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Digital transformation in the public sector is not only about adopting new technologies, but also about how technology helps people understand increasingly complex challenges. From policy analysis and program development to human capital capacity building, the need to work faster, more systematically, and based on evidence has become increasingly important in public decision-making.
Against this backdrop, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is beginning to be used as a tool to support more efficient analysis, information processing, learning, and recommendation development. Through Microsoft Elevate, two participants from different backgrounds show how AI can support everyday work in the public sector, from policy analysis to strengthening capacity on the ground.
Reading Policy Complexity
For Syaravina Lubis, a Legal Analyst consultant at an international organization focused on legal landscape analysis for healthy food environment policies, understanding public policy means understanding how regulations actually work in people’s lives. Her journey began when she served as an expert team member at the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) of North Sumatra Province, working on the development of regional regulations.
During her five years at the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD), Syaravina learned that policymaking is not only about drafting regulations, but also about understanding coordination dynamics, politics, negotiation processes, and how different interests can be brought together into policies that can be implemented. She later continued her work in the child protection sector, including supporting regulatory discussions related to child protection, such as violence in schools and child labor issues. Through these experiences, she saw that many policies require strong implementation support to work effectively in society. This long journey then shaped her perspective on food environment governance issues in Indonesia.
In her current role, Syaravina regularly reviews regulations related to fiscal policy, marketing restrictions for foods high in sugar, salt, and fat, as well as processed food packaging labeling. One of her key areas of focus is understanding how regulation and governance can help create a healthier food environment that supports better long-term public health outcomes. She also sees the importance of ensuring that existing policies are backed by implementing regulations, institutional coordination, and aligned implementation design.
This is where AI becomes relevant. For Syaravina, Microsoft Copilot is not merely a productivity tool, but a thought partner that helps organize ideas, explore policy possibilities, and accelerate her understanding of regulatory linkages. She uses it to structure initial thinking, compare policy approaches across countries, and gain a broader view of how a policy could be implemented in practice.
“Sometimes we already have the big picture in mind, but the ideas are not yet fully organized. AI helps me structure those thoughts more clearly and identify other aspects I may not have considered before,” she explained.
One of the things that most caught Syaravina’s attention is how understanding law and policy often requires a comprehensive reading across regulations and institutions. In practice, many rules are spread across different documents and levels of policy, meaning that to fully understand a single issue, one needs to examine laws, implementing regulations, technical policies, and budgetary implications together. For Syaravina, AI has the potential to make this analytical process faster, more structured, and more accessible, while preserving the critical role of human judgment in interpreting policy context.
Through Microsoft Elevate, her interest in AI-assisted analytical tools has continued to grow. She began developing an AI-based law governance analysis tool that can help identify regulatory gaps, map implementation needs, and align legal mandates with budget structures and government governance frameworks. For her, AI is not a decision-maker, but a tool that can help people think more systematically and open new perspectives in the policy analysis process.
Strengthening Capacity from the Field
While Syaravina uses AI to support policy and governance analysis, Janu Dwi Kristianto applies it to support learning, capacity building, and knowledge sharing on the ground. In his role at the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, he is involved in developing policy insights and strategic frameworks, while also supporting various technical activities with fisheries practitioners.
For Janu, advancing sustainable aquaculture practices requires not only the right policies, but also human resources who understand them and are able to implement them in the field. In technical aquaculture activities, his team often works with practitioners, fisheries students, and vocational school students who need clear and accessible learning materials. As a result, knowledge transfer has become an important part of his day-to-day work.
In various mentoring and training activities, Janu has observed that technical materials can often be difficult to understand when delivered only verbally or in an overly formal way. After joining Microsoft Elevate, he began using Microsoft Copilot to help develop learning modules, accelerate report writing, support risk analysis, and prepare materials that are easier for training participants and practitioners in the field to understand.
For Janu, AI helps speed up administrative and repetitive work, but final decisions still require human judgment. He sees technology as a tool to strengthen work capacity, not to replace the people who carry out the work.
Building More Adaptive Governance
Although they work in different fields, Syaravina and Janu share the same view: AI is not merely about technology, but about how people can work more adaptively amid increasingly complex challenges.
Through Microsoft Elevate, Microsoft, together with various partners, seeks to expand access for Indonesians to relevant, practical, and responsible AI skills across sectors. One of the initiatives under this effort is GARUDA AI, delivered in collaboration with BINAR to support AI capacity building in the government and public policy sectors.
For Syaravina and Janu, the experience has not only helped improve the efficiency of their day-to-day work, but also opened new ways of thinking about how technology can support coordination, strengthen human capacity, and help make decision-making processes more focused. From policy analysis to capacity building in the field, their experiences show that AI not only improves work efficiency, but also opens new ways to understand complex issues, manage information, and support decision-making. When used responsibly, AI can become a tool that helps the public sector work in a more adaptive, collaborative, and citizen-oriented way.