MenaML Winter School 2026

24-29 January | KAUST, Saudi Arabia

Welcome!

The Middle East and North Africa Machine Learning (MenaML) Winter School is back to empower the next generation of AI leaders. Following the success of our 2025 program, the second edition will be hosted in partnership with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Immerse yourself in an intensive program led by world-class AI experts from leading institutions such as Google DeepMind, Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), KAUST, and InstaDeep. The Winter School offers a dynamic mix of inspiring keynotes, in-depth lectures, and hands-on coding labs designed to keep you at the forefront of machine learning. All materials and code will be accessible to participants and later published on our website, ensuring that knowledge is shared with the wider community

All content from the Winter School will be published on our official YouTube channel. You can also explore last year’s edition through our YouTube Playlist, 2025 programme including slides and recordings, and access the labs on our GitHub page.

The MenaML Winter School 2026 is designed for students and professionals with a background in machine learning. We welcome applications from around the globe, with a special focus on candidates from the MENA region.

Ideal participants should have a strong technical background and some experience in machine learning.

Why attend?

World-Class Learning

Engage with state-of-the-art content delivered by leading local and international AI experts from QCRI, Google, and others.

Hands-On Experience

Participate in laboratories that provide practical experience with the latest machine learning tools and techniques.

Networking Opportunities

Build valuable connections through social and cultural activities, poster sessions, and interactive coffee breaks.

Cutting-Edge Research

Gain insights into groundbreaking AI research via presentations and discussions led by innovators at the forefront of AI.

Top talent recruitment

Join an event committed to creating recruiting opportunities for top talent where current recruiting pipelines are scarce

Collaborative Environment

Foster dialogue and collaboration between academia and industry to shape the future of AI in the MENA and beyond.

Who attended our 2025 edition?

140+ Attendees | 50% Gender Parity

Coming from diverse backgrounds industry, university, and academia.

18 MENA Countries

The attendees came from all around the world, we had 23 countries, 18 of which are from the MENA region!

29 speakers

Coming from top leading labs: Google DeepMind, QCRI, and InstaDeep.