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Pakistan: Punjab CM Maryam appoints Ali Dar as adviser on AI and Special Initiatives
Ali will focus on development of forward-looking projects that aim to improve governance, create job opportunities, and enhance service delivery
- PUBLISHED: Wed 11 Feb 2026, 7:11 AM
The provincial government has appointed Ali Mustafa Dar as adviser to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Artificial Intelligence and Special Initiatives.
Ali will focus on the development and implementation of forward-looking projects that aim to improve governance, create job opportunities, and enhance service delivery, with a strong emphasis on emerging technologies and AI-enabled solutions.
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A notification in this regard was issued on Monday, according to Pakistani media.
“In exercise of powers conferred upon her under Article 130 (11) of the Constitution, the chief minister is pleased to appoint Ali Mustafa Dar as her adviser on Artificial Intelligence and Special Initiatives on pro bono basis with immediate effect,” says the notification.
The chief minister’s advisers enjoy the status and powers of a provincial cabinet minister and they attend Punjab Assembly sessions as per the prevailing law.
Ali, son of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, is married to Asma Nawaz, daughter of PML-N president Nawaz Sharif and younger sister of Maryam Nawaz, according to reports in some Pakistani newspapers.
He studied Software Engineering at University College London and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. He moved to the United Kingdom for higher education in 2000, after studying at Aitchison College in Lahore.
Ali, along with his wife and children, remained with Dar and Nawaz during their period in the UK before their return to Pakistan, around three years ago.
He is also a passionate advocate for autism awareness in Pakistan. He has been involved in initiatives supporting children with autism and has garnered praise for raising awareness through his personal experience as the father of Ibrahim, an 18-year-old with autism.
Since the PML-N government won the elections in 2024, Ali has been involved in a lot of pro-bono country-related work behind the scenes. Having worked successfully internationally for more than two decades, he reportedly played a pivotal role in facilitating many high-level international engagements in PML-N’s current term in office through convincing many of his personal contacts to visit and invest in Pakistan, including arranging visits to Pakistan — both Islamabad and Lahore — by senior global business figures from the tech and real estate industry, say the reports.
In the private sector, Ali is the founder of HDS Group of Companies, of which he also remained the CEO till 2024 before moving back to Pakistan for good. HDS Group is a prominent business conglomerate in the UAE with its focus on real estate development. The group’s business operations are now overseen by Ali’s younger brother, Hasnain Dar.
