Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab on Artificial Intelligence Ali Dar met with Dr. Sohail Munir, Chairperson of the Pakistan Digital Authority, to exchange perspectives on artificial intelligence governance, responsible technology adoption, and the evolving role of digital infrastructure in public service delivery. The meeting, held between two of Pakistan’s most active institutional players in the artificial intelligence policy space, focused on identifying opportunities for stronger coordination and knowledge exchange as Punjab advances its AI Vision 2029 agenda alongside the federal government’s wider digital transformation program.
The discussion covered responsible AI adoption, data infrastructure, and the policy architecture needed to ensure that artificial intelligence is deployed across government in a structured and accountable manner. This alignment matters because both institutions are operating on parallel but interconnected tracks: the Pakistan Digital Authority, led by Dr. Sohail Munir, is responsible for AI governance, regulatory oversight, and the operationalization of the Islamabad AI Declaration adopted following the Indus AI Summit in February 2026, which established Pakistan’s national position on sovereign, responsible, and capability-driven artificial intelligence. Punjab’s Office of AI, operating under Ali Dar, is simultaneously executing Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s ambition to transform Punjab into a fully AI-enabled province by 2029, which includes plans for the world’s first AI-enabled Delivery Unit, a provincial AI Data Center at Nawaz Sharif IT City in partnership with the Bank of Punjab, and the integration of all provincial departments into a central AI ecosystem.
The two entities share a common interest in ensuring that provincial and federal AI initiatives reinforce rather than duplicate each other, particularly on foundational questions around data governance, digital infrastructure, and the standards that should govern AI deployment across public institutions. Punjab has already moved aggressively on several fronts, with Ali Dar having previously engaged the World Bank, Alibaba Cloud, and domestic financial institutions around Punjab’s AI and data infrastructure agenda. Dr. Sohail Munir, appointed as Pakistan Digital Authority Chairperson in August 2025, has in turn been active in advancing Pakistan’s national AI supervisory framework, engaging with the Finance Ministry on digital assets and tokenization, and overseeing the legal and governance architecture required for structured AI adoption across federal institutions.
The meeting between the two officials signals a recognition that meaningful artificial intelligence integration in Pakistan will require active coordination between federal regulatory bodies and provincial implementation offices, rather than each tier of government pursuing its digital agenda in isolation. As Punjab pushes forward with practical AI deployment in governance and public service delivery, and as the Pakistan Digital Authority works to establish the national oversight framework within which that deployment must occur, the kind of direct dialogue between Ali Dar and Dr. Sohail Munir is increasingly essential to ensuring coherence, avoiding duplication, and building the institutional trust that large-scale technology-enabled governance reform requires.
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