EY Academy Launches AI Project Delivery Accelerator in GCC

Dubai, UAE – 9 April 2026: EY Academy  has announced the launch of the AI-enabled Future-Ready Project Delivery Accelerator,  a flagship applied learning journey designed to strengthen project delivery capability across GCC organisations and equip project leaders to manage complex, high-stakes transformation initiatives.

Fazeela Gopalani, EY MENA Academy Leader

Developed in response to growing regional demand, the accelerator combines structured capability building with real-initiative application, coaching, and measurable performance uplift. The programme is already being delivered to clients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), demonstrating immediate market relevance.

Fazeela Gopalani, EY MENA Academy Leader, says:

“Across the GCC, organisations are delivering transformation initiatives at unprecedented scale and complexity. Future-ready project leaders must go beyond traditional delivery methods. They need strategic judgement, digital fluency and the ability to harness emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) responsibly while navigating complex stakeholder environments. This accelerator is designed to build those capabilities while supporting national transformation priorities.”

Organisations across the region, particularly in KSA, are managing increasingly complex portfolios aligned with national transformation agendas. This evolving delivery environment is characterised by:

• Accelerated and highly visible timelines
• Multi-layered stakeholder ecosystems
• Vendor-heavy implementation models and dependency risks
• Executive demand for predictable delivery and transparent reporting
• A widening gap between strategic ambition and implementation capability

Traditional project management approaches often struggle to match this scale and complexity. The Future-Ready Project Delivery Accelerator addresses this gap through practical, experience-driven learning focused on real organisational challenges.

A core component of the programme is future-ready delivery capability, preparing participants to operate effectively in an evolving delivery landscape shaped by automation, data-driven decision-making, and AI-enabled productivity.

The programme contributes directly to Saudi Vision 2030 and wider regional transformation goals by strengthening national delivery capability and supporting workforce development.

It helps organisations:

• Build capability to carry out giga-projects and transformation programmes
• Strengthen governance, transparency, and operational discipline
• Support talent localisation by equipping national project leaders with globally benchmarked delivery skills
• Improve productivity, accountability, and performance in strategic initiatives
• Prepare teams to operate in AI-enabled and digitally integrated delivery environments

Participants develop operational leadership, stakeholder management expertise, and executive-ready reporting capabilities. A final applied project linked to live organisational initiatives ensures immediate application and impact.

Across the programme, learning is applied directly to real initiatives from the client portfolio through facilitated clinics and structured feedback sessions. This “applied-by-design” model ensures participants strengthen day-to-day delivery practice rather than learning theory alone.

Organisations benefit from improved delivery predictability, stronger governance and decision-making discipline, enhanced reporting quality and observable capability uplift measured through pre- and post-programme assessments.

The accelerator also introduces AI role-play and practice labs, where participants experiment with real delivery conversations, reporting scenarios and decision-making situations using AI-enabled tools. In these guided practice environments, participants receive structured feedback to refine their approach while operating within appropriate governance guardrails.

Participants build readiness to adopt modern delivery practices responsibly by learning how to:

• Use AI selectively to enhance productivity in planning, reporting, and risk sensing
• Apply governance guardrails including data sensitivity protocols, approvals, and human-in-the-loop oversight
• Improve team effectiveness through practical digital ways of working
• Strengthen decision-making through data-informed delivery practices

Through practical use cases, participants learn how AI can support common delivery activities such as structuring work breakdowns, identifying project dependencies, improving schedule logic, converting raw project updates into clear executive reporting, and strengthening early risk detection in complex programmes.

The emphasis throughout the programme is on responsible adoption, ensuring AI enhances delivery effectiveness while maintaining governance, transparency and organisational data requirements.

Leveraging EY’s regional experience supporting large-scale transformation initiatives, the programme positions EY Academy as a trusted partner in developing delivery capability for long-term economic sustainability and in preparing project leaders for the next generation of digitally enabled programme delivery.

-ENDS-