AI Pioneers: Normalizing Estonia’s AI use through training, testing and transparency

2026-03-08

Not only do over half of all Estonians use AI daily, but on average, government employees are more likely than private sector employees to do so (37% v 25%). In this episode, Ott Velsberg, Estonia’s Government Chief Data Officer, explains how mandatory training, role-specific competencies and positioning AI as a productivity tool have normalized its use across the public sector. He tells Thomas Erwin, EY Government and Infrastructure AI Co-leader, how the government has put real-world ex...

Not only do over half of all Estonians use AI daily, but on average, government employees are more likely than private sector employees to do so (37% v 25%).

In this episode, Ott Velsberg, Estonia’s Government Chief Data Officer, explains how mandatory training, role-specific competencies and positioning AI as a productivity tool have normalized its use across the public sector. He tells Thomas Erwin, EY Government and Infrastructure AI Co-leader, how the government has put real-world experimentation before drafting policy and reformed AI funding to support testing hypotheses, not delivering outcomes. And he sets out how being transparent about how data is used and algorithms work can help build citizen trust.

This is the first in a miniseries featuring speakers from pioneering government organizations. 22 mins

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