New degree merges design and AI skills to fill Gulf job market gap

Canadian University Dubai is opening applications for a degree that treats artificial intelligence not as a separate technical subject but as something woven into design thinking from day one. The Bachelor of Science in Design and Artificial Intelligence, known as the BScDAI, targets Fall 2026 entry and responds to what the institution identifies as a significant gap in the regional job market.

The program integrates studio-based design work with technical coursework spanning computing, mathematics, and AI systems. Students build competency across visualisation, interaction design, human-computer interaction, programming, computational methods, and AI-enabled design processes. The curriculum is structured to enable graduates to develop solutions across spatial, product, and service design contexts, with particular emphasis on how intelligent technologies can address real-world design challenges.

Experiential learning sits at the heart of the degree. Design studios, internships, and collaborative projects with industry partners are built into the structure, aiming to strengthen both technical capability and interpersonal skills including collaboration, leadership, and communication. Sustainability, entrepreneurship, research, and community engagement run as core threads throughout.

Human-centred design anchors the curriculum. Students learn to apply advanced AI techniques and computational tools while evaluating the ethical, social, cultural, and environmental consequences of emerging technologies. The underlying institutional view is direct: technical capability alone is not enough. Graduates must understand the implications of the systems they design and deploy.

Massimo Imparato, Dean of the School of Architecture and Interior Design at Canadian University Dubai, placed the launch within a larger industrial shift. “As artificial intelligence continues to reshape industries and transform the way we address complex environmental and societal challenges, there is growing demand for professionals who can combine design thinking with advanced computational and AI capabilities,” he said. He added that the program is designed to equip students with “the technical ability, creative vision, and ethical understanding needed to create intelligent, human-centred solutions and lead the next generation of innovation across the design industry.”

The degree targets a specific professional niche. Graduates will be positioned to develop intelligent products, responsive environments, interactive experiences, and digital services that respond to changing user needs. The foundation in human-computer interaction, ethical AI, computational design, and digital innovation prepares them for roles where design and technology intersect, a space Canadian University Dubai sees as increasingly central to multiple industries.

The regional context is deliberate. The program is positioned to build capacity in the Gulf’s growing design sector by cultivating professionals who can think creatively while leveraging computational and algorithmic approaches. By embedding AI within design thinking rather than alongside it, the degree makes a clear argument about what the next generation of design professionals will need to know from the outset.

Whether the Gulf job market absorbs those graduates at the pace the institution anticipates remains the open question as applications get underway for Fall 2026.