Govt and Google join hands to arm youth with artificial intelligence skills

KARACHI: The government and Google have launched a joint initiative, ‘AI Seekho 2026’, to equip Pakistan’s youth with artificial intelligence skills through vibe coding.

To accelerate the country’s transition into a global digital economy, Google for Developers, in strategic collaboration with the information technology and telecommunication ministry, Telenor and Innovista, has announced the launch of AI Seekho 2026.

This nationwide initiative aims to equip developers and young professionals with cutting-edge artificial intelligence capabilities, entirely free of financial barriers.

Multi-partner ecosystem

As an unprecedented industry collaboration, AI Seekho 2026 is powered by a robust multi-partner ecosystem.

Google for Developers leads the end-to-end execution, providing free cloud credits and platform access, supported by the Google Developer Groups and Google Developer Experts communities.

In phase two, there will be a physical hackathon where developers participating in this phase will be required to build solutions using Google Antigravity in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

This will be a theme-based competition where participants will be required to build a mobile app for a chance to win exclusive swag and a Rs2.5 million prize pool.

The programme pioneers the introduction of vibe coding to Pakistani youth, a modern, intuitive and agent-driven approach to application development.

Utilising next-generation platforms such as Google AI Studio and Google Antigravity, participants will learn to build software through natural language and problem-solving. Participants can register at goo.gle/aiseekho2026.

‘AI-powered economy’

“Our vision is to shift from a legacy service economy to an AI-powered, product-based economy,” stated Federal IT and Telecom Minister Shaza Fatima.

“With 65 per cent of our population under the age of 35, we are declaring AI a core priority to ensure that every young person, from tech professionals to doctors, lawyers and artists, is empowered with the digital skills necessary to compete in the global market,” she added.

In phase one, there will be an online challenge from April 11 to May 3, where participants will master the fundamentals of generative AI and prototyping using Google AI Studio. Participants must submit fully functional solutions in one of two tracks: ‘Build an App’ (App Banao) or ‘Build a Game’ (Game Uthao).

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2026