MenaML 2025 / Sponsored by Google DeepMind and QCRI

I had an amazing time at MenaML’25, the MENA Machine Learning Winter School sponsored by Google DeepMind and QCRI, so I wanted to share some experiences and (a lot of!) photos so you might also think about applying to MenaML. Being in the same venue with amazing DeepMind engineers for a week was incredible, I asked many questions and had great lunches with rich discussions.

I also had the chance to meet amazing people from all around the region. It really expanded my horizon, I learned so much about their countries, cultures, and especially their research. We also had a great time traveling a bit together.

It was truly an unforgettable experience. Since I benefited so much, I’m sharing this blog to motivate you to apply, and I really suggest you consider MenaML’26!

Before I start, let me share information about MenaML’26!

Here’s some information about MenaML 2026 if you need it: mena.ml; linkedin.com/company/mena-ml

Application Deadline: 18 September 2025

Programme Dates: 24 - 30 January 2026

Location: King Abdullah University of Science & Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia

Details and the application form here: apply.mena.ml

The programme offers a unique chance for graduate students, researchers, and engineers to learn directly from global leaders. There will be tutorials, workshops, and inspiring panel talks covering key topics like:

LLM Training & Inference at Scale
AI for Sciences, Healthcare, Agriculture & Chip Design
AI in Social Sciences & Urban Planning
Ethical AI & Responsible Innovation

I will share in detail, but if you want to see the highlights from last year’s event, check here: 2025.mena.ml

Let’s start →

Day 0: The Journey Begins

I flew from Ankara to Doha with excitement. I was selected as a fully funded participant for MenaML. This conference was organized by Google DeepMind and QCRI. I would meet talented people from 37 countries.

Flying to Doha for MenaML 2025

Day 1: Opening & Keynote

The conference started with welcome talks. Maria Abi Raad and Sami Alabed from the MenaML team opened the event. Dr. Ahmed Elmagarmid from QCRI shared his vision for AI in our region.

Opening: YouTube - MenaML Opening

Opening Ceremony at MenaML 2025

Welcome Talk by MenaML Organizers

Sami Alabed Explaining Vision of MenaML

Then came the highlight. Shakir Mohamed gave the keynote speech. He’s the Director of Science at Google DeepMind. TIME magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in AI. I had the chance to speak with him over lunch. Hearing about his journey and leadership in Deep Learning Indaba, an initiative spanning Africa, was truly inspiring.

Shakir Mohamed’s Talk: YouTube - Shakir Mohamed Keynote

Shakir Mohamed's Inspiring Keynote

Other Similar Organizations World Wide

Five Days of Learning

Sunday, February 9: We started with deep learning basics. Sahra Ghalebikesabi taught us the fundamentals. Ehsaneddin Asgari explained transformer architecture. In the afternoon, we had hands-on practice with LLMs. Ibrahim Alabdulmohsin and Mehdi Bennani (he was my poster’s judge :D) guided us through the exercises.

Introduction: YouTube - Deep Learning Basics
Transformers: YouTube - Transformer Architecture

Monday, February 10: Mohamed Eltabakh spoke about Arabic LLMs. Mohammad Raza taught us about LLM reasoning. Pranali Yawalkar led a practical session on training LLMs efficiently. We also had a career panel with regional AI leaders. The panelists included professors from HBKU and Carnegie Mellon, plus CEOs from QeenAI and PhazeRo.

Arabic LLMs: YouTube - Arabic Language Models
Reasoning Models: YouTube - LLM Reasoning

Tuesday, February 11: We learned about generative AI and diffusion models. Safa Messaoud and Andrew El-Kadi were our teachers. Andrew showed us how to use diffusion models for weather forecasting. Amin Sadeghi taught multi-modality. Badih Ghazi explained privacy issues in generative AI. I presented my poster on LLM agents. DeepMind engineers gave me valuable feedback.

Diffusion Models: YouTube - Diffusion Models
GenAI and Diffusion (GenCast is really interesting work): YouTube - GenCast
Multimodality: YouTube - Multimodal AI

Wednesday, February 12: This day focused on reinforcement learning. Sanjay Chawla introduced the basics. Mina Khan explained deep RL. Yasin Abbasi Yadkori taught us RLHF through hands-on practice. Chris Brown presented AI for Sustainability. We had another poster session in the afternoon.

Reinforcement Learning: YouTube - RL Basics
RLHF for LLMs: YouTube - RLHF

Thursday, February 13: The last day showed AI’s real-world applications. Experts presented AI in education, health, algorithms, biology, and genomics. Each talk showed how AI can change these fields.

AI For Education: YouTube - AI in Education
AI For Biology: YouTube - AI in Biology
AI For Genomics: YouTube - AI in Genomics
AI For Health: YouTube - AI in Healthcare

Photo Gallery

My Photo while asking a question :D

With Scale AI Team

Socializing with people on lunch (actually this is the Turkish table mainly 😅)

Networking with AI Researchers from 37 Countries #1

Networking with AI Researchers from 37 Countries #2

Food was good! :D

with Bugra Akyıldız from Meta

Showing our project to Avishkar Bhoopchand, Author of Google's LearnLM Paper

Avishkar Bhoopchand, one of the authors of Google's LearnLM Paper

Poster session

Explaining a project

An amazing photo with organizer Maria and Sami from DeepMind

MenaML'25 Group Photo

Beyond the Conference

Little note, the following events aren’t organized by the MenaML, we arranged them ourselves as participants. Amazing people, amazing time!

Qatar Skyline

Safari

Learned how to sat a camel :D

International safari

Travelling Doha, fish on the sky :D

Another Doha photo

Camel ride

ATV on the desert (it was fun, a lot)

Macklemore Concert and Match For Hope in Doha (Can't Hold Us is one of my favorites)

Dubai Visit

I even arranged my return through Dubai and visited some places (including at the top of the Burj Dubai tower)

Dubai Skyline

View from the Top of Burj Khalifa

I forgot add, we worked in the evening for an amazing challenge by QCRI and we managed to get on stage with our work together with Ahmet Arda Ceylan (Bilkent), Hamza (Innapolis), and Usama (Cambridge)