Talib Hussain Awan

Senior leader with 16 years of progressive, multi-sector experience spanning artificial intelligence policy and innovation, digital transformation and e-governance, donor-funded public sector reform, and large-scale industrial operations. Currently serving as Joint Director (Innovation) with the National Artificial Intelligence Advancement Initiative (NAAI), Ministry of IT & Telecommunication, Government of Pakistan, where I lead the innovation portfolio and the national rollout of AI Startups Hub across seven cities under Pakistan's National AI Policy. Proven record of delivering complex, high-visibility national program end-to-end, from PC-I formulation through PC-V evaluation, within scope, budget and governance frameworks.

Directed an AI-enabled Track & Trace System for the cement sector under the World Bank-funded Pakistan Raises Revenue program at the Federal Board of Revenue, and established Pakistan's first district-level Citizen Facilitation & Service Centers integrating 170+ public services through a one-window digital delivery model. Combines executive delivery capability with genuine technical depth: PhD candidate in Engineering Management (NUST), MS in Artificial Intelligence, and peer-reviewed publications in leading Elsevier and Springer journals. Recognized for building and leading high-performing multidisciplinary teams, engineering governance and compliance frameworks (ISO 9001:2015, PPRA Rules, World Bank Procurement Regulations), and converting emerging technology into measurable public value.

JOINT DIRECTOR (INNOVATION) at National Artificial Intelligence Advancement Initiative (NAAI), Department of Emerging Technologies, Ministry of IT & Telecommunication, Government of Pakistan (2026-08 – Present)

Lead the Innovation portfolio of Pakistan's flagship national AI program, translating the National AI Policy into funded, deliverable initiatives across research, skills, entrepreneurship and adoption.

• Direct the establishment of National AI Hubs across seven cities, owning scope definition, delivery roadmap, institutional design, cohort planning and readiness criteria for national roll-out.
• Manage the complete public procurement cycle for AI Hub establishment: RFP structuring, evaluation methodology, pre-bid conferences, clause-referenced query resolution, minutes of pre-bid meetings, bid evaluation reports and PPRA-compliant tender notices.
• Identify and mitigate high-impact procurement risk, including JV/consortium eligibility and evaluation basis, premises and asset provision, intellectual-property and asset-disposition terms, and cohort-capacity reconciliation-protecting program value and audit defensibility.
• Manage AI governance, emerging-technology policy instruments, national startup and innovation policy, and international benchmarking of AI ecosystem models.
• Engage a broad stakeholder base spanning federal and provincial government, universities, industry associations, incubators, investors and development partners to build coalitions around national AI adoption.
• Institute program governance: results frameworks, KPI dashboards, risk registers, milestone tracking and reporting cadences aligned to ministry and oversight-body requirements.

SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER, TRACK & TRACE SYSTEM (TTS) at Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Government of Pakistan, World Bank-Funded Reform Programmed: "Pakistan Raises Revenue" (2026-01 – 2026-07)

Led the AI-enabled Track & Trace System for the cement industry, applying computer vision, IoT sensing and production-counting technology to strengthen revenue assurance, curb under-reporting and enable real-time enforcement visibility.

• Owned the full delivery lifecycle under World Bank fiduciary and procurement requirements, planning, budgeting, vendor management, deliverable acceptance, donor reporting and risk escalation.
• Drove expansion of the Production Monitoring Framework beyond cement, completing industry engagement and technical assessment across six manufacturing units in four sectors (paper, hatcheries, electronics and leather) and producing the resulting sector-readiness recommendations.
• Coordinated field operations, licensee onboarding and technical integration between FBR, the technology implementation partner and industry stakeholders, resolving compliance and adoption bottlenecks.
• Prepared executive briefs, progress dashboards and evaluation reporting for FBR leadership and World Bank program oversight.

MANAGER (PROJECTS & OPERATIONS) at Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB), Government of the Punjab (2021-11 – 2025-12)

Established and operationalized Pakistan's first district-level Citizen Facilitation & Service Centers (CFSCs), delivering 170+ government services through a single-window model that transformed citizen experience, transparency and service turnaround.

• Managed the complete project lifecycle from PC-I through PC-V, feasibility, approvals, procurement, implementation, monitoring and post-implementation evaluation, consistently within scope, budget, and schedule and governance requirements.
• Led large-scale public service re-engineering through digital workflows, automation and process optimization, materially improving efficiency, accessibility and accountability of frontline service delivery.
• Spearheaded deployment of e-Biz and e-FOAS platforms, streamlining business registration, licensing and compliance to strengthen ease-of-doing-business performance and enable paperless, automated approvals with real-time workflow monitoring.
• Directed rollout of e-Challan and digital enforcement systems with integrated analytics dashboards, improving enforcement effectiveness and public revenue capture.
• Designed governance frameworks, SOPs and operating policies aligned with ISO 9001:2015 and public-sector regulatory requirements.
• Led strategic planning, budgeting and KPI-driven performance management using Results-Based Management methodology.
• Built and led multidisciplinary delivery teams and strengthened coordination across 25+ government entities, resolving inter-agency dependencies at pace.
• Established monitoring & evaluation, cybersecurity and data governance frameworks, ensuring secure, compliant and evidence-driven operations.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR (RESEARCH, INNOVATION & COMMERCIALISATION) at Office of Research, Innovation, Industrial Linkages & Commercialization (ORIIC), National University of Technology (NUTECH) (2021-03 – 2021-10)

Headed the ORIIC

PhD Candidate in Engineering Management – NUST

MS in Artificial Intelligence