Bulgaria is at a crossroads in its digital transformation journey. While global summits like the 2025 Paris AI Action Summit hype AI as the silver bullet for government reform, a closer look at Bulgaria’s public sector reveals a more nuanced—and controversial—story. Despite robust policies and significant EU funding, Bulgaria faces major challenges that threaten to turn AI’s promise into an unfulfilled dream.
Concrete Achievements in Bulgaria’s Public Sector
Digital Public Services Leading the Way
Bulgaria has made impressive strides in digitalizing public services:
- DESI Score: Bulgaria scored 91.9/100 for digitalization of public services for businesses, surpassing the EU average of 85.4 (Digital Decade Country Report
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu).
- E-Government Initiatives: Key ministries—including the Ministry of e-Governance and the Ministry of Interior—are rolling out innovative e-services that enhance efficiency and citizen engagement, even as rural broadband coverage remains low (only 17% in rural areas; see OECD Public Sector Innovationoecd.org).
Bold Policy & Investment Commitments
Bulgaria’s commitment to AI is clear:
- National AI Strategy (2020–2030): This comprehensive strategy focuses on nurturing digital skills, establishing AI research centers, and creating a reliable regulatory framework aligned with the EU’s AI Act (Bulgaria AI Strategy Reportai-watch.ec.europa.eu).
- EU Funding Support: Under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, Bulgaria has allocated €1.6 billion for digital transformation, emphasizing broadband expansion, e-government, and digital skills improvements (Digital Transformation of Bulgaria 2020-2030mtc.government.bg).
The Data Revealing Bulgaria’s Digital Challenge
Despite these impressive figures, significant challenges persist:
- Digital Skills Gap: Only 35.5% of Bulgarians have basic digital skills compared to the EU average of 55.6% (Digital National Alliance digital-skills-jobs.europa.eu). This shortfall limits the potential of AI implementation across public services.
- Low AI Adoption in Business: While 54% of Bulgarian companies have adopted at least one AI technology, only 3.6% use AI compared to the EU average of 8% (World Bank Report worldbank.org).
- Infrastructure Disparities: Rural regions lag behind urban centers, further deepening the digital divide. The uneven rollout of high-speed broadband creates a two-tier system where only urban citizens fully benefit from AI-driven public services
The Controversial Twist: Overhype vs. Underimplementation
Global leaders at events like the 2025 Paris AI Action Summit claim that AI will revolutionize government—transforming public services overnight. However, Bulgaria’s experience suggests otherwise:
Real vs. Hype: Despite ambitious policies and EU-backed investments, the actual implementation of AI in government remains limited. In Bulgaria, AI is still in its early stages within the public sector, with many pilot projects yet to achieve nationwide scalability.
Skills and Infrastructure Barriers: The digital skills gap and uneven broadband coverage mean that even with state-of-the-art AI initiatives, a significant portion of the population may be left behind. This contradiction between high-level strategy and grassroots readiness calls into question whether AI in government is truly ready to deliver the promised benefits
Moving Forward: Strategic Recommendations
To bridge this gap and transform AI hype into real public value, Bulgaria must:
Invest Aggressively in Digital Skills: Expand training programs to raise basic digital literacy from 35.5% to at least the EU average of 55.6% within the next five years.
Enhance Rural Infrastructure: Prioritize funding for high-speed broadband in rural areas to ensure that all citizens benefit from digital innovations.
Strengthen Public-Private Partnerships: Leverage EU funds and national investments to support pilot projects and scale successful AI applications across all regions.
Implement Robust Monitoring and Evaluation: Use quantitative KPIs to continuously assess the impact of AI projects, ensuring that funds translate into tangible improvements in public services.
Conclusion
While Bulgaria’s public sector is making tangible progress toward digital transformation with AI, significant challenges remain—most notably the digital skills gap and infrastructure disparities. In a global environment rife with AI hype, Bulgaria’s experience offers a reality check: Without addressing foundational issues, the promise of AI-driven government may remain just that—a promise. By taking decisive action now, Bulgaria can transform its public sector into a model of efficiency, inclusion, and innovation.
