UAE Government Targets AI-Powered Operations Rollout Across Half Its Services by 2026

The UAE has set a two-year deadline to embed autonomous artificial intelligence systems across half of its government operations, services and sectors, according to plans unveiled by the Higher Committee for Agentic AI this week. Officials describe it as the world’s first comprehensive government-wide deployment of Agentic AI technology at this scale.

The operational backbone for this shift is the Federal Agentic AI Technology Platform, known as FedAI. It will serve as the common infrastructure layer for federal entities developing and rolling out AI solutions. Through a unified access point called the National AI Gateway, government agencies will draw on multiple AI models, both commercial and open-source, all hosted within the UAE’s sovereign infrastructure. The architecture is designed to remain flexible, allowing new models to be integrated as they become available.

Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications and chairman of the Agentic AI and Data Technology Track, framed the initiative as part of a broader shift toward what he called a proactive government model. “The Agentic AI Project represents the world’s first comprehensive government-wide initiative of its kind to adopt Agentic AI technologies across government,” he said. The effort aims to accelerate decision-making, boost efficiency and strengthen the UAE’s technological readiness across public administration.

The workshop that brought together government leaders, Chief AI Officers and representatives from federal entities focused directly on the infrastructure and coordination challenges ahead. Participants reviewed five main operational tracks: government operations and institutional support, strategic government work, service delivery, technology and data systems, and workforce capacity building. Officials also examined the technical and governance requirements guiding implementation, including data governance protocols, platform specifications and the integration of existing government systems.

A standardized assessment framework emerged as a key operational component. A self-assessment mechanism based on technical and operational criteria will determine whether deployed systems meet Agentic AI requirements. This approach, officials indicated, will help ensure consistent implementation across government while maintaining governance oversight and supporting what they described as safe and responsible AI deployment.

Meanwhile, the workshop showcased more than 10 technology companies and vendors whose solutions are supporting the transition. The breadth of vendor participation signals the scale of the procurement and integration work required to meet the two-year target. The Agentic AI Project itself sits within the larger UAE Government 4.0 initiative, which frames AI adoption as part of a comprehensive modernization of public sector operations.

The core challenge is whether the data infrastructure, technical systems and coordination mechanisms can be built and deployed quickly enough. The workshop’s focus on strengthening inter-entity coordination and preparing data and infrastructure systems suggests officials recognize these as the critical bottlenecks. Whether the FedAI platform, the National AI Gateway and the governance frameworks can be operationalized at the pace and scale required to transform half of government operations within two years remains the central question the next phase of implementation will have to answer.