Image Source: FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto

The UN food agency is embedding artificial intelligence, real-time data, and digital tools across operations—from HR and waste reduction to food security risk monitoring

Over the past six years, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has quietly but decisively reinvented itself, placing digital transformation, data, and artificial intelligence (AI) at the heart of both its internal operations and its global mandate to build sustainable agrifood systems.

What began in December 2019 with the launch of Digital FAO, under the leadership of Director-General QU Dongyu, has evolved into a broad institutional reset—one aimed at moving the Organization from paper to process, from delays to delivery, and from incremental change to measurable impact.

Building an internal culture of innovation

At headquarters and across country offices, FAO’s Efficiency Roadmap has driven modernization across finance, procurement, logistics, human resources, and IT, cutting costs and turnaround times while improving service quality. Central to this shift has been a deliberate effort to embed innovation into daily workflows rather than confining it to pilot projects.

The ELEVATE incubator programme, now supporting 26 multidisciplinary teams, has emerged as a key engine of experimentation—encouraging staff across regions and functions to design, test, and scale new solutions.

Human resources has been an early testbed for AI adoption. Following the rollout of FAO CertusCare, a multilingual AI-powered HR chatbot providing 24/7 access to pensions, insurance, and staff entitlements, the Organization introduced its first Virtual Colleague, Ms FAO AI. Designed to support real-time decision-making for employees worldwide, the tool signals FAO’s ambition to use AI not as a novelty, but as operational infrastructure.

“With Ms FAO AI, we are entering a new era of operational excellence, service quality, and innovation,” QU Dongyu said, underscoring AI’s role in strengthening reliability and institutional agility.

FAO has also applied digital tools to sustainability within its own operations. OPTIWASTE, a data-driven system to identify and reduce food waste, is now deployed across FAO cafeterias and has been tested in school feeding programmes—linking internal efficiency with global food loss reduction goals.

Data, AI and capacity building for Member States

Externally, FAO’s digital push is reshaping how it supports governments and farmers. Anchored in its Science and Innovation Strategy, the Organization has expanded its role at the science–policy interface through geospatial platforms, real-time risk analytics, and AI-enabled advisory systems.

The Hand-in-Hand Initiative, launched in 2019, and its Geospatial Platform now provide countries with targeted, location-specific insights to guide investment and policy decisions. Complementing this, the Digital Villages Initiative—launched in 2021—has helped expand digital access and services in rural and agrifood systems, including tools such as Nepal’s “Tele Plant Doctor” app.

FAO has also strengthened global environmental intelligence through digital public goods such as the Global Map of Salt-Affected Soils and SOILFER, improving soil data, monitoring, and governance at scale.

A major leap forward came with the launch of the FAO Risk Monitor Platform, which integrates geospatial data, expert analysis, and automated alerts to identify food security risks in real time—enabling anticipatory and rapid responses to shocks ranging from droughts and floods to conflict-driven disruptions.

These capabilities are reinforced by the Liberia Situation Room at FAO headquarters, a high-tech monitoring hub tracking natural and man-made hazards worldwide. FAO’s leadership in this space was further recognized with its election as Chair of the UN Geospatial Network, a first for the Organization.

Shaping the future of agrifood innovation

Looking ahead, FAO is positioning itself as a global reference point for emerging agrifood technologies. The Agrifood Systems Technologies and Innovations Outlook (ATIO), launched at the Science and Innovation Forum in October 2025, offers an open-access, forward-looking assessment of technologies shaping food systems—helping policymakers and investors navigate complex choices.

Knowledge dissemination remains a cornerstone. FAO’s E-learning Academy, now serving over one million users, has become one of the UN system’s most accessible free learning platforms, reinforcing capacity building as a global public good.

Partnerships for scale and speed

FAO is also deepening innovation-led partnerships. A new Framework Agreement with the Asian Development Bank, signed in 2025, aims to unlock private sector investment and accelerate the adoption of digital, AI-enabled, and climate-resilient solutions across agrifood value chains.

Notably, FAO has emerged as a digital pioneer within the UN system, becoming the first UN agency to operate fully digitally—a capability that proved critical during the COVID-19 pandemic and now underpins its readiness for a rapidly evolving global landscape.

“By supporting FAO’s efficiency and digital workplace initiatives, we strengthen collaboration and service delivery across the UN,” QU Dongyu said. “It also enables us to pilot safe, practical GenAI applications that improve compliance, quality, and cooperation system-wide.”

Taken together, FAO’s digital transformation marks more than an internal upgrade. It reflects a strategic recalibration—one that positions data, AI, and innovation as essential tools in tackling food insecurity, climate risk, and sustainability at global scale. In an era of cascading shocks to food systems, FAO is betting that digital intelligence will be as critical as physical inputs in feeding the future.

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