SDG 4: Quality Education
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Institutions: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology; Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
The FAO Director-General, Qu Dongyu, has launched CertusCare, an AI-powered HR chatbot that marks a pivotal stride in FAO’s digital transformation journey. Born from the Human Resources Division in collaboration with FAO’s Digital FAO and Agro-Informatics teams, the tool is multilingual, mobile-friendly, and integrated into FAO’s digital workplace, providing 24/7 support to staff across all offices worldwide. Qu described it as combining “certus” - Latin for “reliable” - with “care,” reflecting its user-centric design.
CertusCare exemplifies FAO’s shift from the earlier "Digital FAO" efforts to a new phase powered by AI. The tool embodies innovation, service excellence, and accessibility while emphasizing that human oversight must accompany AI deployment. Staff are encouraged to use, test, and provide feedback on the chatbot, including on simple or "dumb" queries, to drive iterative improvements. Qu highlighted that this pilot is the beginning of a learning journey toward broader AI-enabled services, anticipating enhancements by year-end, including new AI features and big data support - all aimed at fostering a smarter, more reliable, and caring organization.
Relevant question for policy stakeholders: How might Indian public sector institutions adapt an AI-driven HR assistant model like CertusCare to enhance service delivery, ensure inclusive user experience, and maintain human oversight in civil service operations?
Follow the full news here: