AI experts in the UAE have welcomed the announcement of a new government model in the country, which will see half of all federal sectors, services and operations run on Agentic AI within two years.
Agentic AI is a more advanced type of Artificial Intelligence that can work on its own to plan, carry out, and improve tasks to reach a goal. It looks at a situation, decides the best next steps, and gets better over time.
According to experts, the most significant change for residents will be what they no longer have to do. Jessica Constantinidis, Innovation Officer EMEA at ServiceNow, described the shift as government working around the individual rather than the other way around. “The lived experience shifts from dealing with government to government working around you,” she said. “The UAE isn’t automating government. It’s rearchitecting the relationship between the country and its people, with AI as the connective tissue.”
She added that services will become proactive. “Your residency renewal is initiated before you remember it’s due. Single-interaction resolution with one touchpoint, all agencies coordinated behind the scenes.”
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced the directive on Thursday, stating that AI was no longer a tool but has become an “executive partner to enhance services, accelerate decisions, and raise efficiency.”
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Invisible government
This move would make UAE the first government globally to operate at this scale through autonomous systems. Sumeet Agrawal, VP of Product Management at Informatica from Salesforce, called the outcome the “invisible government.”
“Bureaucratic friction vanishes because the system is designed to anticipate needs—whether business licensing or residency renewals—and execute them securely in the background,” he said. “The UAE is effectively launching the world’s first autonomous operating system for a nation.”
Hetarth Patel, Vice President MEA, Americas & Asia Pacific at WebEngage, said the transition represents a fundamental shift in government-citizen relations. “This will not be one large AI system replacing government,” he said. “It will be a network of coordinated AI agents embedded across functions, with each ministry running systems that operate as digital coworkers handling approvals, compliance checks, citizen communication, fraud detection, and service orchestration.”
Vasudha Khandeparkar, a senior AI expert in the UAE, explained that the change moves government from fragmented processes to connected journeys. “If you are building a villa today, you are dealing with developer guidelines, municipality approvals, utilities like Dewa, and multiple consultants,” she said. “In an AI-led setup, much of this gets handled in the background. You would know upfront if your design aligns with regulations, how long approvals will take, and where delays might happen.”
She added that choosing schools will also become simpler. “You could get a shortlist based on location, fees, KHDA ratings and seat availability, rather than navigating it all manually. It shifts the burden from the resident to the system.”
‘From days to minutes’
Karan Gupta, senior partner at EY-Parthenon said Agentic AI removes human bandwidth as the bottleneck. “Services can operate around the clock, apply policy consistently at scale, and cross-reference data across departments in real time without requiring people to navigate multiple touchpoints,” he said. “A trade licence, a visa renewal, booking healthcare appointments—transactions that today involve forms, queues, and follow-up calls could be handled by an AI agent in a single session, at any hour.”
Sid Bhatia, Area VP at Dataiku, echoed the speed gains. “Expect faster, more consistent, and proactive services, reducing processing times from days to minutes and enabling systems to act before citizens even need to apply.”
Hetarth added that the rollout itself will set a global benchmark. “It will require blueprints for communicating with residents who expect clarity on how decisions are made, how data privacy is handled, and the ability to escalate to a human when needed.”
Challenges
The move comes with its own set of challenges. According to Sam Tayan, Regional Vice President of META at Illumio, this shift also changes the cybersecurity equation. “As AI agents become part of critical workflows, government environments will become more connected and more dynamic,” he said. “Systems will need to communicate with each other at greater speed, across more data sources and applications. That creates opportunity, but it also increases the importance of visibility and control.”
Karan said the UAE is making a definitive bet with this bold move. “The UAE is explicitly betting it can get there first, making this an exciting place to be.”
Jessica concluded with a direct question for governments worldwide. “The question for every government watching is no longer ‘should we?’ It’s ‘how far behind can we afford to fall?’”
Source: Khaleej Times