Artificial intelligence in Pakistan
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Artificial intelligence in Pakistan refers to the development, adoption and governance of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in Pakistan. Activity is concentrated in government policy, university research, and the application of AI in agriculture, finance, healthcare and telecommunications. Pakistan's first national AI policy was approved by the federal cabinet in 2025.
History
Research and institutional activity in AI in Pakistan developed through university programmes and government-funded centres in the late 2010s. The National Center of Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) was inaugurated in 2018 with funding from the Planning Commission of Pakistan, under the umbrella of the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Between 2016 and 2020, Pakistan contributed 2,600 AI-related publications, according to a report on the country's AI ecosystem.
In international rankings of AI readiness, Pakistan held 92nd position among 172 countries on the Oxford Insights Government AI Readiness Index 2022. A later edition of the same index ranked Pakistan 8th out of 17 countries in South and Central Asia for government readiness to implement AI in public services, and on the Global Index on Responsible AI, Pakistan improved from 68th to 51st between the 2024 and 2026 editions.
Government policy
Draft policy (2023)
In May 2023, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) released a draft National Artificial Intelligence Policy for public consultation as part of the Digital Pakistan vision. The draft stated a vision "to embrace AI by appreciating human intelligence and stimulating a hybrid intelligence ecosystem for equitable, responsible, and transparent use of AI".
The draft proposed an AI regulatory directorate to oversee ethical and responsible use, a National Artificial Intelligence Fund to finance research and development, and Centres of Excellence in AI and allied technologies, with targets to be achieved by 2028 including public awareness of AI, development of skilled human capital, integration of AI in education, and the transformation of public services through AI.
The draft cited a State of AI Report in which Pakistan ranked 117 out of 172 countries, with an index score of 34.03, on AI readiness. Commentators noted that the proposed AI Regulatory Directorate would function under the National Commission for Personal Data Protection, whose parent legislation, the Personal Data Protection Act, was still awaiting approval in Parliament.
National AI Policy 2025
On 30 July 2025, the federal cabinet approved Pakistan's first National Artificial Intelligence Policy. The policy sets a target of training one million AI professionals by 2030, supported by the development of 10,000 trainers, 3,000 scholarships annually in AI fields by 2028, and the issuance of 200,000 certifications each year. It also provides for an AI Innovation Fund and an AI Venture Fund, the disbursement of 15,000 interest-free loans to support startups and innovation, and the establishment of an AI Council to oversee implementation through a master plan.
In November 2026, the Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal, restated the target of one million AI professionals by 2030 and said seven new AI centres would connect research, skills development, startups and industry. The government has also stated that Pakistan will invest one billion dollars in AI over the following five years.
Education and research
The National Center of Artificial Intelligence operates as a network of research centres at partner universities, with the secretariat at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) in Islamabad. Its Peshawar centre, based at the University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, has developed AI applications for disaster management, including early warning systems for floods, earthquakes and landslides, and for security, including a safe-city programme for detecting weapons and other threats. The centre reported having introduced a Bachelor of Science programme in Artificial Intelligence, filed six national patents, and published more than 100 research articles.
NCAI has published a unified MS and PhD curriculum in artificial intelligence for use by its partner universities, intended to standardise graduate-level AI education across the country.
Industry adoption
AI adoption in Pakistan is reported in agriculture, finance, healthcare, telecommunications and education, although adoption remains at an early stage overall. In agriculture, AI-based systems are used for predicting crop yields by analysing historical data, weather patterns, satellite imagery and ground sensor data; in finance, banks use AI for fraud detection; and in healthcare, AI tools are used for medical imaging analysis, early disease detection and telemedicine, including in areas with limited access to medical specialists. In telecommunications, companies use AI to automate customer support operations, and in education, large language models have been examined for their potential to support the teaching of English as a foreign language. Statista data cited in 2024 projected Pakistan's AI market at US$861 million in 2025.
Startups and ecosystem
Pakistani startups have applied AI and predictive analytics in agriculture, financial services and healthcare. Agritech companies such as Farmdar and CropGenius use satellite data and machine learning for crop monitoring, yield prediction and precision farming, while fintech companies use AI for credit scoring, document automation and fraud detection.
Government support for the ecosystem includes the National Incubation Centres and Ignite, the technology innovation arm of the Ministry of IT and Telecom. In November 2026, RLabs, a startup incubated at the National Incubation Centre for Aerospace Technologies and led by a NUST graduate, won the GOAL Startup Award at Plug and Play's Silicon Valley November Summit for its work on extended reality simulators, synthetic data and machine training; the Federal IT Minister described the award as reflecting the growing strength of Pakistan's startup ecosystem.
Challenges
Reported challenges to AI development in Pakistan include the availability and standardisation of data, limited computing infrastructure, unreliable and costly electricity, and a shortage of AI-specialised professionals and trainers. Analysts have noted that the institutions envisaged in the National AI Policy, including the National AI Council, have moved more slowly than the original announcements suggested, and that the absence of enacted data protection legislation constrains the governance framework set out in the policy.