Human Capability Initiative - Remarks by Nabeel Al-Jama’

‘Investing today to power tomorrow’

Your Royal Highness, your excellencies, distinguished guests: as-salaam alaykum and good afternoon.

I would like to begin with a word of appreciation, to His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, for his patronage and his vision in hosting such a significant conference.

I am gratified to see so many attendees from across the Kingdom, while many others have travelled much farther to be with us today.

I thank each of you for enriching our gathering with your presence.
Ladies and gentlemen, leaders often think about their organizations’ most crucial success factors.

Some point to buildings, infrastructure, and natural resources.

But I believe the true heartbeat of any company is its people.

The concept of human capability celebrates the skills and abilities needed for an organization to innovate and adapt to changing market conditions.

So, in my view, focusing on human potential and investing in its development makes sense for any organization, large or small.

Robust training strategies and comprehensive programs are essential for strong, sustained and balanced growth.

That’s why the Kingdom’s Human Capability Development Program is centered on empowering citizens and raising their global competitiveness.

At the same time, we are witnessing disruptive developments in digitalization, AI and other Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.

Intelligent systems are already displacing some employees.

This is leading to bold forecasts about the future of our people—to the point where some observers ask whether future conferences like this might just be robots talking to robots!

I think that greatly underestimates the power of our people.

People and AI bring different strengths to the table.

In fact, in a recent IBM survey, some 90 percent of business executives believe AI is more likely to augment employees than to replace them.

So building new capabilities for our people is the top talent issue.

Preparing young men and women for careers where the scale, scope, and pace of change will exceed anything our generation has witnessed.

Indeed, that is one of the key challenges of training and education: preparing today for what will be an uncertain, unsettled, and difficult-to-predict tomorrow.

I would argue that if we prepare the workforce of the future based simply on the needs of the present, our chances for long-term success are slim.

Rather, we must invest in human capability as a whole, equipping our young men and women with the skills and confidence to tackle any challenge or opportunity head-on — even if we don’t know their exact nature today.

That’s why the Kingdom’s strategy to train and develop its workforce in future technologies is so vital.

As a Vision Partner of the Human Capability Development Program, Aramco is committed to playing its part in powering a new era of growth in Saudi Arabia.

We are working with our partners to develop skills, transfer knowledge, and target training across the Kingdom, to build a globally competitive workforce.

To that end, we run sixteen National Training Centers across the country, educating and empowering our people, with a particular focus on young women.

The Centers cover more than 60 different trades, from aviation and construction to hospitality and IT.

Some 57,000 graduates have now walked out of their doors and into the jobs market.

By 2030 our aspiration is to see that rise to 100,000 graduates.

Within Aramco, our achievements have been driven by our people; that will be true in the years to come as well.

So we offer them a journey of lifetime learning, regardless of their career path, professional discipline, or area of the business.

From shop floor to trading floor, from well to cloud, technology will alter every part of our working environment.

Aramco will not just keep pace with these changes, but we will help shape them too.

Our approach in this area has two parts.

First, digital reskilling for those who need to move into a new area of the business should technology impact their existing role.

And second, digital upskilling for those who can complete their current roles more effectively with new technology.

A great example is safety.

Until recently, our safety inspectors conducted in-person inspections, exposing them to a certain degree of risk.

Now, digital upskilling is retraining these inspectors as drone pilots, reducing risk while improving inspection reach and reliability.

Sometimes our talent development efforts begin even before employment.

Our highly selective scholarship program has partnerships with 150 top-tier universities throughout the Kingdom and around the world.

Last year 87 percent of these students attended global top 30 schools.

And speaking of global competition, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will take place in Jiddah in about ten days’ time.

Aramco is the title sponsor for the F1 in Schools initiative, enhancing the study of STEM subjects in schools.

Last year, a Saudi team consisting of four girls and two boys joined hundreds of students from around the world at the F1 in Schools final in Singapore, winning the Innovative Thinking Award.

They made us all very proud.

I hope to see some of those students at the Jiddah Grand Prix in the coming years, and a Saudi-designed and engineered F1 car on the track in due course!

Ladies and Gentlemen, companies or institutions cannot drive success on their own.

That’s why it’s exciting to see a philosophy of partnership and sustained focus on people-power spreading like a tidal wave throughout the Kingdom.

Because only by embracing cooperation and collaboration can we realize the full potential of our people, and indeed the full potential of our beloved nation.

Thank you for your attention, and I wish you an enjoyable and productive conference.

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