ENSIA for Dummies

TL;DR: I wrote a book about the five years I spent at ENSIA, and you can read it here.

In June 2026, the first promo of the recently created AI school in Algeria graduated, five years after being the first to join back in 2021. We took on the challenge of jumping into a new environment, and were given the chance to help create that environment and shape it, in one way or another.

I was part of that promo, and felt that what we lived was a unique experience, one that deserves to be documented and shared publicly, partly because I think being open about it helps the promos coming after us, and partly because it's a good story on its own.

It's mostly written for current students, or those interested in joining, but I also hope it can be useful for anyone curious about ENSIA and the ecosystem being built around it.

Most of the book walks through the modules we took, year by year. I built it around that because a big part of starting at a new school is figuring out how its teaching system works, and what the midterms and finals will actually look like. On top of that, I go over the side quests you can take on besides studying, like clubs, hackathons, internships, and building a startup.

Toward the end, I cover the final year, mainly how the FYP (Final Year Project) works, from picking a project and a supervisor all the way to the defense. I also go over the paths you can take after graduating, whether in academia or in industry.

There's also an afterword on the newly imposed civil service for graduates, which applies to cohorts from 2026 on, so if you're joining this year or later, that part is for you.

The book also features an album section, in which my promo jumped in by contributing pictures they took during the different moments they lived at ENSIA, at the pole, or around the city. I am really grateful for their contribution, and I name each of them in that chapter to give them the credit they deserve.

I see this as a first step toward documenting the school, and clearing up some of the fuzziness around it. My DMs are open if you want to talk about anything in it, especially if it can help make things better for the next promos.

Big thanks to the reviewers, the early readers, and anyone who made me feel less cringy about actually completing this and publishing it.