How GEMS Education is putting AI skills within reach of every student and teacher with DataCamp

The goal: AI skills within reach of every student

GEMS Education is one of the oldest and largest kindergarten to Grade 12 private education providers in the world. With more than 65 years of experience in education, GEMS’ longstanding mission has been to provide quality education to learners from diverse backgrounds and prepare students for the world they will enter.

That mission now has an AI dimension. The UAE has become one of the fastest-growing AI talent markets anywhere, ahead of the US, UK, Germany, and France. AI-related job postings in the country more than tripled between 2021 and 2025, rising from 1.0% to 3.2% of all listings, according to PwC's 2026 AI Jobs Barometer.

Young people leaving schools over the next decade will enter a workforce where AI shapes almost every role, with 89% of educators saying AI fluency will be essential to their students’ future careers. For GEMS, preparing students for that future means going beyond access to AI tools to building the knowledge, skills, and judgment to understand, question, and use AI responsibly and effectively.

GEMS wanted every student to develop practical AI skills, whatever their chosen pathway, not only those who choose computer science. It also wanted every teacher to have the confidence and capability to use AI in their own teaching. 

AI is already an important part of GEMS’ wider education and transformation agenda. The group is building an AI-enabled education ecosystem that brings together student AI literacy, teacher capability, AI-enabled learning and research, responsible AI governance, and partnerships with leading technology organizations. This includes the Global Education AI Hub and GEMS School of Research and Innovation, alongside collaborations with organizations including Microsoft, OpenAI, and other technology partners. Extending this further through hands-on experiences into the classroom was the natural next step.

The solution: from a specialist team to every classroom

GEMS first began to work with DataCamp from within its global data, AI, and analytics function, where Hywel Benbow, Senior Vice President of Global Data, AI, and Analytics, used the platform to build specialist capability.

That work has now expanded into a group-wide partnership, making DataCamp available to 60,000+ students and 10,000+ educators across the GEMS network.

Learning by doing

DataCamp is hands-on and interactive, rather than video-based. A student learning to prompt with Microsoft Copilot works inside Copilot in the browser, with no license or download required.

The same holds across the catalog, from AI and data literacy courses for students with no technical background to Python, SQL, and the cloud tools used in industry.

A route to industry certifications

Students can work toward certifications, including credentials from Microsoft, AWS, and GitHub. For those heading into engineering, computer science, or analytics, that means starting higher education or their careers already familiar with the tools in highest demand today, and with clear evidence of their skills.

Upskilling teachers in AI

GEMS teachers get full access to the DataCamp platform. Confidence with AI tools is what makes the difference between a technology sitting in a school and a technology being used in it, so the same courses and certifications are open to staff across the network.

Part of DataCamp's wider commitment to classrooms

The partnership runs through DataCamp Classrooms, a free program giving eligible teachers and students full access to the platform, with virtual classrooms, assignments, and progress tracking. In 2026 DataCamp pledged to provide free AI upskilling to 1 million teachers and students worldwide. The GEMS partnership is among the largest single commitments under that pledge, and DataCamp's first of its kind in the UAE.

Looking ahead

The partnership gives GEMS students practical AI and data capability before they leave school, and gives teachers the tools to bring that learning into their own classrooms.

The first cohorts start this academic year. From there, GEMS plans to widen access across its network and work AI learning into the subjects students already take, so that using these tools becomes part of an ordinary school day rather than a separate program. For a group that has spent six decades advocating that a good education has to stay relevant to the world students are entering, it is a longstanding principle, applied to a new set of skills.