Dror Gill is a Generative AI consultant helping organizations use AI tools to increase efficiency and supercharge their operations. He has recently been on a visit to Albania, and Albanian Daily News had the opportunity to have an exclusive interview with him.

Answering ADN’s questions he spoke about his 30-year experience in technology companies, filling various roles including CTO, VP Product, VP Marketing and VP Strategy. A co-inventor of 37 granted patents and winner of the 2021 Technology and Engineering Emmy award, Dror has extensive experience in training and coaching executives and employees on ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies, and has conducted dozens of Generative AI presentations and workshops in Israel and Europe.

“Generative AI technologies are developing at a rapid pace, and in order to adopt them you need to be agile and move fast. Albania is a relatively small country in terms of population, so I thought it would be well suited to embrace these technologies and integrate them into the fabric of government and society,” said Mr. Gill.  

Regarding the meeting with the Prime Minister, Edi Rama he was very impressed by his forward looking thinking and strategic perspective and as Gill said he explained to him how Generative AI is developing at an exponential pace, and anyone who doesn’t adopt it will be quickly left behind. “He (Rama) also outlined the relationships he has developed with Mira Murati, CTO of OpenAI, and Safra Katz, the CEO of Oracle, which enables integrating these companies’ technologies into the Albanian ecosystem,” said the Israeli Generative AI consultant.

In addition he unveiled that in his meetings with Albanian government officials he proposed to brand Albania’s AI program as “AlbaniAI”. “This positioning reflects a commitment to be a region and world leader in adopting the latest AI technologies for the benefit of the people.”

So the Israeli Generative AI consultant thought that one of the major benefits which Generative AI can bring to the Albanian population is improved education. According to him, it is always a challenge to get access to the best teachers, especially in rural areas, and it is clear that the level of education influences the ability of individuals to both succeed personally and to contribute to society. “A second benefit for society is increased productivity and higher job satisfaction. Generative AI automates the mundane tasks which employees don’t like to perform, leaving them with the more creative and interesting part of their work. Recent studies have shown that companies who implemented Generative AI increased workforce productivity by 20-30%. This can make the Albanian companies more competitive in the market.”

Mr. Gill believed that other countries in the region could follow Albania’s lead in implementing AI for significantly accelerating the EU accession process. “My impression is that the team at AKSHI has acquired extensive experience in this field, and other countries can come and learn from Albania’s example,” said the Israeli Generative AI consultant, Dror Gill in the following interview:

Albanian Daily News: First of all, thank you Mr. Gill, for this opportunity to talk with you to share some opinions and impressions on your visit to Albania with the readers of Albanian Daily News. And the first interest is to know something more about your career, achievements and ambitions in your enterprise?

Israeli Generative AI consultant Dror Gill: I am the Founder and CEO of Gamdala, a company that provides Generative AI Transformation services to global organizations, helping them utilize AI tools to increase efficiency and supercharge their operations. We’ve conducted dozens of presentations, workshops and custom consulting projects to leading business, educational and governmental organizations in Israel and Europe. My background is 30 years of experience in technology companies, filling various roles including CTO, VP Product, VP Marketing and VP Strategy. I studied Electrical Engineering at the Technion - Israel’s Institute of Technology, co-authored 37 granted patents, and won a Technology and Engineering Emmy award for enabling smoother streaming of video over the Internet using perceptual video compression.

- Albania added to the list of the countries that you have selected to contribute to giving your expertise and training on various generative AI technologies. What motive pushed you to undertake such a project with this WB country?

- Generative AI technologies are developing at a rapid pace, and in order to adopt them you need to be agile and move fast. Albania is a relatively small country in terms of population, so I thought it would be well suited to embrace these technologies and integrate them into the fabric of government and society. I read about the collaboration between the government of Albania and OpenAI, for using GPT to take more than 4000 EU laws and translate them into Albanian as part of Albania’s application to become an EU member. This is a very-forward thinking and innovative project, so I was intrigued to understand more about this collaboration, and explore how Generative AI could be used further in different aspects of government processes.

- Which are your initial impressions on Albania and its people and especially youth interested in innovative technologies? Secondly, please could you unveil some details of the talks you had with PM Edi Rama during your visit to Tirana?

- My impression is that Albanians are very open and accommodating for new technologies and innovations, especially among the young Albanian technology entrepreneurs whom I met at the Beer Tech Tirana meet up. They seemed to be really at the cutting edge of adopting AI technologies for building startups and web services.

Regarding the meeting with the Prime Minister, I was very impressed by Mr. Rama’s forward looking thinking and strategic perspective. He explained to me how Generative AI is developing at an exponential pace, and anyone who doesn’t adopt it will be quickly left behind. He also outlined the relationships he has developed with Mira Murati, CTO of OpenAI, and Safra Katz, the CEO of Oracle, which enables integrating these companies’ technologies into the Albanian ecosystem.

I told the Prime Minister about Microsoft’s recently announced “ADVANTA(I)GE INDIA” program, which will provide 2 million people in India with AI skills by 2025, and Singapore’s National AI Strategy 2.0 program, which aims to strengthen its position as a global business and innovation hub by investing $743 million in AI over the next 5 years. I added that implementing similar programs in Albania can revolutionize the education system, and upskill the workforce for the new AI area.

- “I look forward to taking part in Albania's journey towards becoming AlbaniAI - a regional leader in implementing AI technologies for economic growth and improved quality of life.” How much do the capacities and potentials of Albania make possible that such a dream come true?

- In my meetings with Albanian government officials I proposed to brand Albania’s AI program as “AlbaniAI”. This positioning reflects a commitment to be a region and world leader in adopting the latest AI technologies for the benefit of the people. The ability of Albania to innovate and execute digital transformation programs quickly has been proven by bringing all government services online in a very short time period, in perfect timing for the Covid crisis.

I heard in my meeting at the National Agency for Information Society (AKSHI) that this was done under direct instructions from the Prime Minister himself, who had the vision that successful implementation can only be achieved by setting a tight deadline, and transforming all services at once.

Whenever I do a Generative AI transformation project in an organization, I make sure that it has support from the top level of leadership - the CEO or General Manager. Otherwise, the chances of success are significantly reduced. The fact that your Prime Minister is a strong believer in Artificial Intelligence technologies and their potential to benefit the country is one of the key enablers to realizing this vision which can bring growth and prosperity to the people.

- As a follow up which will be the concrete profits, especially for the benefit of majority of the Albanian population, from such a project?

- I think one of the major benefits which Generative AI can bring to the Albanian population is improved education. It is always a challenge to get access to the best teachers, especially in rural areas, and it is clear that the level of education influences the ability of individuals to both succeed personally and to contribute to society. Generative AI technologies enable personalized private tutors, which explain the classroom material at any level, and can let each student learn at their own pace. Language is no longer a barrier, as the tools can “speak” Albanian natively. For teachers, tests can be quickly produced, rich lesson plans can be easily created, and the more innovative teachers can even use Generative AI to write software for interactive educational games. The potential for high quality, personalized education anywhere is really immense.

A second benefit for society is increased productivity and higher job satisfaction. Generative AI automates the mundane tasks which employees don’t like to perform, leaving them with the more creative and interesting part of their work. Recent studies have shown that companies who implemented Generative AI increased workforce productivity by 20-30%. This can make the Albanian companies more competitive in the market. And upskilling the workforce has benefits not just for today, but also for tomorrow: As the pace of change increases, getting a head start on knowing the tools and how to use them is essential for survival in tomorrow’s AI-centric world.

- Lastly, could the ‘leading role’ in generative AI of Albania lead to more regional cooperation in such a field and others related to it for the WB countries to give an impetus to the EU accession process of them?

- I believe that other countries in the region can follow Albania’s lead in implementing AI for significantly accelerating the EU accession process. My impression is that the team at AKSHI has acquired extensive experience in this field, and other countries can come and learn from Albania’s example.