What is leading from the front & Objectives?
"Leading from the Front" program, launched in January 2025, is more than an initiative, it is a movement empowering our entire community to shape and be part of KSU's future. We believe that you our students, faculty, and staff have the most valuable insights for improvement. We are committed to transparency and action. Your feedback will directly influence improvement across our campus, culture, curriculum, research support, and facilities. As we continue this journey together, we invite you to engage, contribute, and lead. Because at KSU, transformation isn't just top-down it's led from the front, by all of us.
Leading from the front phases:
phase 1
✓ Program launch .
✓ Listening across Academia & RDI .
✓ Enlisting frontliners .
✓ KSU transformation Hackathon .
Phase 2
✓ Listening across KSU Medical City .
✓ Delivery of pilot improvement projects for Academia & RDI .
Phase 3
✓ Scaled up delivery for Academia & RDI .
✓ Preparation for launching pilot improvement projects for Medical City.
Through the Leading from the Front program, we have witnessed extraordinary engagement across all levels of our University. Your active participation across Academia and RDI has yielded over 267,000 data points, providing invaluable insights into our strengths but also areas for improvement.
Your direct feedback highlighted five key areas where we can improve your experience at KSU:
- Campus Environment:
Upgrading facilities, learning spaces, and student amenities.
- Culture and Community:
Fostering inclusive engagement, diversity, and alignment with institutional goals.
- Academic Experience:
Enhancing curriculum relevance, teaching methods, and student employability.
- Research Excellence:
Strengthening research support, facilities, and collaborative opportunities.
- Staff Development and Management:
Improving career progression, workload balance, and compensation structures.
Frontliners are dedicated KSU faculty and staff members who were selected through a competitive process to lead priority projects that drive tangible improvements across the university. They play a key role in implementing change initiatives and shaping KSU’s transformation journey.
Phase 1 Frontliners
Our Phase 1 frontliners were chosen through a highly competitive selection process, with over 1,200 applicants. From this exceptional pool, 16 distinguished faculty and staff members were shortlisted to lead the priority pilot projects - delivering meaningful and lasting improvements across KSU.
Frontliner enlistment process
Empowering KSU changemakers to lead from within The Transformation Ambassadors Acceleration Program (TAAP) is designed to activate and support a network of passionate individuals across King Saud University who serve as catalysts for positive change.
Spotlight: KSU’s largest hackathon
During April, over 900 participants came together to compete over 3 days in the KSU Transformation Hackathon. Teams co-created solutions across three key tracks: Academic Experience, Campus Life, and University Operations—fostering collaboration and innovation to support KSU’s strategic transformation. For the first time, over 900 faculty members, administrative staff, students, and alumni all joined forces — not just as participants, but as co-creators of KSU’s future.
Review in numbers
- 20 external sponsors supported the initiative.
- winning teams awarded a total of 450,000 SAR .
participants competed across three-days
ideas across 3 transformation tracks
hours of ideation and solution building
The winning teams
Academic experience
LexAI: An AI-powered platform that enhances moot court experiences by analyzing student performance and providing detailed feedback to improve practical legal skills.
Campus life
An integrated system for innovation and entrepreneurship: An electronic platform that protects and commercializes intellectual property while managing stakeholder challenges and attracting contributors to innovative ideas across technical fields
