Whose AI? How Governments Can Adopt Technology Without Giving Up Control

About the session AI could help governments with limited resources improve public services, strengthen decision-making and reach more people. But adopting it can also create new forms of dependency. For governments in lower-income countries, the question is not simply how to use AI, but how to use it without giving up sovereignty. Who controls the data? Who owns the infrastructure and models? What happens when critical public systems depend on foreign technology providers? And how can governments regulate, evaluate and negotiate with AI companies when their own technical and regulatory capacity is limited? This session will explore the choices governments face as they integrate AI into public services and development. From building local capacity and generating evidence before scaling, to protecting data and ensuring communities shape how systems are designed, the conversation will ask what governments need to remain in the driving seat. The goal is not to resist AI adoption, nor simply to ensure poorer countries are included in an AI revolution designed elsewhere. It is to understand how countries can harness AI on their own terms, retaining the power to decide how technology serves their people and their priorities. Discussion Group Leaders What to expect A candid discussion about the practical trade-offs governments face when adopting AI. Participants will explore questions of technology dependence, data and infrastructure, regulation, evidence and public-sector capacity, grounded in the realities of lower-resource settings. Who this is for This session is for government leaders, policymakers, funders, technology partners, researchers and development practitioners working with governments in low- and middle-income countries on AI adoption, digital public infrastructure and public-sector transformation. What you will get out of it