KUWAIT: Zain Kuwait’s ‘Women in Tech’ initiative proved to be a resounding success in 2025, as the company continued to open new pathways for women into digital and technology roles by developing talent, reskilling career pathways, strengthening readiness for the digital job market, and creating real opportunities for employment, professional growth and entrepreneurship in the ICT sector. The initiative is a key part of Zain’s Group-wide corporate sustainability and IDE strategy, which prioritizes investment in human capital, support for diversity and inclusion, and the development of national capabilities.
It primarily aims to understand and create market opportunities for women in technology and digital domains, helping them reskill and realign their skills and career paths to match the industry’s needs. Through the initiative, Zain focused on delivering specialized training and awareness programs targeting female students, graduates, and early-career professionals, through content that combined technical skills with career-enabling competencies and practical exposure to bridge academic knowledge with digital market needs.
The programs were delivered by experts and specialists, including Zain employees from various technical and business functions who shared their experience through one-to-one guidance and mentoring sessions. Throughout 2025, ‘Women in Tech’ recorded strong engagement across multiple academic stops, achieving results that reflected both high participation and meaningful impact. The initiative attracted more than 550 participants across its tracks, sessions, workshops, and activities, supporting women across a wide range of digital specializations.
The initiative is aimed at understanding and creating market opportunities for women in tech and digital domains.
The program delivered tangible outcomes in career development and entrepreneurship.
In addition, 25 participants graduated from the Cyber-She program with a 100% completion rate, delivering direct career outcomes including employment opportunities, professional development, and career transitions into technical roles. To translate skills into real market opportunities, the Cyber-She hackathon saw 9 teams participate and supported entrepreneurial pathways and technical solutions with a direct impact on 16 female students.
The program also resulted in the employment of two graduates, the promotion of one participating employee within her organization, and the successful transition of four participants from traditional business roles into technical tracks. Graduates also earned internationally recognized cybersecurity certifications. As part of its focus on creating career opportunities beyond training, Zain organized the ‘Women in Tech’ hackathon, which saw notable participation from dozens of female students from universities and colleges across Kuwait.
The hackathon outcomes generated direct entrepreneurship and solution-development impact. A direct impact on 16 students was recorded through hackathon teams and post-program pathways, including the launch of a startup supported by Kuwait University and its incubator, the advancement of an AI solution toward commercialization, and the launch of tech startups by students at Gulf University for Science and Technology. Zain also ensured that ‘Women in Tech’ remained an inclusive platform. This year, it welcomed six female students with special needs, whose requirements spanned various health and learning considerations.
A supportive and individualized approach was provided through adapted learning and follow-up methods and a more flexible training environment, enabling participants to fully benefit from the content and build their skills with confidence, in line with the initiative’s goal of reskilling career paths and opening digital market opportunities for women. One of the key drivers of the initiative’s success was the ecosystem of academic and specialized partnerships that Zain built with eight local and international academic entities to ensure content quality, expand reach and align training tracks with market needs.
Partners included Kuwait University, Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST), Kuwait College of Science and Technology (KCST), Algonquin College Kuwait, Box Hill College Kuwait, and Canadian College of Kuwait (CCK), in addition to specialized supporting entities such as the Women in Cybersecurity Middle East (WiCSME), EC-Council, and London School of Cybersecurity. Zain will continue to develop the ‘Women in Tech’ initiative as a sustainable platform for empowering female talent, accelerating digital culture, supporting the innovation ecosystem, and equipping the market with capabilities that contribute to Kuwait’s digital transformation journey.
