TLDR: Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal announced that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to revolutionize governance in Pakistan, akin to the impact of the industrial revolution. Speaking at a conference, he emphasized the need for AI integration into public policy, civil service training, and collaborative efforts with industry and academia to achieve a prosperous and globally competitive Pakistan by 2035. He also stressed the importance of ethical AI development, ensuring transparency, fairness, and data privacy.
Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal, declared that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to fundamentally reshape governance across Pakistan, drawing parallels to the transformative impact of the industrial revolution. He made these remarks during his address at the third National School of Public Policy Conference on ‘Artificial Intelligence in Public Policy and Governance’, an event organized by the National Institute of Public Policy (NIPP) in collaboration with the National School of Public Policy (NSPP) on Monday, August 25, 2025.
Minister Iqbal highlighted AI’s potential to drive progress in various critical sectors, stating, ‘We can use artificial intelligence to win various ‘Markas’ which includes ‘Marka-i-Education’, ‘Marka-i-Health’, ‘Marka-i-Trade’, ‘Marka-i-Research and Technology’.‘ He articulated a vision for Pakistan’s future, asserting, ‘If we combine wisdom of our civil service through power of AI, we can build Pakistan that is prosperous, inclusive and globally competitive by 2035 to realize dream of turning Pakistan into 1 trillion dollar economy.’
To facilitate this ambitious transformation, the minister called for the immediate establishment of AI training centers for officers at the NSPP and other training institutions to enhance their capabilities. He underscored the necessity of collaborative efforts, urging engagement with startups, universities, and industry partners to co-create effective AI governance solutions. Iqbal emphasized that civil servants must become ‘AI literate’ and advocated for the NSPP to launch a dedicated AI center for civil service training and to study rapid AI adoption strategies within governance.
Crucially, Minister Iqbal also addressed the ethical dimensions of AI implementation. He stated, ‘We must not overlook the ethics part of AI,’ and added, ‘We must ensure that AI is transparent, fair and respects privacy of data.’ He further elaborated on the foundational role of algorithms: ‘AI is based on algorithms and quality of algorithms would define what is utility of AI. Because if your algorithms are not fair, if they contain biases, so AI will also give those biases.’ He stressed the importance of scrutinizing the ‘fairness dimension of AI’ to prevent discrimination or biases, particularly in a diverse country like Pakistan.
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In a forward-looking directive, Iqbal suggested that each ministry should integrate AI into at least one core function by 2027, aiming to champion AI-driven solutions within specific departments before broader adoption.
