Artificial intelligence is everywhere right now. Whatever the topic, the conversation eventually circles back to the same questions: Which model is the most powerful? Which company has invested the most? What will the next breakthrough use case be? The speed of progress is exciting, but it also brings a very human set of concerns. What will happen to my job? How will my data be protected? Can I really trust a decision made by a machine? That mix of optimism and unease is understandable. But amid all the excitement, one question is too often left in the background: who will govern this power, how, and with what level of responsibility?

For organizations, the real transformation is no longer happening only at the technology layer. Using a model or adding an AI tool to a workflow is increasingly within everyone’s reach. The real difference lies deeper, in the way decisions are made, responsibilities are defined and risks are managed. Who is accountable for the accuracy of an AI output? How can an algorithmic decision be explained? How should data, ethics and risk be governed? The answers to these questions will shape the next generation of competitive advantage.

This is where Türkiye has taken an important step. Published in the Official Gazette, the 2026-2030 Türkiye Artificial Intelligence Action Plan sets out the country’s roadmap for the next five years. What makes the plan stand out is not only the scale of its technology targets, but the way it places governance at the center of the discussion. In other words, the question is no longer simply whether we have AI. It is whether we can govern it in a reliable, transparent and accountable way.

Let’s look at what the plan actually sets out to do: where Türkiye wants to position itself in AI, which pillars support this ambition, and why the ability to govern AI is becoming more important than simply using it.

Türkiye’s AI Vision: From Consumer to Producer

Like any ambitious roadmap, Türkiye’s AI Action Plan starts with two simple but important questions: Where are we today, and where do we want to go? The distance between those two answers is, in many ways, the story of the next five years.

Türkiye is not starting from scratch. The groundwork has already been laid: AI courses have entered the national education agenda, data protection guidance has been published, the education ecosystem has grown, national computing infrastructure has been strengthened through TRUBA, and more than 100 AI projects have received support in recent years. TÜBİTAK BİLGEM’s Artificial Intelligence Institute has also expanded its institutional capacity, while Türkiye continues to align with international principles for trusted AI.

The targets are just as ambitious. By 2030, the plan aims to train more than 100,000 professionals, introduce AI courses in more than 50 universities, establish a trusted legal framework, reach 1 GW of installed computing power, provide 10 million GPU-hours of capacity each year, and scale AI growth zones, sector-specific models and exportable domestic solutions. One of its most strategic goals is the development of a shared large language model for Turkic languages.

Behind all these goals lies a single vision. Türkiye wants to position itself not merely as a country that consumes AI, but as a hub that develops trusted products and services, scales AI solutions across strategic sectors, and attracts investment and talent to the region. In other words, the goal is not just to have a seat at the table, but to help shape the rules of the game.

This is where the plan’s real ambition begins. Turning a vision of this scale into reality is not only about more models, more data centers or more experts. It requires a governance mindset that connects all these pieces, makes the right decisions at the right time, and keeps the process accountable. So we return to the same question: How will we govern this power?

From Vision to Action: The Four Pillars Holding the Plan Together

This is one of the plan’s strongest points. Türkiye’s AI Action Plan is not a broad statement of intent filled with abstract goals. It translates ambition into measurable, coordinated actions built around four core pillars: Discover, Benefit, Produce and Govern.

Together, these pillars describe a maturity journey: first understanding AI, then using it, then producing it, and finally governing it. Each pillar contains four prioritized actions, creating a total of sixteen concrete steps.

Discover prepares the ground by increasing AI literacy, developing skilled talent, building a healthy data ecosystem, and creating the legal and ethical framework needed for trust. Benefit focuses on making AI usable across society and the economy by expanding computing capacity, democratizing access to GPUs, transforming public services and launching sectoral pilots. Produce marks the shift from consumption to creation, with AI growth zones, research funds, sectoral foundation models, exports and domestic capacity in robotics and physical AI. Govern is where this power becomes meaningful at scale: through international cooperation, investment attraction, regional leadership and system-wide security.

The important point is that these pillars do not stand alone. The plan is supported by a layered architecture: energy at the base, followed by computing hardware, infrastructure, models and data, and finally the applications that citizens and organizations directly use. Talent, financing, regulation and trust cut across all layers. In this sense, governance is not just one pillar of the plan; it is the backbone that holds the whole structure together.

Türkiye’s AI Plan in Numbers

One of the clearest ways to understand the ambition behind a plan is to look at its numbers. Numbers are more than statements; they are commitments. Türkiye’s AI Action Plan sets out a striking scale: 10,000 advanced AI specialists, 100,000 AI application professionals, 1 GW of installed computing power, 10 million GPU-hours per year, $10 billion in private-sector-led investment, AI literacy training for 5 million citizens, AI courses in more than 50 universities, regulatory sandboxes in at least five strategic sectors, and a shared language model for Turkic languages.

These figures show that this is not a symbolic declaration of intent, but a mobilization effort with defined resources, timelines and scale. Yet there is one critical point: every one of these numbers only becomes meaningful if it is governed well. How will a $10 billion investment be monitored? Under which ethical framework will 100,000 professionals work? Who will be accountable for the use of such vast computing capacity? Without answers to these questions, even the biggest numbers remain incomplete. That is why we need to look at the heart of the matter: governance.

The Real Question: Can We Govern AI?

So far, we have looked at the plan’s vision, pillars and ambitious targets. But the most important part begins when these investments move from paper to practice. That is when the questions become sharper: Who is responsible for the accuracy of an AI-generated output? How will the reasoning behind an algorithmic decision be explained? How will data protection, intellectual property and ethical risks be managed? And perhaps most importantly, how ready are corporate policies and control mechanisms for this transformation?

These are not purely technical questions. They are governance questions. If building a model is an engineering challenge, being accountable for its outcomes is a management responsibility. This is what sets the plan apart from an ordinary technology document: it does not avoid these questions, it places them at the center. The Govern pillar and the broader approach to implementation, governance and transparency are Türkiye’s institutional answer to this challenge.

From Questions to Structure: An Accountable Governance Architecture

So how does the plan answer these questions in practice? Not through vague aspirations, but through clear roles, dedicated bodies and oversight mechanisms. At the top is the National Artificial Intelligence Board, the highest-level decision-making and coordination body. The Program Office under the Ministry of Industry and Technology monitors implementation, while the National Artificial Intelligence Ethics Board safeguards the ethical and social dimension. On the technical security side, the Cybersecurity Presidency and TÜBİTAK are part of the structure. In this model, decision-making, implementation, ethics and security are distinct, but designed to reinforce one another.

Two elements make this architecture especially important. The first is a responsibility matrix that clarifies who owns each action, who is accountable, and who needs to be consulted. The second is the National AI Progress and Transparency Portal, designed to show the public whether each action is on track in terms of targets, budget and timing. Progress and delays are not hidden; they are made visible. This is where accountability becomes concrete.

What About Organizations? From National Frameworks to Corporate Agendas

Now let’s pause and look at this from an organizational perspective. The government is building a national framework with boards, portals and oversight mechanisms to make AI governable. But when companies ask themselves the same questions, where do they stand?

This is not only Türkiye’s agenda. International discussions, from the United Nations to the Council of Europe, increasingly point in the same direction. AI can no longer be treated as a technology investment alone. Lasting value will belong to organizations that embed trust, transparency and accountability into their AI initiatives from day one.

The New Name of Competition Is Governance

Let’s return to where we started. Today, almost everyone is using AI. Having a tool or deploying a model is no longer a meaningful differentiator on its own. That is exactly why the real advantage has shifted. Competitive strength now depends on the ability to govern AI in a trusted, transparent and accountable way. What makes Türkiye’s AI Action Plan valuable is that it places this reality at the heart of the national roadmap.

It seems clear that #AIGovernance will become one of the most critical topics of the coming period. One question remains for all of us:

How ready are our organizations to govern AI?

This is where PEAKUP comes in. From Microsoft 365 Copilot to organization-specific AI solutions, we help organizations put artificial intelligence to work in a way that is trusted, transparent and accountable. Because the real difference is not just having AI, but knowing how to govern it.