Russian minister claims AI able to take place of half of Russia’s civil servants

(MENAFN) Artificial intelligence could take over the jobs of at least 50% of Russia’s civil servants, according to Maksut Shadaev, the country’s Minister of Digital Development. Speaking at the Data Fusion forum on Thursday, Shadaev emphasized AI's potential to revolutionize public sector work.

“I believe AI can certainly replace half of public servants, possibly even more,” he said, while adding that roles like doctors and teachers are unlikely to be affected due to their specialized human-centric nature.

Russia has set ambitious goals in the AI field. President Vladimir Putin previously declared that Russia should become a global leader not just in developing AI technologies, but also in deploying them across all sectors of life. He recently praised a domestically developed AI model used to process millions of questions during his annual public Q&A.

Shadaev also outlined the ministry’s initiatives to improve how citizen data is managed, enhance public access to government services, and allow businesses to verify job applicants’ credentials while protecting personal privacy.

Russia currently employs over 3 million public servants across various sectors, with the Finance Ministry reporting more than 160 civil servants per 10,000 people as of 2019. In October, Putin directed the federal government to review staffing across agencies, aiming to cut personnel by at least 10% for better efficiency.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has echoed the sentiment, suggesting fewer public employees could lead to higher wages and more efficient use of taxpayer money.

MENAFN22042025000045015687ID1109456288