EDITORIAL: When the National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy was approved by the federal cabinet back in July, it was framed as both a launch pad and roadmap to steer the country towards responsible AI adoption, build the government’s institutional and regulatory capacity in that regard, catalyse private sector innovation and unlock productivity gains across key sectors, all in a bid to position Pakistan to compete in an increasingly data-driven global economy.
The goals that were outlined were quite staggering in their ambition to say the least: training one million AI professionals, developing 50,000 AI-driven civic projects and building 1,000 homegrown AI products, all by 2030, as well as awarding 3,000 AI scholarships annually, alongside a slate of similarly far-reaching commitments. But like too many policy announcements, the gulf between intent and execution remains wide, and as recent media reports have highlighted, six months after the policy’s approval, the institutional capacity, funding clarity and delivery mechanisms needed to operationalise it are still conspicuously absent.
In an area as rapidly evolving as AI, such a laidback approach risks rendering even the loftiest blueprints obsolete before they are implemented. This pattern is all too familiar in Pakistan, where institutional inertia often outpaces environmental, technological and market evolution, with the result being that visionary frameworks are left stranded on paper.
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According to IT ministry sources, a major obstacle has been the lack of engagement by provincial governments. While the federal authorities had sought input from the provinces on implementing the initiative, no formal response was received from any federating unit. This glaring dereliction of duty has impeded the discussions needed to shape a unified national approach to AI.
Furthermore, a central pillar of the initiative — the National AI Council, envisioned as the top supervisory body that would oversee the policy’s implementation — has yet to be established, as the government has belatedly realised that its composition as currently designed risks being bureaucrat-heavy and requires greater expert participation to strengthen decision-making and lend technical credibility to initiatives.
In fact, of the six key pillars of the AI initiative, including building an innovation ecosystem, raising awareness, ensuring security of AI assets, driving sectoral transformation, developing the requisite technical infrastructure and fostering international partnerships, the only area showing even limited progress is awareness, and that too is marked by a single event scheduled next week in Islamabad.
With AI rapidly driving innovation worldwide across health, governance, education and industry, this lacklustre approach is unacceptable. As things stand, Pakistan still struggles with even the most basic infrastructure requirements, such as providing high quality broadband access, while high-performance computing resources and AI-focused data centres also remain largely absent, as existing facilities are primarily designed for conventional IT operations.
At the same time, efforts to attract private sector investment in establishing AI-focused data centres is hampered by an opaque and evolving policy environment, offering little assurance to potential stakeholders. Progress on comprehensive data protection and cyber security legislations has also been minimal, leaving critical gaps in the legal and technical ecosystem.
And on top of all these constraints is Pakistan’s restrictive digital environment, characterised by restrictions on VPN usage, throttled internet speeds and attempts to establish a national internet firewall, which have discouraged innovation and private investments at every turn.
There is an urgent need, therefore, for the authorities to recalibrate their priorities, for provincial governments to actively engage in implementation and for the National AI Council to be fully established, alongside a rapid strengthening of the country’s infrastructure and technical capacity.
Equally critical is a supportive legislative and regulatory environment, laying the foundation for an innovation-driven AI ecosystem that ensures Pakistan does not fall irretrievably behind in the global race for technological leadership.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026