UAE harnesses AI to deliver proactive, autonomous government services: Report

Abu Dhabi: Government services in the UAE are entering a new phase of digital transformation, with artificial intelligence (AI) applications evolving from providing information and answering enquiries to autonomously and proactively performing tasks and coordinating procedures, reducing transaction steps and saving customers time and effort. The shift is also enabling some recurring services to be completed without customers having to initiate requests manually each time. While some services are already completing transactions and others remain under development or are being prepared for public launch, the government services model aims to reduce the steps required of customers and expand the ability of systems to coordinate and execute procedures. Obtaining necessary approvals, protecting data, handling exceptions and maintaining human oversight where required remain essential elements of this transformation. Abu Dhabi's TAMM platform offers a tangible example through its TAMM AutoGov feature, which automatically renews certain licences and medical appointments without requiring customers to wait for expiry dates or initiate requests themselves. TAMM serves 3.8 million users through more than 1,150 government and private-sector services, processes 95% of requests using AI and has completed more than 1.9 million service cases through conversational AI. In October, Abu Dhabi's Department of Government Enablement launched GovGPT, an AI-driven knowledge agent and bilingual GenAI assistant tailored for government employees. In September, the Abu Dhabi Executive Council used an AI-powered meeting platform for the first time to analyse proposals and documents ahead of meetings and prepare executive and real-time summaries. In Ajman, the government announced in July the completion of the UAE's first government transaction to renew a trade licence using agentic AI. The process begins by notifying customers before their licences expire and directing them to an AI assistant through the Ajman One app. The assistant coordinates with the Department of Municipality and Planning when a commercial tenancy contract needs renewal before completing the trade licence renewal. In October, Ajman Government showcased a new generation of integrated services designed to complete procedures through a unified experience without switching platforms or searching for the required steps. These included commercial tenancy contract renewal integrated with trade licence renewal, an AI financial adviser helping employees and specialists access financial information, legislation and documents, and the OneClick assistant for business establishment and licensing at the Ajman Free Zones Authority. Building on this approach, the Ajman Free Zones Authority launched OneClick at AI Everything Abu Dhabi 2026 to facilitate business establishment and instant licence issuance. Through a single conversation, the assistant guides investors from defining their business concept and recommending suitable activities and packages to collecting information, verifying identity and compliance, processing documents, electronic signing and payment, and submitting and tracking applications through to licence issuance. In Dubai, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced that it had transformed 16 of its 21 services into AI-enhanced, autonomous services in less than 90 days, representing 76% of its total services, with plans to complete the remaining five within two months of the announcement. These included electricity and water activation, two services responding to technical reports and 13 services supported by the payment reconciliation framework. In the transport sector, Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) developed an updated version of its virtual assistant, Mahboub, using agentic AI to coordinate and execute interconnected services within a single conversation, such as paying vehicle fines before renewing registration. The initial phase targets vehicle registration renewal, fine payments, clearance certificate issuance and renewal of vehicle plate number reservations, using UAE PASS for identity verification and DubaiPay for payments. At the federal level, the UAE Cabinet approved a framework in May 2026 to expand the use of agentic AI, targeting the transformation of 50% of government sectors, services and operations into models based on these technologies within two years. The national programme included training 80,000 federal employees in agentic AI tools and announcing specialised assistants for procurement, tax auditing, customer happiness and technical support. On 22nd October 2026, the UAE Government launched the Agentic AI Application Lab for Government Services to enable ministries and government entities to identify priority services and develop, test and approve solutions in partnership with customers. The lab monitors user experiences and feedback, assessing service readiness and the quality of the customer experience before