Pakistan targets one million AI professionals by 2030, says Ahsan Iqbal

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal said on Thursday that Pakistan aims to develop one million artificial intelligence (AI) professionals by 2030. He said the target is part of a wider strategy to strengthen the digital economy and expand technology cooperation with Russia.

He was speaking at the Pakistan-Russia IT Collaboration: Industry Engagement Framework in Islamabad. The forum followed business-to-business meetings organised by the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) with P@SHA, in which five Russian companies held 16 meetings with 11 Pakistani firms.

Iqbal said Pakistan produces more than 75,000 graduates a year and that seven new AI centers will link research, skills training, startups and industry. PhoneWorld noted that the remarks did not say how an AI professional is defined, what funds the seven centers, or whether the 75,000 figure covers all graduates or only technology graduates.

Iqbal called for stronger IT cooperation, including joint ventures, technology partnerships and market access. He wants Pakistani and Russian firms to build, integrate and sell technology together, in both countries and in third markets. He described Russia's strengths as enterprise software, cloud computing and cybersecurity, which he said complement Pakistan's engineering talent and its experience serving international clients.

He listed possible joint work in industrial automation, digital supply chains for agriculture, secure digital systems for trade, AI, cloud and cybersecurity, and named AI and digital governance as the most promising areas. He pointed to NADRA's digital identity system and to RAAST, which processed 646 million transactions in a single quarter.

Iqbal asked participants to leave with named counterparts, specific business opportunities and agreed follow-up steps. He said success should be measured in trade, investment and jobs, and that cooperation should be company-led, commercially driven and transparent. PSEB and the University of World Civilizations, Moscow said they are ready to help.

He said payment and settlement mechanisms remain a practical challenge and that relevant institutions are working on it, without giving details. He also said few Pakistani academics and researchers speak Russian, and that students were missing certain scholarships because of this. A language centre is being set up at Allama Iqbal Open University with the Higher Education Commission, and Russian is being added to existing language programmes.

Iqbal said e-Pakistan is one of five pillars of the National Economic Transformation Plan, which aims for a trillion-dollar economy by 2035. He said Pakistan must move beyond exporting services and build products and platforms for international markets.