𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐡 𝐀𝐈 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐈 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

The Salalah AI Hackathon 2026 has brought together 60 innovators across 22 teams for four days of intensive development focused on real economic and community challenges in Dhofar.

The winning team, Wafeer, developed an AI-powered fisheries marketplace designed to connect fishermen directly with customers and markets. Flow, which secured second place, created a smart supply-chain and order-management solution for restaurants and food businesses. Third-place team SEER developed a data-privacy layer to protect sensitive information before it reaches external AI tools.

Projects covered areas including fisheries, tourism, SMEs, education, telecoms, skills and smart communities, showing how AI can be applied to sector-specific challenges rather than remaining limited to experimental technology projects.

The hackathon was organised by Riyada in partnership with Omantel, with the closing ceremony held at the Sultan Qaboos Youth Complex in Salalah.

The event highlights a growing push to decentralise Oman’s innovation ecosystem and develop AI solutions tailored to regional economic needs.