AI Partnership & Exchange for Tech Leaders (APEX)

The U.S. Department of State Embassy Riyadh is soliciting applications for a cooperative agreement to operate the AI Partnership & Exchange for Tech Leaders (APEX) program, with an application deadline of September 8, 2026, at 11:59 PM Arabia Standard Time. One award of approximately $250,000 is anticipated; this is a single-award opportunity.

Eligible applicants include not-for-profit organizations, think tanks, NGOs, educational institutions, and governmental bodies. For-profit entities cannot receive prime awards or subawards and may participate only as competitively procured vendors providing commercial services. Foreign non-profit prime recipients may deliver U.S. exchange components through U.S. subrecipients while retaining overall administrative responsibility. Individuals are prohibited from serving as prime recipients or receiving subawards; they may participate only as key personnel or contractors. Non-profit subawards are permitted; for-profit subawards are prohibited.

The program targets Saudi nationals aged 20 to 30 who are undergraduate, graduate, or post-doctoral students, or recent graduates studying or working in AI-related fields such as data science, robotics, or machine learning. Participants must speak fluent English and demonstrate strong leadership potential. Applicants must provide three separate budget scenarios for 12, 16 (primary), and 20 participants while maintaining program quality and cost-effectiveness across scales.

Performance runs from October 1, 2026, through September 1, 2028 (12 to 24 months). The program comprises three mandatory phases: Phase 1 (Preparation, virtual and in-person, around April 1, 2027) includes online application portal, recruiting campaign, virtual hackathon, and leadership training; Phase 2 (U.S. Exchange, two weeks, July 2027) involves travel to two to three U.S. cities with tech sector prominence, visits to companies, universities, and AI summits, plus three months of bi-weekly virtual mentoring; Phase 3 (Follow-On Summit, Saudi Arabia, around January 2028) showcases participants' capstone AI projects. Proposals must demonstrate meaningful engagement of participants from across all 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia at each project phase, though one selected participant per province is not mandated.

Evaluation criteria are weighted as follows: program quality and feasibility (25 points), Saudi partnership strategy (20 points), budget and cost-effectiveness (15 points), organizational capacity (15 points), program planning and innovation (15 points), and monitoring/evaluation/sustainability plan (10 points). The program is funded under CFDA 19.040 (Public Diplomacy Programs, FY26 Smith-Mundt Public Diplomacy Funds). Key restrictions prohibit for-profit sub-awards, capital IT expenditures, inherently religious activities, venture capital funding, construction, and political lobbying. The U.S. Embassy maintains substantial involvement in participant selection, curriculum approval, Saudi institutional facilitation, and media oversight.