New Pearson and AWS Research: 88% of Saudi Higher Education Leaders Say AI Investment Is Improving AI-Readiness for Graduates

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – June 18, 2026:  Pearson (FTSE: PSON.L), the world’s lifelong learning company, and Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company (NASDAQ: AMZN), today announced the launch of new research revealing the knowledge gaps that must be addressed to help graduates build stronger AI readiness to prepare for an AI-enabled future.

In Saudi Arabia, the findings show strong alignment between higher education and workforce needs, with a clear opportunity to turn AI access into workplace capability that supports Vision 2030.

The Data
The report, AI Readiness: Building the Bridge from Higher Education to Work, draws on more than 2,700 survey responses from learners, higher education leaders, and employers across six countries, including Saudi Arabia, the U.S., the U.K., Brazil, Vietnam and Malaysia, and is supplemented by in-depth interviews with higher education leaders.

The KSA findings offer a unique view across the learning-to-work journey, with the Kingdom showing strong alignment between institutional investment, learner confidence, and employer satisfaction with graduates.

• 88% of higher education leaders describe AI investment at their institution as significant or moderate.
• Approximately 90% of Saudi employers say graduate workplace readiness is much or somewhat better than it was five years ago, substantially above the cross-market average of 60%.
• 43% of Saudi learners rate themselves as highly ready for an AI-enabled workforce.
• 94% of Saudi higher education leaders report regular interaction with employers, a strong foundation for aligning learning with workforce needs.
• The clearest opportunity is in applied experience: while Saudi learners report strong access to AI tools and instruction, one in three wants more hands-on, workplace-relevant practice to turn access into skills capability. 

This data comes at a moment when artificial intelligence is reshaping entry-level roles, skill durability is declining, and workforce readiness is at risk worldwide. While AI adoption is accelerating across industries, the research shows that AI readiness is breaking down at the point of execution, where learning must translate into applied workplace capability, rather than from a lack of ambition or access.

“Saudi Arabia has created strong momentum for AI readiness by placing skills, education and workforce alignment at the centre of its national agenda. With AI talent development now a clear priority and large-scale capability-building already underway, the opportunity is to translate this ambition into practical, workplace-ready graduate skills. Pearson and AWS are working together to bridge the gap between higher education and employers, supporting institutions with learning, assessment, and credentials that prepare Saudi talent for an AI-enabled economy.” said Tony Lteif, Global Revenue Officer, English Language Learning and Saudi Country Ambassador for Pearson.

“This AI readiness research with Pearson reveals that our primary opportunity is to help translate AI tool engagement into real workplace capability. AWS is committed to working alongside our education partners to ensure every learner develops AI literacy, in addition to the judgment, adaptability, and hands-on experience employers need,” said Kim Majerus, Vice President of Global Education and U.S. State & Local Government at Amazon Web Services.

The Solution
AI readiness does not emerge by accident. It depends on structured, shared systems that connect curriculum to real work. Readiness is built where learning and work connect.

The KSA findings show strong foundations, with the next focus on applied learning, responsible AI trust, and the strategic and human skills employers continue to value.

To help leaders across education and enterprise move from diagnosis to action, the report introduces the AI Readiness Friction Framework, a practical tool that identifies six compounding frictions that slow progress across the education-to-work pathway. The report also provides concrete actions to remediate each friction point.

• Pace Friction: The widening gap between the speed of AI-driven workplace change and the slower cadence of curriculum and institutional decision-making.
• Connection Friction: Weak feedback loops between education and employers, reducing alignment between workforce needs and learning design.
• Capability Friction: Uneven faculty and instructor AI capability, limiting consistent integration of AI into learning experiences.
• Governance Friction: The absence of clear, practical guidance translating AI access into responsible, governed practice, resulting in shadow AI use that carries risk into the workplace.
• Experience Friction: A disconnect between access to AI tools and structured opportunities to practice, apply, and demonstrate real-world capability.
• Skills Friction: Misalignment between the capabilities graduates demonstrate and the applied judgment, adaptability, and collaboration employers require in AI-enabled roles.

By combining Pearson’s expertise in education systems, assessment, learning science, credentialing, and workforce skills with AWS’s deep insight into how AI is built, deployed, and governed in modern organizations, the report offers a shared framework to help institutions and employers align around a common definition of AI readiness and a clearer path forward.

The KSA findings show that continued collaboration between higher education and employers can help translate national AI ambition into workplace-ready capability.