Eighteen of best talented males and females graduates from eight Saudi universities have participated in the "Azure Ambassadors" training program, which was recently introduced by Microsoft Arabia in Riyadh to prepare young Saudi talents for the future and provide them with necessary knowledge to achieve the Saudi vision 2030 and boost its digitization goals. "Azure Ambassadors" program is a part of an agreement concluded between Microsoft Arabia and Ministry of Education to fulfill market needs and drive digitization in Saudi Arabia through selecting top talented graduates to be cloud enabled and promote it in their respective environments to become the beacon of change and technological development. "Azure Ambassadors" program aims at attracting smart, talented young fresh graduates from different universities across the kingdom, investing in providing extensive training and onboarding them on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform and its breadth of services," said Thamer Al Harbi, President of Microsoft Arabia. These young minds will go through professional training and certifications and take this knowledge back to their home universities to train their peers and university staff on how to harness the power of the intelligent cloud and technologies such as Artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, blockchain and Mixed reality, empowering them to achieve more. Microsoft Azure is a comprehensive set of cloud services that can help solve business everyday business challenges to organizations by offering them the freedom to build, deploy, and manage applications on any framework of choice. Rayan Zahid, Chief Operating Officer and the "Azure Ambassadors" Program Sponsor, praised the interaction of 12 female students which comprised of 70% from the total pool participants Zahid said "as the market evolves, consequently jobs requirements will evolve, and youth will need to develop skills that match the Future Jobs. Through Azure Ambassadors Program, the participants will be equipped with necessary advanced technologies skills and become – efficiently – ready to contribute to Saudi Arabia's digitization ambitions. He added that, one of "Azure Ambassadors" most important goal is to empower youth and provide them with needed technological skills to contribute in achieving Saudi Vision 2030. Furthermore, Al Harbi said the job market is changing rapidly, and stakeholders should equip fresh male and female graduates with needed skills and knowledge to excel in their future and drive the kingdom's ambitious 2030 vision to realization harnessing the power of the cloud technologies. He stressed Microsoft's commitment to support in bridging the gap for young people to provide more economic opportunities for youth across Saudi Arabia. — SG
