NAS-IT holds AI briefing in Kathmandu, launches industry-linked degree

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s apex IT industry body, Nepal Association for Software and IT Services Companies (NAS-IT), recently held an AI-focused briefing that brought together technologists, educators and journalists. The event also launched a new industry-linked degree.

At the event, NAS-IT President Gaurav Pandey opened the programme with an overview of the current AI scenario in Nepal. The briefing served as the launch platform for an Industry Integrated Degree (IID) developed with Nepal Open University and Swisscontact/SDC, which pairs academic study with paid industry experience across five pathways: application development, AI, cloud engineering, data engineering and cybersecurity.

In his presentation, Anish Man Shrestha, chief technology officer at TAI Inc, spoke on the 'Global AI Landscape,' citing the AI Index Report 2026 and McKinsey data. He said generative AI adoption stood at 53% globally and organisational adoption at 88%, and that corporate investment doubled in 2025. Shrestha highlighted continued US-China dominance in model development, the scale of AI investment — with Nvidia approaching a market value near $5 trillion and private firms such as Anthropic and OpenAI carrying valuations above $900 billion and $850 billion respectively — and a widening global compute divide. He also discussed the rise of agentic AI, productivity gains for junior workers, India’s Bhashini initiative and emerging regulatory trends including the EU AI Act.

In a separate session, Rojesh M Shikhrakar of Fusemachines spoke on 'AI in Nepal: Reality and Road Ahead,' noting Nepal’s rise to 106th in the Oxford Insights AI Readiness Index. He pointed to gaps in the National AI Policy 2025, limited GPU infrastructure, a shortage of skilled AI talent and ongoing brain drain, while observing hydropower as a potential cost advantage for compute‑intensive work. He highlighted existing AI applications in Nepal and urged local development, saying, “for Nepal, by Nepal, in Nepal.”

The IID aims to bridge academia and industry by offering students paid placements alongside coursework, with the five specialised pathways intended to meet demand across software, AI and cybersecurity roles.

Meanwhile, Nabin Jaiswal presented a session titled 'AI for Journalists,' demonstrating AI tools for research, writing and image generation and outlining principles for responsible AI use in newsrooms.

The event, themed 'The AI Briefing: NAS-IT Meets TJF & SEJON,' was supported by Global IME Bank as a sustainability partner.