Pakistan’s AI Policy Stuck in Limbo Months After Cabinet Approval
By Tanveer Ahmed :
The rollout of Pakistan’s National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy has remained on hold for more than six months after its approval, primarily due to proposed changes in the structure of the AI Council and a lack of engagement from provincial governments.
Although the federal cabinet endorsed the policy in July 2025, officials at the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication revealed that the federal government sought feedback from provinces regarding its execution. However, no official replies have been received so far, delaying the inter-provincial consultations needed to move forward with a unified national framework.
In addition, the government has postponed the formation of the AI Council — one of the policy’s core institutions — after determining that its current structure is overly bureaucratic. As a result, authorities decided to revise the council’s composition before formally establishing it.
The AI Council is intended to function as the main decision-making body responsible for guiding strategy and supervising implementation. Under the original framework, it is to be led by the federal minister for IT and Telecom and include senior officials from key ministries such as IT, Science and Technology, and Planning, along with the heads of major regulatory and academic bodies and provincial chief secretaries.
The council is also supposed to include representatives from academia, industry, civil society and citizen groups, as well as experts from priority sectors including healthcare and agriculture.
A senior ministry official said the existing model offers limited representation of AI specialists, both from within Pakistan and overseas, making revisions necessary to ensure the council has sufficient technical expertise.
At present, only one aspect of the National AI Policy is actively being pursued — the “Awareness and Readiness” pillar. Officials say the upcoming Indus AI Week in Islamabad is a key initiative under this component and represents an early step toward public engagement and capacity building.
They also noted that the event will support another policy objective focused on strengthening international cooperation in AI.
However, progress on the remaining pillars has been minimal. These include developing an AI innovation environment, ensuring a secure and ethical AI ecosystem, and transforming various sectors and industries to effectively integrate AI technologies.
Moreover, no dedicated regulatory body has been assigned to oversee the “AI Infrastructure” pillar. While data centres and cloud platforms are emerging across the country, Pakistan still lacks a comprehensive regulatory and policy framework to govern this critical area.
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