Bangladesh’s national AI policy co-drafted by SOAS PhD scholar
SOAS PhD scholar Dr Nazam Laila, who studied AI and digital power in the gig economy sector of Bangladesh, has co-drafted and edited Bangladesh’s National AI Policy 2026-2030, published earlier this year.
The AI policy is seen as a core part of the interim government’s vision for Bangladesh as it seeks to harness the potential from a young population and resilient industrial sector. AI integration, aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), will play an essential role in the country’s economic plans.
Drafting the National AI Policy 2026–2030 with leading national experts was both a privilege and a profound responsibility, as it meant helping to shape the country’s digital future.
Dr Laila, who is a member of the Digital Research Network and also a Teaching Assistant at SOAS, completed her PhD in July 2025. Her dissertation title is “Digital Power and the Bangladeshi Platform Economy: Economic Emancipation or Neocolonial Exploitation?” and was supervised by Professor Arshin Adib-Moghaddam and Dr Manjeet Ramgotra.
The study examined how digital power thrives through AI-driven surveillance capitalism, algorithmic management and data colonialism, and seeks to determine if the influence of digital power on the Bangladeshi platform economy is a form of economic emancipation or neo-colonial exploitation.
The policy acknowledges Dr Laila for their dedicated editorial contributions, insights and coordination throughout the development process.
Dr Laila said: “Drafting the National AI Policy 2026–2030 with leading national experts was both a privilege and a profound responsibility, as it meant helping to shape the country’s digital future. My guiding ambition was to co-create a roadmap that would establish Bangladesh as a pioneering hub of sustainable AI innovation in South Asia.
“We sought to reconcile technological leapfrogging with human-centric AI, championing digital sovereignty, green computing, and inclusivity. Refusing to remain mere consumers of foreign technologies, we envisioned empowering our youth to build, own, and govern AI systems that serve every citizen and enhance Bangladesh’s strategic autonomy in a rapidly evolving multipolar world.”
Her current research focuses on decolonial AI governance, surveillance capitalism, digital inequality, the gig economy, emerging technology, security and geopolitics. Dr Laila received the prestigious Commonwealth Doctoral Award for her PhD.
Dr Laila holds an MSc in Gender, Development, and Globalization from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an MA and BA in Interdisciplinary Humanities and Science from BRAC University. She is also a research member of the Digital Research Network at SOAS.
