The Bhutanese Leading the way.
In a small office in Thimphu, four human engineers are managing a workload meant for twenty, thanks to a digital workforce they built themselves.
NoMind Bhutan is one of Bhutan’s leading AI engineering companies led by a group of college students.
The company specializes in building and deploying AI-powered software for businesses and governments such as Chatbots and AI agents to manage heavy workloads.
The company currently runs on a dynamic team of four people. It also created seven independent AI agents as virtual employees harnessing the power of AI to improve services.
NoMind CEO Ugyen said, “We are a team of 4 so it’s hard to manage everything. That’s why we built seven AI agents that work 24/7 as virtual employees or assistants. It handles operations, some sales, tracking progress, and generating reports for financials, so we can focus mostly on decision making.”
Virtual employees solely serve the purpose of an additional support or an AI assistant to the employees working in the company.
The company has achieved notable success in providing AI-related services to government and private enterprises in the country by securing clients from companies such as Bank of Bhutan, Bhutan National Bank, National Land Commission, Drukair, and Bhutan Airlines.
In 2025, AI interactions grew to 140,000+ users, with over 725,000 AI interactions processed, reflecting strong adoption and rapid growth.
“Through NoMindBhutan, we have been able to build careers doing what we love, while also inspiring other young people to join us and create new opportunities together,” said Ugyen.
The young CEO said that they do pay their employees, just not like the pay scale of large corporations or government jobs. Moreover, NoMind provides Employee Share Option Plans (ESOPs) for their young and passionate employees.
He said, “The main reason we stay together and work here is the shared vision we all believe in.”
“We strongly believe AI can create meaningful employment in Bhutan, not by replacing jobs, but by creating new opportunities and enabling small teams to scale their impact,” Ugyen further said.
“At NoMind, we are already experiencing this by building careers around AI and creating opportunities for others to grow with us,” he added.
Another rising star in Bhutan’s AI development is a company called Jaggle.AI, spearheaded by another young and passionate CEO Jigme Tashi Namgyal.
Jaggle.AI is the world’s first GNH guided project management tool. They provide software as a Service (SaaS) to government agencies and private companies, for goal-setting and organizational project management.
The company has achieved tremendous milestones in establishing itself as an AI company.
Jaggle.AI was selected for the prestigious K-Startup Grand Challenge (KSGC), one of the world’s top accelerator programs, known for its acceptance rate as competitive as Harvard University’s.
Out of 3,000+ applicants from over 120 countries, Jaggle.AI secured a spot in the Top 1 percent, earning the opportunity to expand into the South Korean market.
The company has also signed two MoUs with international companies based in South Korea, with talks for more with Singaporean and Thai companies.
It also had the opportunity to work with the government of Azerbaijan to develop and gain feedback on the product.
Locally, the company has managed to raise over Nu 10 million (approx. USD 105,000) in total investments.
Jaggle.AI CEO Jigme said, “Including me, there are eight employees currently and one part-timer.
“At Jaggle.AI, we absolutely believe AI can create meaningful employment in Bhutan but only if we are intentional about it.” said Jigme.
“There are thousands of AI companies competing globally, and trying to out-muscle them on their own terms would be a losing battle. So we’re not doing that. Instead, we’re leveraging what is already unique to Bhutan, our philosophy, our values, our way of measuring success, to build something the world has never seen before,” he added.
Jigme said that they ensure their employees are well compensated, with attractive salaries even though they are a small startup.
He said, “Beyond that, we offer a range of additional benefits, including stock options, free meals, and daily snacks. We also place strong emphasis on workplace culture, celebrating small wins and creating an environment where people feel valued.”
“As a result, our team members are highly satisfied and tend to stay with us for the long term,” he added.
He mentioned that the reason why Jaggle.AI is building the world’s first GNH-guided project management tool is that the idea is mainly rooted in Bhutanese principles and identity.
He said, “In fact, our greatest competitive advantage is our identity. By leading with Gross National Happiness, we’re not just building another productivity tool, we’re offering the world a fundamentally different vision of what work should feel like.”
While some are focusing on AI automation and GNH-based project management, others are focused on democratising website creation services.
Light WebX (LWX) is a company that is fixated with the goal to make new technology products.
Their first product is called Sencill AI, which helps normal people make websites within minutes and deploy it online.
Bishal Dhakal, the CEO of LWX said that he made it so that non technical people don’t have to depend on a developer just to make a simple website.
He added that AI itself can’t create any meaningful employment, that it only serves as a tool to make things easier for people.
He said, “It has become really easy to start a company and build a product with AI. People still need to have a good idea and the desire to do it.”
“Ultimately, the solution to employment is many successful big private companies and if AI makes it easier to start a company and hire people then it may prove valuable to the Bhutanese job economy,” he added.
Government’s initiatives
The Government Technology (GovTech) Agency is also pushing efforts to strengthen AI development in Bhutan through continuous skilling programs and technical training programs.
So far, over 6800+ citizens have been trained in digital skilling programs, including specialized training in fields such as AI in governance, Data Engineering, Blockchain skills and many more.
The Agency is also looking to strengthen the digital ecosystem for tech startups and the digital market.
For the longer term, the agency targets 5,000 quality job creation, and targets Digital Economy contribution of USD 300 million to the nation’s economy by 2029.
The Department of Entrepreneurship and Employment (DoEE) said that they organize a range of entrepreneurship events and programs.
Programs such as the Springboard Plus, Jabchor 2.0 (an equity financing program), incubation support and DoEE-Loden Spring and Fall Calls are some programs that provide scale-up and funding support for startups including AI entrepreneurs.
Jaggle.AI and NoMind Bhutan were also supported by these schemes in its initial phases.
All in all, while the efforts are miniscule in comparison to other countries, it shows a promising future in AI and technology for a small nation, like Bhutan, who is proactively trying to catch up with the world.
