everywhere,” said Jeff Denworth, Co-Founder at VAST Data. “Delivered as a managed AI Operating System on Google Cloud, customers can go from zero to production in minutes – we’re turning hybrid complexity into a single, intelligent fabric that provides fast access to data, regardless of where it resides to accelerate time to value for agentic AI.”

“Bringing VAST AI Operating System to Google Cloud Marketplace will help customers quickly deploy, manage, and grow the data solution on Google Cloud’s trusted, global infrastructure,” said Nirav Mehta, Vice President, Compute Platform at Google Cloud. “VAST can now securely scale and support customers on their digital transformation journeys.”

Powering Google Cloud TPUs with seamless data access and near-local performance

Recent performance results also show how the VAST AI Operating System connects seamlessly to Google Cloud Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) virtual machines, integrating directly with Google Cloud’s platform for large-scale AI. In testing with Meta’s Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct model, the VAST AI Operating System delivered model load speeds comparable to some of the best options available in the cloud, while maintaining predictable performance during cold starts.

These results confirm that the VAST AI OS is not just a data platform but a performance engine designed to keep accelerators fully utilized and AI pipelines continuously in motion.

“The VAST AI OS is redefining what it means to move fast in AI, delivering model load speeds comparable to cloud-native alternatives while providing the full power of an advanced, enterprise-grade AI platform,” said Subramanian Kartik, Chief Scientist at VAST Data. “This is the kind of acceleration that turns idle accelerators into active intelligence, driving higher efficiency and faster time to insight for every AI workload.”

With VAST on Google Cloud, customers can benefit from:

  • Deploy AI in Minutes, Not Months: Organizations can run production AI workloads on Google Cloud today against existing on-premises datasets without migration planning, transfer delays, or extended compliance cycles. Using VAST DataSpace and intelligent streaming, they can present a consistent global namespace of data across on-prem and Google Cloud instantly.
  • Reduce Data-Movement Costs: Stream only the subsets that models require to avoid full replication and reduce egress – cutting footprint and redirecting budget from data movement to AI innovation with infrastructure that is future-ready for the demanding AI pipelines in genomics, structural biology, and financial services.
  • Maximize Google Cloud Innovation with Flexible Data Placement: Choose what to migrate, replicate, or cache to Google Cloud while keeping one namespace and consistent governance by applying unified access controls, audit, and retention policies everywhere to simplify compliance and reduce operational risk. Leverage VAST DataStore and VAST DataBase to unify prep, training, inference, and analytics without rewiring pipelines.
  • TPU-Ready Data Path: Feed TPU VMs over validated NFS paths with optimized model loading and metadata-aware I/O, delivering fast, consistent warm-start performance and predictable behavior during cold-starts.
  • Build on a Unified Platform: The VAST AI Operating System delivers a DataStore, DataBase, InsightEngine, AgentEngine and DataSpace that scales across on-premises and Google Cloud environments and adapts to changing business needs without architectural rewrites, enabling data scientists to use a variety of access protocols with a single solution.
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AUKEY PARTNERS WITH THE BROOKLYN NETS FOR AN ELECTRIFYING NBA SEASON

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Barclays Center arena interior during Cavaliers vs Nets NBA game with Aukey

AUKEY, a leading innovator in cutting-edge tech accessories, is proud to announce a multiyear partnership with the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, beginning this 2025-26 NBA season. This collaboration is AUKEY’s first sports partnership, marking an exciting milestone for their expansion and reflecting their ongoing commitment to delivering high-quality, innovative technology experiences to a global audience.

Through this partnership, AUKEY will team up with the Brooklyn Nets to engage fans both on and off the court. Together, they’ve launched a non-commercial, limited-edition wireless power bank, the MagFusion M 5000 Brooklyn Nets Co-Branded Edition, combining the team’s bold identity with cutting-edge wireless charging technology.

Fans can participate in AUKEY’s social media giveaway activities for a chance to win one on Instagram and Facebook, keeping their energy flowing anytime, anywhere while enjoying exciting game moments.

MagFusion M 5000 Brooklyn Nets Co-Branded Edition

“We’re thrilled to partner with the Brooklyn Nets, a team that embodies creativity, resilience, and the spirit of New York,” said Jackey Li, CEO at AUKEY US. “At AUKEY, we power every moment with strength, endurance, and an unbreakable drive to keep innovating. The Nets share that same unstoppable spirit and we look forward to sharing that spirit of innovation and energy with basketball fans worldwide.”

AUKEY’s work with the Nets will extend in-arena at Barclays Center for the team’s home games, as well as on the team’s social media channels. This partnership represents a fusion of tech, sport, and culture and together, AUKEY and the Brooklyn Nets aim to unlock more power in every moment, from the court to the community, keeping fans charged for what’s next.

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GCC COMPANIES ACHIEVE 30-SECOND PAYROLL PROCESSING WITH 100 PER CENT ACCURACY USING ADVANCED HRMS, REVEALS GREYTHR

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Girish Rowjee, Co-founder and CEO of greytHR

Companies across the GCC region have experienced higher workforce management efficiency using advanced AI-powered HRMS, reporting 100 per cent accuracy and stronger compliance with GCC labour regulations, reveals a recent survey conducted by greytHR, the leading full-suite Human Resource Management System (HRMS) platform. Notably, organisations with around 1000 employees could complete their payroll processing in just about 30 seconds using the innovative platform. 

The findings point to an exponential shift within the GCC HR landscape, where organisations are embracing intelligent automated HR operations amid evolving labour regulations, hybrid work models, and the rise of multi-country workforces. The company’s data shows that 75 per cent of GCC companies are first-time HR automation adopters, while 24 per cent have migrated from legacy systems, highlighting the ongoing regional transition towards fully digitised, compliance-ready HR frameworks.

greytHR is powering this digital shift through its robust cloud-based infrastructure and AI-powered tools, which simplify the entire hire-to-retire employee lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding to core HR, leave, attendance, payroll, performance, exit and engagement.

Girish Rowjee, Co-founder and CEO of greytHR, said, “At greytHR, we believe that ‘people’ are the primary pillar of any business. A company’s growth relies on the dedication and hard work of its employees. As a result of this belief, we built our HRMS to make employee lifecycle management simpler, more transparent, and more connected within the HR ecosystem. Our goal is to help organisations reinvent how they manage and support their workforce through intelligent, people-focused automation in today’s digital world.”

Through it’s a highly intelligent and unified system, greytHR has been continuously addressing the region’s distinctive challenges and maximising impact through efficient workforce management.

Sayeed Anjum, Co-Founder & CTO, greytHR, said: “As companies expand across borders and hybrid work models become the norm, HR leaders face issues such as manual payroll errors, fragmented systems and limited automation, which can directly impact compliance, employee satisfaction, and productivity. Our platform is tailored to address these pain points and the region’s unique needs by serving as an intelligent, unified system that simplifies all stages of workforce management. This further aligns with our broader vision of creating measurable impact for companies and transforming the regional HR ecosystem through digitisation.”

He further stated: “Currently, IT & ITeS, Business, and Financial Service sectors lead in HRMS adoption, at 19 per cent, 15 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively, highlighting the vital role of technology-driven and service-oriented businesses in catalysing the ongoing digital HR revolution.”

greytHR offers built-in compliance features tailored to GCC nations, including automated GPSSA deductions, multi-country payroll capabilities, and real-time analytics. Moreover, its intuitive interface and modular architecture make it accessible to businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises.

The company showcased these advanced offerings at the recent HR Summit & Expo 2025, held in Dubai, highlighting its commitment to supporting the region’s evolving workforce needs. As GCC continues to position itself as a global business hub, greytHR remains steadfast in its efforts to positively shape the future of the regional HR industry.

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