Israel's New AI Forum Opens With Work and Income on the Agenda
President Isaac Herzog convened the first session of Israel's Beyond Intelligence forum on November 3. Its opening discussion focused on how artificial intelligence could change employment, income and economic security.
The initiative brings together the President's Office, the National AI Directorate in the Prime Minister's Office and the Mosaic Institute for AI Policy. At the first meeting, the link between work and household income took its place alongside Israel's ambition to lead in advanced technology.
A Forum on Livelihoods
The President's Office said the opening session examined economic and social resilience, the future labor market and the conditions for a dignified livelihood as employment changes. National AI Directorate head Erez Askal and Mosaic chairman Daniel Schreiber participated.
Herzog's chief of staff, Adaya Leibovich Tobe, leads the forum. Government representatives, academics, businesses and civil society are to contribute to an ongoing discussion and the formulation of guiding principles.
Herzog called for Israel to make AI leadership part of its strategic outlook. Askal said the forum would publish principles for public comment, opening its discussions to input from outside the participating institutions.
What Employers Had Already Reported
Earlier evidence gives the jobs discussion a concrete starting point. A survey published by the Israel Innovation Authority in January 2026 found that AI was changing working methods while its direct effect on overall employment remained limited at that stage.
Conducted by Zviran in December 2025, the survey included 263 employers from 192 technology companies. Some 52% of companies reported substantial AI integration in technological work, and 43% used such tools in other functions, including marketing, sales and operations.
The survey also found that 42% employed people in dedicated AI roles. Those included researchers, generative AI engineers, implementation specialists and compliance managers. The findings describe an earlier snapshot of company behavior, giving the new forum a baseline for examining how skills and jobs evolve.
Training Alongside Computing Capacity
In July, Askal presented elements of the national AI plan to a Knesset subcommittee. The parliamentary account described a training program under development for approximately four million workers, alongside plans for AI literacy in eighth grade and additional university degree programs.
These proposals place workforce preparation beside the infrastructure needed to run the technology. They also connect with the wider question of AI and cyber education: which skills people need before new systems become routine in their schools and workplaces.
The same presentation set a national target of 100,000 AI processors to be built by the private sector over several years, with the state acting as a customer. The target was presented as part of the plan, not as installed capacity.
Security and the Next Budget
Askal identified cybersecurity and safe AI among the fields in which Israel aims to lead. Questions about AI security therefore sit alongside the new forum's work on social and economic effects.
At the July hearing, he estimated that implementation would require about NIS 5 billion annually. He said a detailed multiyear plan with measurable objectives was to be completed by the end of 2026 in preparation for the 2027 state budget.
