TLDR: Pakistan has officially approved its ambitious National AI Policy 2025, aiming to establish a $2.7 billion domestic AI market within five years and position the country as a regional AI leader by 2035. The policy is built upon six strategic pillars: innovation, skills development, secure and ethical AI use, sector transformation, robust infrastructure, and international collaboration. Key initiatives include training 200,000 individuals annually, offering 3,000 postgraduate scholarships, creating 20,000 internships, establishing a National AI Fund (NAIF) and Centres of Excellence, and integrating AI across critical sectors like education, healthcare, and agriculture.
Pakistan has taken a significant leap towards a technology-driven future with the official approval of its National AI Policy 2025 by the Federal Cabinet. This landmark roadmap is designed to transform the nation into a knowledge-based economy, powered by ethical, inclusive, and innovative artificial intelligence adoption. The overarching goal is to cultivate a $2.7 billion domestic AI market within the next five years and to establish Pakistan as a leading AI hub in South Asia by 2035.
Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Ms. Shaza Fatima Khawaja, hailed the policy as a cornerstone of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Digital Nation Vision. She stated, “This is not merely a policy—it’s a national commitment to responsible innovation, ethical governance, and inclusive prosperity through AI.” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif himself emphasized that promoting information technology and AI is a top government priority, aiming to harness emerging technologies for economic growth and innovation. He also stressed the critical need for data protection and sovereignty while integrating AI into national systems.
Anchored on six strategic pillars, the policy provides a structured framework for responsible AI development and deployment.
1. Innovation Ecosystem: This pillar focuses on fostering a robust AI innovation environment. It includes the establishment of a National AI Fund (NAIF) under the Ignite National Technology Fund, with approximately 30% of Ignite’s R&D resources dedicated to AI research, innovation, and commercialization. Centres of Excellence (CoEs) are slated for creation in seven major cities to serve as hubs for AI research, training, and startup incubation. These centers will feature an “innovation fund” for projects addressing challenges in healthcare, education, and agriculture, alongside a “venture fund” to scale early-stage AI startups.
2. Skills Development and Readiness: A key objective is large-scale human capital development. The policy outlines a target of training 200,000 people annually in AI tools, with specialized modules for marginalized women and specially-abled citizens. The government plans to offer 3,000 annual scholarships for postgraduate and doctoral studies in AI and a specialized AI curriculum for public servants focusing on ethical AI use and data protection. Additionally, an interest-free education financing scheme will support 15,000 students yearly pursuing “high-tech” degrees, and a national “high-tech” internship program aims to create 20,000 internships annually in the AI sector.
3. Secure and Ethical AI Ecosystem: This pillar introduces regulatory sandboxes, cybersecurity protocols, and transparency frameworks to ensure ethical AI use, data protection, and public trust. The AI Directorate, in collaboration with CoEs, will establish regulations for generative AI to mitigate risks such as misinformation, privacy breaches, and copyright violations, ensuring responsible operation and adherence to ethical and legal standards. AI cybersecurity systems shared across institutions will be deployed to protect digital infrastructure.
4. Sector Transformation and Evolution: The government intends to leverage AI to enhance various industries and services. A detailed roadmap will be created for AI integration in education, healthcare, agriculture, and energy management. A new “Ranking Management System” will be developed under government oversight to help individuals and businesses select appropriate AI tools. Businesses in the industrial sector will be encouraged to adopt AI technologies to improve efficiency and digitize records. The policy also aims to implement AI solutions to support local farmers in reducing crop losses.
5. AI Infrastructure: This pillar envisions a national compute grid, centralized datasets, AI hubs, and cloud-based resources to support scalable innovation. A nationwide AI network will provide sufficient computing power for large-scale experiments, big data processing, and AI model training, with at least 100 universities and research institutions gaining access. The government will also maintain high-quality datasets in national and provincial data repositories and upgrade existing public-sector data centers.
6. International Partnerships and Collaborations: The policy promotes global cooperation through joint research, cross-border projects, and alignment with international standards, reflecting Pakistan’s resolve to shape an AI future that is secure, inclusive, and globally integrated.
To oversee the implementation of these initiatives, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) is forming an Artificial Intelligence Council. Furthermore, an expert-based AI advisory panel has been established, and a steering committee will facilitate the effective execution of the national AI policy.
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The National AI Policy 2025 marks a transformative moment for Pakistan, laying the groundwork for a future where AI is a force for equity, innovation, and economic sovereignty, ultimately aiming to train one million people in AI by 2030.
