By Azam Tariq

Pakistan’s rising IT exports are intersecting with a new wave of global capital as Microsoft moves to invest $50 billion by the end of the decade to expand Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the Global South. Experts believe Pakistan is well positioned to compete for this investment, provided it moves swiftly from policy intent to effective implementation. According to data compiled by Topline Securities, Pakistan’s IT exports reached $374 million in January 2026, reflecting a 19% year-on-year increase.

Under the government’s ‘Uraan Pakistan’ national economic plan, the country aims to raise IT exports to $10 billion by FY29. Achieving this target would require exports to grow at a compound annual rate of 27% over the coming years. Ayesha Abdullah, CEO of Pakistan Innovation Network, told Wealth Pakistan that Pakistan can attract large AI-linked investments by aligning its regulatory framework with investor expectations.

She emphasized the need for clear data protection rules, workable public–private partnership models, and AI-specific incentives that reward research and development, cloud adoption, and export-oriented product development. She stressed that immediate reforms should strengthen data privacy enforcement, establish an independent oversight body, and improve transparency in technology governance. She said such measures would enable international firms to commit to multi-year infrastructure and skilling plans.

She also highlighted the importance of accelerated skill development and targeted incentives for AI-driven startups in ensuring new capacity translates into sustainable tech exports. Addressing impediments such as unclear cross-border data regulations and slow licensing processes, she called for standardized and time-bound approval mechanisms. Talking to Wealth Pakistan, Fahad Najeeb, Lecturer at the Computer Science Department, Iqra University Karachi, underscored policy continuity and regulatory clarity as decisive factors in the competitive Global South landscape.

He said Pakistan can attract AI investment by ensuring leadership that bridges academia and industry, pointing to research-driven governance models that convert strategy into deployable digital infrastructure. He maintained that investor confidence will depend on visible progress in data governance, AI ethics frameworks, and stable technology regulations aligned with international standards. He further noted that stronger academia–industry collaboration, research commercialization, and public–private partnerships can reduce perceived risks and demonstrate long-term commitment.

According to Najeeb, effective AI investment can enable Pakistan to move beyond traditional outsourcing toward higher-value AI products and services, including agriculture optimization, fintech risk and compliance analytics, health insights, and multilingual AI solutions tailored for emerging markets. Experts have stressed the need for structural reforms to make exports easier to scale, ensure predictable tax treatment for IT and cloud services, streamline payment channels, and encourage government procurement of local AI solutions so firms can build domestic credibility before expanding abroad.

Microsoft’s $50 billion Global South AI push, unveiled at the New Delhi AI summit, signals that the next phase of technology exports will be shaped not only by talent but also by readiness, clear regulations, credible institutions, and faster execution. Pakistan already has a domestic roadmap in place through its digital infrastructure initiatives and policy frameworks.

If Islamabad translates these commitments into an investor-friendly one-window system for AI and cloud projects — backed by enforceable data protection, time-bound approvals, and efficient intellectual property processes — experts believe the country can convert its current export momentum into an AI-enabled, higher-value digital economy and move closer to achieving the $10 billion IT export target under Uraan Pakistan.

Credit: INP-WealthPk