OVI is an AI-native applicant tracking system (ATS) at ovi-me.com. You chat with AI agents Sora and Milo to source candidates, screen CVs, and run AI voice interviews in one workflow.

How do I sign in to OVI?

Sign in to OVI at https://ovi-me.com/auth with your work email or Google account. New teams can start a free trial from the homepage.

OVI AI refers to OVI's hiring agents — Milo for CV screening and Sora for sourcing — built into the AI-native ATS so recruiting teams chat to hire instead of clicking through traditional ATS screens.

OVI is the AI-native ATS where you chat to hire. Two AI agents — Sora for sourcing and Milo for screening — find candidates, score every CV, and run AI interviews, all controlled from a single chat.

What does "chat to hire" mean?

Chat to hire is OVI's AI-native hiring workflow: instead of clicking through a traditional ATS, you describe what you need in chat and OVI's AI agents source candidates, screen applicants, run AI interviews, and send outreach for you.

What is an AI-native ATS?

An AI-native ATS is an applicant tracking system built around AI agents rather than forms and pipelines. OVI's AI chat ATS lets recruiters source, screen, interview, and follow up through conversation — the agents do the work and surface only the candidates worth meeting.

Who are Sora and Milo?

Sora is OVI's AI sourcing agent — she scans LinkedIn, the open web, and your ATS history to find best-fit candidates and reach out in your name. Milo is OVI's AI screening agent — he scores every applicant against your rubric and surfaces a ranked shortlist.

How do OVI's AI interviews work?

OVI runs async AI interviews for every shortlisted candidate and returns scores, transcripts, and recordings — so your team only meets the people worth meeting.

Saudi Arabia's SAMAI 2: How 11 Government Ministries Are Deploying AI to Reskill 1.2 Million Public Sector Workers

By Chris Weinmann, Founder, OVI

Published 2026-08-09

Saudi Arabia is not waiting for AI skills to trickle into its workforce. With the SAMAI 2 initiative, announced on January 29, 2026 at the International Conference on Data and AI Capacity Building (ICAN 2026) at King Saud University in Riyadh, the Kingdom is deploying sector-specific AI training across 11 government ministries — targeting approximately 1.2 million public sector employees.

The initiative builds on SAMAI 1's achievement of certifying 1.1 million citizens in AI literacy in a single year, and it signals something HR leaders across the GCC cannot afford to ignore: a wave of AI-literate talent is entering the private labour market, and employers who fail to upgrade their screening, assessment, and onboarding tools will lose the hiring advantage.

What SAMAI 1 Already Achieved

Before examining SAMAI 2's scope, the foundation matters. The first phase of the Saudi Data and AI Authority's (SDAIA) national training programme produced results that dwarf most corporate AI upskilling efforts:

1.1 million Saudi citizens trained and awarded accredited AI certifications in 2025
52% female / 48% male participation — a gender balance few global AI training programmes have matched
70% employees / 30% students, meaning the majority of graduates are already in the workforce
11,000 advanced AI specialists produced, including machine learning engineers, data scientists, and NLP researchers

These numbers placed Saudi Arabia first globally in public sector AI adoption, with approximately two-thirds of government workers using AI tools daily. The Kingdom also ranks 14th globally in the 2025 Global AI Index and first in the Arab world for advanced AI model development according to Stanford indicators.

SAMAI 2: Sector-Specific AI Training Across 11 Ministries

Where SAMAI 1 delivered broad AI literacy, SAMAI 2 shifts to operational depth. Led by Minister of Education Yousef Al-Benyan and SDAIA President Dr Abdullah Alghamdi, the programme targets sector-specific AI applications across 11 government ministries:

Health — AI-assisted diagnostics, patient flow optimization, predictive staffing
Finance — Algorithmic risk assessment, automated compliance monitoring
Media — Content moderation, audience analytics, automated reporting
Justice — Case management automation, legal document analysis
Industry and Mineral Resources — Predictive maintenance, supply chain optimization
Transport and Logistics — Route optimization, demand forecasting, autonomous operations support
Education — Adaptive learning platforms, student performance prediction
Human Resources and Social Development — Workforce analytics, benefits administration automation
Municipalities and Housing — Smart city operations, permit processing automation
Sport — Athlete performance analytics, event operations optimization
Energy — Grid optimization, predictive asset management, carbon tracking

The critical distinction: SAMAI 2's goal is to embed AI into existing roles, not create new AI positions. Every ministry employee — from a healthcare administrator in Riyadh to a logistics coordinator in Jeddah — will receive training tailored to the AI applications relevant to their specific sector and function.

The Year of AI: Infrastructure Behind the Training

SAMAI 2 does not operate in a vacuum. Saudi Arabia's Council of Ministers officially designated 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's patronage, backed by substantial infrastructure investment:

$9.1 billion in AI sector funding secured through 70 deals in 2025, deployed across 664 AI and data companies
Hexagon data center inaugurated in early 2026 — operating at 480 megawatts capacity, it is the world's largest government-operated data center
Nine cloud regions currently operational from global hyperscalers, with four more under construction (including Microsoft Azure launching Q4 2026)
Data center capacity grew 42.4% between 2023 and 2024
HUMAIN launched as the Kingdom's dedicated AI infrastructure entity
National Data Lake integrating over 430 government systems
Shaheen III supercomputer deployed for advanced AI research

The target by 2030: 20,000 AI and data specialists, with the AI sector contributing 74 billion SAR (~$19.7 billion) to the national economy.

This infrastructure ensures that SAMAI 2 graduates do not receive theoretical training disconnected from production tools. They train on systems backed by hyperscale compute, integrated government data, and live operational platforms.

What This Means for GCC Private Sector Employers

The talent implications extend well beyond Saudi government agencies. When 1.2 million public sector workers gain sector-specific AI competencies, the ripple effects hit private sector hiring immediately:

The talent pool has changed. Candidates applying for roles across healthcare, finance, logistics, and energy increasingly arrive with formal AI certifications and practical experience using AI tools in their daily work. Employers still screening for traditional qualifications alone will miss — or misjudge — these candidates.

AI-agent management is becoming a baseline expectation. Across the border in the UAE, the KPMG 2026 Tech Report found that 97% of UAE organizations have already embedded AI agents into their workflows. More critically, 96% of UAE organizations agree that managing AI agents will become a critical workforce skill within five years. GCC employers who delay upgrading their screening tools to evaluate AI competency risk falling behind both their competitors and their candidates.

Sector-specific AI skills require sector-specific assessment. Generic technical assessments cannot distinguish between a finance professional who understands algorithmic risk modelling and one who completed a general AI awareness course. Employers need screening tools that evaluate applied AI competency within the context of specific roles and industries.

Implications for Hiring Infrastructure

For HR leaders operating in the GCC, SAMAI 2 creates three immediate priorities:

1. Upgrade Screening to Detect AI Literacy

Traditional CV keyword matching cannot assess whether a candidate genuinely understands AI applications in their sector or simply lists "AI" as a skill. HR teams need tools that evaluate competency from the substance of what candidates communicate — their understanding of domain-specific AI applications, their experience with AI-augmented workflows, and their ability to articulate how AI changed their work output.

2. Redesign Onboarding for AI-Ready Employees

When new hires arrive with formal AI training, onboarding programmes built around basic digital literacy waste time and signal that the employer lags behind. Onboarding should instead focus on how the organization's specific AI stack differs from government platforms, what governance and compliance frameworks apply, and where AI-augmented decision-making authority sits.

3. Recalibrate Job Architectures

SAMAI 2's explicit goal — embedding AI into existing roles rather than creating new AI positions — mirrors what private sector employers should be doing. Job descriptions, competency frameworks, and performance metrics across the GCC need updating to reflect AI as an integrated capability, not a separate function.

How OVI Fits the SAMAI 2 Talent Shift

As AI-literate candidates from SAMAI 2 enter the private job market, employers need screening tools that can assess genuine AI competency rather than surface-level keyword matches. OVI's Milo agent evaluates AI literacy and applied competency directly from CV content and candidate conversations — analysing what candidates actually know about AI applications in their sector, not just whether they list the right certifications. This content-based approach, with no biometric analysis and human-in-the-loop decision support, aligns with the compliance posture GCC employers need as AI hiring regulations evolve across the region.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is SAMAI 2 and when was it launched?

SAMAI 2 is the second phase of Saudi Arabia's national AI training initiative, led by SDAIA in partnership with the Ministry of Education. It was announced on January 29, 2026 at the ICAN 2026 conference at King Saud University in Riyadh. It targets approximately 1.2 million public sector employees across 11 government ministries with sector-specific AI training.

Which Saudi government ministries are included in SAMAI 2?

The 11 participating ministries are: Health, Finance, Media, Justice, Industry and Mineral Resources, Transport and Logistics, Education, Human Resources and Social Development, Municipalities and Housing, Sport, and Energy. Each ministry receives training tailored to sector-specific AI applications.

How does SAMAI 2 differ from SAMAI 1?

SAMAI 1 (2025) focused on broad AI literacy, training 1.1 million Saudi citizens with accredited certifications. SAMAI 2 shifts to operational depth — embedding AI into existing government roles through sector-specific training rather than general awareness programmes.

Why should GCC private sector employers care about SAMAI 2?

SAMAI 2 graduates will enter the private job market with formal AI certifications and practical sector-specific AI experience. Combined with UAE data showing 97% of organizations have embedded AI agents, GCC employers who cannot screen for and assess AI competency risk losing the best AI-literate candidates to competitors who can.

What infrastructure supports Saudi Arabia's AI training push?

The Kingdom has invested $9.1 billion through 70 AI deals, inaugurated the 480MW Hexagon data center (the world's largest government data center), launched the HUMAIN AI infrastructure entity, deployed the Shaheen III supercomputer, and operates nine cloud regions with four more under construction.