Saudi Hospital's Nursing AI Hackathon Shortlists 21 Projects From 75 Entries

The event invited nurses to use artificial intelligence and other digital technologies to address everyday problems in patient care and in the workplace, with the stated aims of improving patient safety, quality of care and the sustainability of the nursing workforce.

Nurses and other healthcare practitioners worked alongside technology and AI specialists to build prototypes, guided by clinical and technical mentors. Participants had access to prototyping labs and 3D printing facilities. Sessions were held in person in Riyadh, with an online option for those taking part from elsewhere.

Judging and Next Steps

KFSHRC organised the hackathon in partnership with the Center of Digital Entrepreneurship. The shortlisted projects will be judged on November 10 on their potential impact, innovation, feasibility and scalability.

Winning teams will be offered incubation and further development support intended to move their projects towards testing and implementation in healthcare settings, according to the report. The hospital has not said how many winners will be chosen or what funding, if any, will accompany the incubation.

Why It Matters

The hackathon puts frontline clinical staff, not only technology teams, at the start of AI product design, an approach hospitals increasingly use to find problems that tools can realistically solve. KFSHRC described the event as part of its wider work to advance innovation in nursing and to help healthcare professionals develop solutions to workplace challenges that improve the patient experience and service quality.

The event comes as Saudi Arabia marks 2026 as its Year of Artificial Intelligence, with health care among the sectors where government bodies are encouraging adoption. Whether any of the 21 prototypes reach wards will depend on the incubation stage that follows the November 10 judging.