Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, called for a push to “indigenize” Artificial Intelligence (AI) models, arguing that the country should no longer remain a passive consumer of foreign models that do not reflect local cultural, linguistic, and contextual realities.
She emphasized that AI systems need to incorporate perspectives and data relevant to Pakistan, so that biases built into foreign-trained models do not disadvantage local populations.
As part of the government’s broader digital agenda, she noted the National AI Initiative, which aims to train one million Pakistanis over the next five years.
To support this shift, the government plans to modernize higher-education standards: computer science (CS) graduates will need to complete not only a degree, but also at least one certification or apprenticeship to better match industry requirements.
In her remarks, Khawaja also underscored the need to upgrade university curricula to prepare students for the next 10–20 years of technological advancement — essentially aligning education with future-oriented AI and digital-economy demands.