AI-Powered Nation: Ukraine's Next Digital Frontier
Introducing a new series ISF Voices 2025.
Hello, I’m Ylli Bajraktari, CEO of the Special Competitive Studies Project. In this special edition of SCSP’s newsletter, we introduce a new series—ISF Voices 2025—featuring writing and ideas from SCSP’s International Strategy Forum (ISF) Fellows.
Also make sure to join SCSP at the upcoming AI+ Expo, June 2-4, 2025 in Washington DC! This premier event will feature over 300+ speakers, a defense exchange, hackathon, drone arena, bookstore, ai+careers stage, live podcast recordings and so much more. I hope to see you there.
Introducing ISF Voices 2025
Each year, SCSP’s global fellowship program, the International Strategy Forum (ISF), brings together a network of emerging leaders working at the intersection of geopolitics and technology.
This year, we are launching a new series一 ISF Voices 2025 一to feature writing and ideas from our Fellows. Stay tuned for the full series to release later this year!
As a sneak preview of some of the incredible pieces to come, we are honored to share with you the following from 2025 International Strategy Forum Fellow Valeriya Ionan, who serves as Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for European Integration. Valeriya shares a powerful perspective on how innovation is becoming a national idea for her nation.
Even as it is fighting for its freedom, Ukraine is demonstrating why governments must lead not just with tools, but with vision, in harnessing the transformative power of new technologies like artificial intelligence.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect those of the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), the International Strategy Forum (ISF), or any affiliated persons and institutions.
AI-Powered Nation: Ukraine's Next Digital Frontier
From Digitalization to a National Idea
Ukraine has made a remarkable digital leap in recent years. We ascended 97 positions in the UN e-government ranking, created the Diia ecosystem—anchored by the state super app Diia—which integrates digital documents and government services for more than 22 million users, as of May 2025. We launched Brave1 to accelerate the development of defense technologies, and established the CDTO Campus to train digital leaders in government agencies. Yet this journey has never been solely about technology or digital services.
We are focused on transforming digitalization into a national idea because Ukraine’s citizens are weary of inefficient governments and entrenched bureaucracy. We did not merely digitize outdated processes; we reimagined how government systems should function in order to serve our people.
We have endured a global pandemic and continue to live under conditions of the full-scale russian invasion.1 Yet amid these crises, a clear and well-known pattern has emerged: technology does not stall in times of upheavals—it accelerates. The trajectory has been set, and we are prepared to take the next step forward.
Innovation Strategy: WINWIN 2030
If digitalization was our first transformation, then turning innovation into a national idea is our next. That's why we have developed and are implementing the WINWIN Global Innovation Strategy until 2030, which defines the vision of Ukraine as a leader in technology and innovation.
Our goal is to create conditions for the development of breakthrough ideas that bring us closer to victory and fuel the country's economic growth. The strategy identifies key areas for innovative development: DefenseTech, MedTech, AI, EdTech, AgroTech, GovTech, GreenTech, BioTech, SpaceTech, XR, Fluid economy, semiconductors, unmanned systems, and secure cyberspace.
The government's role in this transformation is clear and ambitious: opening market access for innovators, launching fast regulatory solutions that promote growth while protecting citizens, and creating a genuinely two-way interaction between government institutions and private innovations. This isn't just about "listening" to stakeholders—it's about co-creation.
UkrAIne or AI as a Fundamental Layer for National Transformation
Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing exponentially and is becoming a key direction of Ukraine’s innovation strategy. Interest in AI technologies and their capabilities is growing rapidly. And Ukraine should become an important player in this field.
Our mission in the field of AI is to position Ukraine among the top three countries globally by 2030 in terms of AI integration and implementation. To achieve this ambitious objective, we have established the WINWIN AI Center of Excellence. Its primary task is to facilitate the integration of artificial intelligence into the public sector and key areas of national significance: defense, healthcare, education, and business.
We are currently developing a national artificial intelligence strategy which will outline priority areas and specific steps to attain global leadership in this domain.
Our First Steps in AI
We have already achieved several advancements in the field of AI, including solutions that are currently in use, undergoing pilot implementation, or scheduled for launch in the near future:
Natalka Chatbot (PoC Development): This AI-powered assistant has streamlined communication with potential partners interested in integrating Diia services. Over the course of five months, it processed more than 2,300 requests, reducing the workload on managers by 30%.
AI Assistant in Diia (MVP Pilot): This tool is designed to assist users in selecting the appropriate government service for specific life situations without requiring support team intervention. It will enhance the user experience by making interactions with digital government services more seamless and intuitive.
Digital Expertise of Legal Acts (Product Development): This AI solution analyzes legal and regulatory documents in accordance with detailed technical specifications provided by legal experts and delivers concise, structured outputs. It accelerates workflows, enabling government institutions to respond more efficiently to legislative demands.
AI in Mriia (in use): On the national educational platform, where AI assists educators by automating routine tasks and supporting a content recommendation system. In the future, it will generate personalized educational trajectories for students based on their interests, needs, and motivation—ensuring access to high-quality, individualized learning regardless of geographic location.
AI in Defense (in use): AI plays a critical role in detecting the locations of enemy equipment—even when concealed—and directing precision strikes. This capability has proven essential during the ongoing full-scale russian invasion.
Ukrainian LLM: A National Priority
A key strategic initiative is the development of the first Ukrainian large language model (LLM). This will enable government institutions and private enterprises to build high-quality AI services capable of interacting with citizens in natural, conversational Ukrainian.
The model will be built upon an existing open-source architecture, with further pre-training and fine-tuning conducted on Ukrainian-language datasets. The initiative will be implemented in collaboration with scientists, academic institutions, and industry partners. The launch is planned for November–December 2025.
Global Context: Not Falling Behind in the AI Race
Ukraine’s AI strategy’s development began with careful analysis of approaches taken by global leaders. Each region has chosen distinct paths: the United States emphasizing market-driven innovation with private investment in infrastructure, China implementing a coordinated national strategy with strong state direction, and Europe focusing on ethical frameworks and balanced regulation through initiatives like the AI Act.
The European Commission's “AI Continent Action Plan,” which allocates €2 billion for AI Factories and aims to mobilize €20 billion for AI Gigafactories, represents an important step in strengthening Europe's position. Different regions are moving at varying speeds with distinct investment priorities.
Ukraine's approach combines elements from these global models while leveraging its unique strengths. Rather than simply adopting any single framework, we're pursuing a balanced strategy: developing sovereign capabilities in critical areas like the Ukrainian LLM while embracing international cooperation and open-source solutions. This approach allows us to build technological resilience while participating fully in the global innovation ecosystem.
Why Governments Should Implement AI and Not Fear Change
The principal obstacles to the implementation of digital technologies in government have remained largely unchanged over the past decade, persisting at both technical and operational levels. These same challenges may similarly impede the effective deployment of artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, the profound potential of AI cannot be disregarded.
As AI agents evolve and are reliably integrated into public services, we are likely to witness a fundamental transformation in user experience. The prevailing model of traditional service design, centered around “life events”, will give way to self-organizing services that require only a defined legal framework, relevant data, and an executable interface via AI.
We are already observing how organizations are being reshaped as programming, design, and data analysis become widely accessible and ubiquitous through AI—a contrast to the costly, limited capabilities once governed by complex procurement procedures. AI enables all levels of government to innovate and scale more effectively.
In the near future, citizens will access government services through intelligent agents. The key question is whether these agents will be operated by the state, or will the government simply provide an interface for agents from OpenAI, Google, etc.? We may be on the threshold of a new paradigm—“government as a platform”—and Ukraine aims to be at the forefront of this transformation.
From Idea to Action
Many discussions about AI in governments focus only on automation or cost reduction. This narrows the picture. AI is not just a “smart button” to increase the efficiency of existing processes. It is a foundation for rethinking and reforming entire sectors of social and economic life.
Imagine every child, even in the most remote rural areas, having access to a personalized AI tutor as powerful as the best teacher in the country. Human teachers could focus on what they do best: inspiring curiosity, developing talents, and building character. Meanwhile, AI would handle repetition, adaptation, and personalization at scale. We must prepare children not for specific professions, but for life in a world where most jobs will be transformed before they graduate.
This vision is already beginning to take shape in Ukraine. Diia.Education—the country’s national edutainment platform for reskilling and digital literacy—has already become a core part of Ukraine’s learning ecosystem. With over 2.6 million registered users, more than 4.2 million certificates issued, a catalog of 370+ educational products, a network of 5,000+ offline digital literacy hubs, the platform is now preparing to enter its next phase with the integration of artificial intelligence.
In 2025, Diia.Education will launch two major AI-powered tools
An AI Navigator, a personal educational guide that selects relevant educational series, simulators, and tests tailored to the user’s knowledge level, interests, and career goals. It drastically reduces the time needed to find the right materials and stores personalized recommendations in a learner’s account.
An AI Assistant, an intelligent companion that enhances the learning process by explaining complex or technical terms in real time during video lessons, summarizing key takeaways, and suggesting additional learning materials during quizzes—without providing answers, thereby encouraging independent thinking.
Meanwhile, on the national educational platform Mriia, educators are being equipped with an AI-powered test builder—the first large-scale AI feature in the system. It enables teachers to automatically generate customized tests based on lesson content, textbook materials, or even their own professional experience, eliminating the need to rely on time-consuming tools like Google Forms or manual test creators. The system improves over time through machine learning and allows teachers to schedule tests for class or homework. After students complete the test, AI analyzes the answers and proposes grades, which the teacher can confirm or adjust. The rollout of this feature began in spring 2025, and is gradually expanding to schools nationwide.
As public servants, our responsibility extends beyond managing today's problems. We are guardians of the future. The real question is not how to use AI, but why.
My answer? To build smarter, more future-oriented systems that serve human development. To create governments that operate with the efficiency and user-focus that citizens rightfully expect. To solve complex challenges such as climate change, public health, and economic opportunity with tools equal to their complexity.
Innovation is not a luxury. It is our obligation to future generations.
At a time when technological progress outpaces institutional adaptation, governments face a choice: lead, follow, or get out of the way. Those who embrace AI as a fundamental layer for national transformation won't just deliver better services—they'll create new possibilities for their citizens and economies. The countries that recognize this transformation as a national idea, not just a technical project, will define the next era of human progress.
Ukraine has already made one digital leap in extraordinary circumstances. It is ready to make another.
Ukraine uses lowercase “russian” as an intentional symbolic choice in official and public communications.