Not elected, not human—Albania’s AI minister sparks a new governance debate.
Updated
June 10, 2026 3:36 PM
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Promotional avatar graphic representing Diella, the Albanian government's artificial intelligence system. PHOTO: EALBANIA
Artificial intelligence already supports a wide range of applications, from medical diagnostics and financial systems to logistics, manufacturing, defence and public service delivery. Now, it is starting to move closer to public office.
In January 2025, Albania introduced Diella, an AI-powered virtual assistant developed by the National Agency for Information Society, known as AKSHI, with support from Microsoft. Launched on the e-Albania platform, the government’s digital services portal, Diella helps citizens and businesses access official documents and services through voice assistance. She can also issue electronically stamped documents, which helps speed up administrative processes.
Then, in September 2025, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that Diella would join his cabinet as the “Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence”. This move drew global attention. It also raised a simple question: what does it actually mean for a government to appoint an AI minister?
The case raises bigger questions for governments everywhere. Can an AI minister make public services faster and cleaner? Or does it create new risks around transparency, accountability and control?
Diella is not a humanoid robot sitting in a cabinet room. On screen, she appears as a digitally rendered woman wearing traditional-style Albanian clothing. Her name means “sun” in Albanian, a deliberate choice for a system meant to bring more light into public administration.
Her face and voice have become part of the controversy. Albanian actor Anila Bisha has said she agreed for her likeness to be used for the e-Albania public services platform, but not for a cabinet-level political role. In 2026, she took legal action to stop the government from using her image and voice for Diella. For now, the government has denied wrongdoing.
Diella began as a digital assistant on e-Albania. In that role, she helps users find services, request documents and navigate government processes online. For citizens, that can make public services feel less confusing. Businesses may also spend less time dealing with paperwork.
Her cabinet role is more political. The government wants Diella to support public procurement, where companies compete for government contracts. This is one of the most important areas of public spending. It is also one of the easiest places for corruption, favouritism and hidden influence to enter. The goal is to use AI to process information, check documents, support tender procedures and make the system more traceable.
That said, the government has emphasized that Diella is not replacing elected officials or civil servants. As per Enio Kaso, director of AI at AKSHI, each stage will be monitored and approved by human experts.
In May 2026, the Albanian government said it had completed the technical groundwork for the AI-powered public procurement system under the Diella project. The planned system would pull data from more than 40 digital public registries, reduce paperwork for businesses and support parts of the tender process. Earlier reports said the government hoped to have the full system ready by the end of 2026.
The government’s case for Diella is built around anti-corruption reform. Rama has said the goal is to “wipe out every potential influence on public biddings” and thus make public tenders “100% free of corruption”. That is a bold promise, especially in a country where procurement scandals have long damaged public confidence and complicated Albania’s path toward European Union membership.
At first glance, the logic is easy to understand. AI does not ask for bribes or favour a cousin—a big problem in the country, according to Rama—a friend or a political ally. It can apply the same rules across a large number of applications. Moreover, it can also leave a digital trail, which should make later review easier.
Some anti-corruption and governance experts see real potential in that approach. Dr. Andi Hoxhaj of King’s College London has said that if used well and programmed properly, AI could help procurement officials spot missing documents, check whether companies meet eligibility requirements and flag unusual patterns in bids. In practice, that could make the process more consistent and make it harder for individual officials to quietly bend rules.
Diella’s appeal is speed and consistency. Her weakness is dependence.
Like any AI system, Diella relies on the quality of the data, rules and models behind her. Erjon Curraj, an expert in digital transformation and cybersecurity, has warned that incomplete, outdated or biased data can lead to flawed results. Poor design could also cause the system to reject a valid supplier, miss signs of collusion or treat similar cases differently for reasons that are hard to explain.
In public procurement, those mistakes can have serious consequences. A wrongly flagged company could lose a major contract, and a corrupt bidder could slip through. Government agencies could hide behind the AI and say the system made the recommendation.
That leads to the biggest question: who is accountable when something goes wrong?
The answer cannot be “the AI” because Diella cannot resign. She cannot face voters. Nor can she be cross-examined in any meaningful human sense. Accountability has to sit with ministers, agencies, auditors and courts.
There is also the issue of transparency. If Diella is helping screen tenders, businesses need to know what criteria are being used. They also need a way to challenge incorrect decisions. Citizens should be told whether the AI is making recommendations or merely organizing information. Independent auditors need access to logs, data sources and decision pathways.
Without those safeguards, AI in government can become a black box. It may look modern from the outside, while making power harder to question.
Diella has also become a political symbol. Supporters see her as proof that a small country can move quickly and experiment with new forms of digital government. Critics see her as a distraction from deeper problems in Albania’s institutions.
Both readings can be true at the same time: Diella may help modernize public services, but she may also be used to project reform while older problems continue in the background.
That tension became clearer after the recent procurement investigations involving senior officials since Diella’s appointment. Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku has been accused by prosecutors of alleged misconduct linked to infrastructure tenders, which she denies. Senior figures at AKSHI, the agency behind Diella and e-Albania, have also been placed under house arrest as part of a separate public procurement investigation.
While these developments do not automatically discredit Diella, they may strengthen the argument for better digital oversight. More importantly, they also show that technology cannot carry the whole burden of reform.
If the institutions around an AI system are weak, the AI will not magically make them strong. Unclear procurement rules will still cause problems, and the process will still be compromised when political pressure shapes the data, the model or the final decision.
After all, AI can support integrity; it cannot replace it.
While Diella is already a public symbol of AI in government, her most important procurement role is still taking shape. This makes Albania’s experiment both ambitious and unfinished.
The more realistic model is simple: let AI handle repetitive, data-heavy administrative work. Let humans retain authority where judgment, context and public accountability matter.
That means AI can help draft tender criteria, check documents, summarise bids and flag risks. Human officials should still make final decisions, explain those decisions and take responsibility for them. Meanwhile, independent bodies should be able to audit the process, and businesses should have a clear appeal route when they believe the system has made a mistake.
Diella once said she felt “hurt” while responding in parliament to claims that her role was unconstitutional. While this made for a memorable moment, it is important to remember simulated emotion is not consciousness, speed is not wisdom, and pattern recognition is not moral judgment.
Albania’s AI minister is therefore neither a triumph nor a failure at this stage. She is a live test case. Other governments will be watching closely, especially as public services become more digital and more automated.
The lesson is not that AI should stay out of government, but that AI must enter government carefully. The technology needs clear limits, public oversight and human accountability.
Diella may help Albania build a faster and cleaner procurement system—or she may become a warning about giving too much symbolic power to systems people do not fully understand. The final judgment will not come from the title “AI minister”. It will come from what the system does, who controls it and whether citizens can trust the results.
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From driving social change to making luxury affordable — Lessons from The Body Shop India
Updated
January 30, 2026 11:43 AM
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The Body Shop's storefront. PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
The Body Shop, known worldwide for its ethical values and cruelty-free beauty products, has had very different results in two of its major markets. In the United States, challenges such as shifting retail trends and tougher competition led to the closure of most physical stores in early 2024. Meanwhile, in India, The Body Shop has risen to become one of its top five global markets. After reaching customers in more than 1,500 Indian cities through its omnichannel network, the company now plans to double its 200-store footprint over the next three to five years.
So what did The Body Shop do in India that proved harder to pull off in the U.S.? Below, we break down why The Body Shop struggled in the U.S., what’s driving The Body Shop India’s growth and what startup founders can learn from the contrast.
In March 2024, The Body Shop’s U.S. unit filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and stopped operating its roughly 50 stores. That move effectively ended its brick-and-mortar presence in the country.
A big part of the story is that the U.S. beauty market moved faster than The Body Shop did. Prestige beauty kept growing, and shoppers increasingly gravitated to retailers and brands that feel current and have a strong online presence. Paul Dodd, Chief Innovation Officer at e-commerce fulfilment partner Huboo, have pointed to The Body Shop’s slow approach to digital growth as a major factor behind its decline. With U.S. prestige beauty sales reaching about US$33.9 billion in 2024 and growing at 7% year over year, the demand is clearly there. The brands that stand out and get rewarded were the ones that matched how people now discover products and buy them.
The company also leaned too heavily on stores at a time when stores were getting harder to run. When foot traffic drops and rents rise, the pressure shows up quickly. Shoppers also had more places to go, including Sephora, Ulta, Amazon and direct-to-consumer sites. A similar pattern played out in Canada, where restructuring included store closures and halted e-commerce. It was another sign that North America had become an operational headache, not just a marketing challenge.
Then there’s the branding issue: its “ethical pioneer” position simply stopped being a moat in the U.S. market. Today, cruelty-free and vegan claims are now table stakes across many newer brands, and “clean beauty” messaging is everywhere. “Initially, the purpose-driven brand was revolutionary, so much so that competitors like Drunk Elephant have adopted a similar ethos,” says Dan Hocking, Chief Operating Officer at advertising agency TroubleMaker. “It was a concept that rightly earned success in the 80s and 90s, but The Body Shop didn’t adapt to changing consumer habits and preferences”. Meanwhile, competitors like Lush have kept people talking through stronger creator/influencer marketing, faster product cycles and more immersive in-store experiences.
Internal disruption likely made the turnaround even harder. Reporting on the U.S. bankruptcy points to instability, including the U.S. unit saying it did not have advance notice of decisions tied to the U.K. parent’s restructuring. When leadership decisions land without warning, it becomes harder to plan inventory, fund marketing and commit to a clear digital roadmap.
1. Expansion into tier 2 and 3 cities
For years, India’s beauty industry focused mainly on metropolitan cities. Today, however, increasing internet penetration, rising disposable incomes, exposure to global beauty trends and an appetite for ethical, sustainable brands have fuelled demand in smaller towns. That tailwind matters because India’s beauty and personal care market is expected to reach a gross merchandise value (GMV) of US$30 billion by 2027 and is projected to grow at roughly an 10% CAGR. There’s plenty of room for both premium and “affordable luxury” players that can meet consumer where they are.
The Body Shop has leaned into this shift. Harmeet Singh, Chief Brand Officer of The Body Shop Asia South, has said the brand is expanding into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities with a focus on central and Northeast India. Reports also point to a clear advantage here: more than 200 stores across dozens of cities, plus online reach into over 1,500 cities. That foundation makes non-metro expansion feel like the next move, not a risky leap.
2. Omni-channel retail strategy for beauty shoppers
Unlike its U.S. front, The Body Shop India has put effort into digital and distribution. Besides its own online store, customers can find the brand on big beauty and retail platforms like Nykaa, Amazon, Flipkart, Tatacliq and Myntra. It has also built more direct routes to purchase through WhatsApp, social commerce, expert chats and live video consultations. For even faster access, it’s on quick-commerce apps like Blinkit and Swiggy.
This strategy is already showing up in the numbers. Nearly 30% of The Body Shop India’s business came from digital channels as of June 2025. Rahul Shanker, Chief Executive of The Body Shop India, has said the brand wants to lift online revenue to 45–50% of total sales by 2030.
This approach lines up with what’s happening in the market. NielsenIQ data found beauty e-commerce and quick-commerce sales in India rose 39% in value between June and November 2024, with offline growth over the same period being just 3%. The logic is simple: if the market is moving online, you want to be easy to buy online.
3. Inclusivity, accessibility and social impact
The Body Shop’s people-first approach shows up not just in its marketing, but in how it runs the business day to day. Inside the company, it has pushed gender sensitivity across teams. Out of 600 employees, it has 10 staff members who are part of the LGBTQA+ spectrum.
In stores, the brand has worked on improving accessibility. In 2024, The Body Shop India launched a Braille initiative for visually impaired customers. The programme introduced Braille category callouts in select locations so shoppers can navigate more independently.
On the sustainability side, the brand ties its message to its supply chain. An example is its long-term partnership with Plastics for Change, a Bengaluru-based social enterprise, to source “Community Fair Trade” recycled plastic for packaging. The collaboration has resulted in more predictable income, safer work and better access to social services and housing and education projects for the waste picker communities, which often include marginalized groups and women.
The same intent can also be seen in its physical retail. The Body Shop India has been converting stores into its “Activist Workshop” format, where everything is made from recycled materials, including store fixtures and interiors. By mid-2024, it had around 20 Activist Workshop stores in India.
4. Pricing that fits the Indian beauty market
In April 2025, The Body Shop India launched its “More Love for Less” campaign to make products more accessible. Through the campaign, the company lowered the prices of more than 60 best-sellers by 28–30%. The goal was to remove a clear barrier for many shoppers while maintaining the same quality.
The company has also positioned this as a pricing reset, not a short-term discount push. It’s meant to widen the funnel, especially among younger consumers aged 18–25, where price has been a major hurdle. That matters even more as the brand expands deeper into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where value is often front and centre.
5. Local marketing that feels made for India
The Body Shop India has leaned into localized marketing in a way that feels specific, not generic. In late 2024, it launched “The India Edit”, a collection inspired by native ingredients like lotus, hibiscus, pomegranate and black grape. The tagline, “Only in India, for You,” makes the intent clear: India is not a copy-paste market. This approach matters because India is one of the most competitive beauty battlegrounds right now, with ongoing entry from global beauty brands. When everyone is fighting for attention, local storytelling helps The Body Shop stand out and feel closer to the customer.
The Body Shop’s story in the U.S. and India shows how differently a global beauty brand can perform depending on local strategy. In the U.S., it ran into a tough mix of fast-changing consumer habits, heavy competition and a liquidation process that left little room to rebuild. In India, the brand is riding big tailwinds in beauty retail growth, plus the shift to e-commerce and quick commerce. It has also put real effort into localization, pricing and omnichannel distribution.
If you’re trying to scale a consumer brand, there’s a clear takeaway here. Understand how your market shops, build strong digital distribution and make the brand feel local. The Body Shop India’s playbook is a useful example of how to do it.