FAO in review: Digital transformation and new technologies at FAO

Figure: FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy - Meatless Monday Around the Globe: How young people can shape a healthier planet, a more sustainable food system and influence change.

© FAO /  Valeria Mottaran

FAO News December 29 2025 

Over the last six years, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has embarked on a transformative journey, strategically advancing its use of new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), to enhance both internal operations and the impact of its work on the ground. 

 An internal culture of innovation

FAO’s digital transformation journey began with the launch of the Digital FAO initiative on 1 December 2019, under the leadership of the Director-General QU Dongyu. The overarching goal was to modernize operations, moving from paper to process, from delays to delivery, and from ordinary to extraordinary.

Since then, through the FAO Efficiency Roadmap, the Organization has committed to reducing costs and time, becoming increasingly fit for purpose in strategic sectors such as finance, procurement, logistics, shared services, human resources, and information technology.

One of these initiatives is the ELEVATE incubator programme, which supports 26 multidisciplinary teams in developing, testing, and scaling new ideas. This fosters experimentation and cross-regional collaboration, ensuring that innovation becomes an integral part of FAO’s daily operations.

In human resources, AI is utilized among others to implement change management. Following the successful launch of FAO CertusCare, a multilingual, AI-powered chatbot offering FAO employees instant, around-the-clock access to critical human resources and social security information, such as pensions, medical insurance, and service-incurred compensation, the Organization introduced its first Virtual Colleague, Ms FAO AI. This digital companion supports FAO employees globally by helping them make informed decisions by providing real time answers to their questions.

“With Ms FAO AI, we are entering a new era of operational excellence, service quality, and innovation,” said the Director-General, emphasizing the potential for AI to enhance decision-making and service reliability.

FAO has also launched the digital tool OPTIWASTE to identify, measure, and reduce food waste across food services. OPTIWASTE has been implemented in all FAO cafeterias and tested in school feeding programmes.

See: https://www.fao.org/director-general/news/2025/digital-transformation-and-new-technologies-at-fao/en