Albania’s prime minister wants to appoint an AI to his ministry

Incorruptible e-government AnswerBot ‘Djella’, which reportedly runs in Azure, given job of running public procurement

Albania’s prime minister has proposed appointing an artificial intelligence as a minister.

Speaking at his socialist party’s annual conference yesterday, prime minister Edi Rama named his planned cabinet, and suggested the nation’s government services chatbot “Djella” for a promotion to the ministry.

According to a session description for the 2025 European Political Community Summit, which Albania hosted in May 2025, Djella started life in 2024 as a virtual assistant that Albanian citizens could use to answer questions about government services. Version 2.0, launched in early 2025, was “an intelligent avatar integrating natural language understanding with vocal and visual interaction, providing real-time information for public services and online applications on e-Albania.”

By the time of the conference, Djella 3.0 was up and running and offered “full interaction through voice commands, allowing citizens to complete service requests using simple, conversational language — marking a major step forward in digital government accessibility.”

Local news reports suggest Djella runs on Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI service, plus “the latest artificial intelligence models” from the software giant.

In his speech, Rama said he expects his new ministers to increase the pace of innovation, likening their role to that of a basketball coach who makes constant personnel and tactical shifts, rather than a football coach who makes just three substitutions in each match.

The PM wants Djella to “become the servant of public procurements”, all of which he wants conducted by AI, “making Albania a country where public tenders are 100 percent incorruptible and where every public fund that goes through the tender procedure is 100 percent legible.”

“This is not science fiction, but it is one of Djella's duties,” Rama added. “Djella's mandate will have neither geographical nor nationality limits, and the structure supporting it will have the authorization to hire here, or contract talents from all over the world.”

Albania’s constitution makes several mentions of “legal persons” and includes “a pledge to protect human dignity and personhood.” It also requires the PM to seek approval for ministerial appointments from the nation’s president, and for incoming ministers to swear before the president.

His excellency Bajram Begaj, for it is he who holds the office of president, will therefore have the final word on whether Djella can become a minister. ®