The Dubai AI Festival 2025 continues to position itself as a platform for transformational ideas and policy-driven innovation. Among this year’s key speakers is Kaustubh Dhavse, Joint Secretary in the Government of Maharashtra and Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Chief Minister—a pivotal figure in India’s governance ecosystem and a champion of data-driven infrastructure delivery.
As the head of the Chief Minister’s War Room, Dhavse has become instrumental in shaping how India’s second-most populous state leverages intelligence, coordination, and monitoring frameworks to execute high-impact infrastructure and development projects.
Architect of Maharashtra’s Execution Engine
Kaustubh Dhavse leads the CM’s War Room, a powerful unit that serves as a centralized task force for the monitoring and fast-tracking of critical infrastructure projects across Maharashtra. This includes transportation, energy, urban development, digital infrastructure, and public service modernization.
The War Room model—conceptualized as a data-powered, outcome-focused governance unit—has become a hallmark of Maharashtra’s administrative innovation. Under Dhavse’s leadership, it uses real-time analytics, performance dashboards, and inter-departmental coordination to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks, ensure accountability, and accelerate delivery timelines.
Technology as a Catalyst for Public Impact
Known for bringing a startup mindset into government, Dhavse has consistently advocated for the integration of AI, data analytics, and emerging technologies to improve decision-making and governance outcomes. He represents a new generation of civil servants focused on evidence-based policy, agile implementation, and citizen-first governance.
His role extends beyond policy to on-ground transformation—bridging the gap between vision and execution with a focus on scale, equity, and efficiency.
Keynote at Dubai AI Festival 2025: AI for Infrastructure Governance and Smart Public Delivery
At the Dubai AI Festival 2025, Kaustubh Dhavse will deliver a keynote titled “AI and Governance: Accelerating Public Infrastructure with Intelligence.” His session will explore:
- Maharashtra’s model of centralized, tech-enabled project management
- The integration of AI in infrastructure monitoring and citizen services
- Lessons from using data intelligence to drive multi-stakeholder coordination
- The future of smart governance in emerging economies
His perspective will resonate deeply with government officials, civic tech innovators, infrastructure developers, and global policymakers exploring how to modernize public systems in the AI era.
A Leader at the Crossroads of Policy, Technology, and Delivery
Kaustubh Dhavse exemplifies the potential of forward-thinking public administration. Through his role in Maharashtra, he has helped redefine how governments can think strategically, execute rigorously, and lead with transparency in the age of intelligent systems.
Kaustubh Dhavse’s keynote at the Dubai AI Festival 2025 will offer rare insights into how AI is not only reshaping businesses, but also reinventing how governments plan, build, and serve.
