Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Ten youth teams came together at the EmpowerME Hackathon to design AI-driven solutions for Saudi Arabia’s most pressing sustainability challenges. Hosted at the University of Jeddah and aligned with Vision 2030 and the Saudi Green Initiative, the competition highlighted practical ideas that can rapidly move from prototype to pilot in retail operations and communities.
Winning Ideas
- 1st Place – Nuqta (“Every Drop Counts”): An AI-enabled system that reuses leftover liquids from unconsumed café drinks for cleaning, humidification, or plant watering. Early models suggest it could cut café freshwater use by 40% per month.
- 2nd Place – My Green Rewards: A program converting Starbucks Rewards points into tree-planting, using AI to identify optimal planting sites and provide customers with updates and proof of impact.
- 3rd Place – MycoLoop: Mycelium-based, compostable packaging inserts to replace plastic and fossil-based materials, reducing single-use waste while preserving customer experience.
Other Concepts Explored
- Customer engagement: A “Green Points” app feature that personalizes eco-challenges, shows live impact dashboards in stores, and pilots food recovery initiatives.
- Greener supply chains: AI-enabled, solar-powered smart warehouses with generative-AI planning tools for emissions tracking and logistics optimization.
Driving National Priorities
Organized by the Starbucks Foundation, Alshaya Group, and INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA, in partnership with Saudi recycling company Barakah, the hackathon equipped participants with future-focused skills in AI, teamwork, and sustainability innovation. Organizers are already exploring pilot programs for top ideas, including in-store café water reuse, loyalty-points-to-trees integration, and packaging trials with delivery partners.
Mohammad Mahmoud Al Najjar, SVP at Starbucks (Alshaya Group), said: “EmpowerME is about more than ideas; it’s about outcomes. We’re seeing complex sustainability challenges turned into practical solutions — from reusing café water to turning points into trees.”
Akef Aqrabawi, CEO of INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA, added: “Hackathons like this are where ideas become prototypes; partnerships like this are how prototypes become jobs and startups.”
By embedding AI into sustainability challenges, the EmpowerME Hackathon demonstrated how Saudi youth can play a central role in shaping greener cities, circular economies, and future-ready industries.
