Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has been named one of the honourees on TIME Magazine’s annual TIME100 AI list for 2025. The list recognises 100 individuals who are shaping the future of artificial intelligence, including faith leaders, tech innovators, and government officials.
Other notable honourees include Pope Leo XIV, the leader of the Catholic Church, and Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE national security adviser and chair of G42. The list also features tech executives like Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, Fidji Simo, and Liang Wenfeng, highlighting AI’s reach across sectors.
Bosun Tijani’s inclusion on the list is due to his efforts in applying entrepreneurial experience to Nigeria’s tech policy. As minister, he leads the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program, which aims to provide skills training for 3 million Nigerians by 2027. The program has already trained nearly 300,000 people using a digital platform and 220 learning centres, and connects trainees to jobs through partnerships.
Pope Leo XIV’s inclusion on the list represents the intersection of faith and technology. In his inaugural speech, he described AI as a “new industrial revolution” that requires safeguards for human dignity, justice, and labour. The Vatican under his leadership has hosted conferences on AI, ethics, and corporate governance, and he has urged tech leaders to prioritise ethics.
Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan is driving the UAE’s AI ambitions as chair of G42, a firm building AI supercomputers through partnerships with Microsoft and Cerebras Systems. The UAE aims to become an AI superpower by 2031, and has invested heavily in AI infrastructure, including a $1.4 trillion investment in American AI infrastructure over the next decade.
The list also features other government figures advancing AI in developing nations, such as Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s Minister of ICT and Innovation, who sees AI adding at least 6% to the country’s GDP. The TIME100 AI list highlights the growing importance of AI in addressing global challenges, from economic development to ethical governance.
The selection process for the list involved nominations from experts and past honorees, and the full list is available on TIME.com. The list avoids ranking, instead grouping individuals by categories like leaders, innovators, and shapers. The inclusion of individuals from diverse backgrounds and sectors reflects the maturation of AI and its potential to address inequality, but also stresses the need for governance and ethics in the development and deployment of AI.
