Key takeaways
- AI gains depend on adoption across supply chains, not just the IT sector.
- Manufacturing, agriculture and small firms lag far behind in digitalisation.
- Pakistan's digital exports are concentrated in the tasks most exposed to automation.
- R&D spending of about 0.3% of GDP is far below upgrading economies.
- Skills, applied research, adoption subsidies and digital regulation are the priorities.
In this Minute Mirror column (January 2026), Dr. Ghulam Mohey-ud-din argues that Pakistan’s AI problem is not access to the technology but the capacity to absorb it and turn it into productivity.
The argument
Artificial intelligence raises productivity when it spreads through supply chains. In Pakistan, digitalisation is concentrated in the IT sector, while manufacturing, agriculture and small businesses lag far behind. Without broad adoption, AI will benefit a narrow enclave rather than the economy.
Human capital is the second constraint. STEM enrolment is weak, digital literacy is uneven, and applied research is thin: the column notes research and development spending of about 0.3 percent of GDP, far below countries that are upgrading their industrial base. Pakistan’s place in the global digital economy is concentrated in freelancing, basic coding and outsourcing, which are exactly the tasks most exposed to automation.
Institutions are the third. Data governance, digital market regulation, intellectual property protection and policy coordination are underdeveloped, which discourages investment in high-technology businesses. Technology, the author argues, amplifies what a country already has. Strong institutions and skills gain from AI; weak ones fall further behind. While advanced economies worry about over-dependence on AI, Pakistan’s risk is exclusion.
What needs to change
- Invest substantially in human capital, particularly STEM education.
- Build university-industry partnerships for applied research.
- Subsidise technology adoption beyond the IT sector.
- Create institutions to regulate digital markets and data.
- Put long-term productivity ahead of short-term political wins.