Riyadh, May 2025 — As part of the ongoing global AI Sprint Initiative, UNDP Saudi Arabia hosted a knowledge session for all staff led by Gavin Erasmus, Digital Lead, exploring the transformative landscape of intelligent process automation and agentic AI.

Building on the momentum initiated by Sammy Faisal’s session on Microsoft Copilot, the week before, Gavin’s session expanded the conversation beyond tools into vision. Colleagues were introduced to the history and evolution of artificial intelligence, with a deep dive into the current wave of generative AI models, autonomous agents, and robotics.

The session offered more than just technical insight. It sparked reflection on the pace of change and the profound ways in which AI is already reshaping our daily lives. Understanding the strengths and appropriate use cases for different AI models proved particularly valuable in helping the team make more informed and strategic decisions in their work.

One of the most engaging moments came during Gavin’s demonstration of agentic AI. The hands-on walkthrough led to an energetic exchange of ideas and use cases, as colleagues envisioned how autonomous agents could be deployed across development programming — from service delivery to knowledge management.

Gavin also introduced the team to cutting-edge developments in AI for robotics, including how companies like NVIDIA are building virtual training environments to accelerate learning and deployment. This opened an entirely new avenue of thought: how can we harness robotics and simulation environments to address challenges at the intersection of human development, peacebuilding, and innovation?

The session left colleagues not only better informed, but newly energized. It reminded everyone that the AI revolution is not something to prepare for in the future — it is already underway, and those who understand its architecture will shape its impact.

Next in the AI Sprint Initiative is a session by Ammaar Hamadien, which will tackle the ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence in development contexts — rounding out the initiative’s focus on capability, strategy, and responsibility.