H.H. Sheikh Mohammed unveils plan to run 50% government services on AI

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Thursday unveiled a two-year plan to transform 50 per cent of government services using AI agents.

In a post on social media platform X, Sheikh Mohammed said the new government model follows the directive of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

It aims to make "the UAE the first government globally to operate at this scale through autonomous systems",  

The plan is to achieve this by redesigning government policies, processes, and procedures based on AI capabilities, enabling smart systems to proactively and accurately perform tasks, contributing to reducing operational costs, enhancing productivity, and providing faster and more efficient services

The implementation of the model will be overseen by His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, with a dedicated taskforce chaired by UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammad Al Gergawi driving execution.

Sheikh Mohammed highlighted that "AI is no longer a tool. It analyses, decides, executes and improves in real time", adding that it "will become our executive partner to enhance services, accelerate decisions, and raise efficiency".

Sheikh Mohammed said that across the next two years, the "evaluation of ministers, directors-general, and all federal entities will be based on their ability to keep pace with this transformation, their speed in implementing the new standards for government work, their understanding of the new technological reality that the world is experiencing, and their skill in using artificial intelligence tools to create entirely new mechanisms for managing future government work".

"Every federal employee will be trained to master AI, building one of the world’s strongest capabilities in AI-driven government," His Highness added.

"The world is changing. Technology is accelerating. Our principle remains constant. People come first. Our goal is a government that is faster, more responsive, and more impactful."

Under the directives of the President of the UAE, we launch a new government model. Within two years, 50% of government sectors, services, and operations will run on Agentic AI, making the UAE the first government globally to operate at this scale through autonomous systems.

AI… pic.twitter.com/53OQLe7RXl

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) April 23, 2026

In 2010, the UAE government transitioned to e-government and digitized essential services. In 2013, the Smart Government initiative was launched, redefining the concept of government service by transferring it to mobile phones. 

By 2015, a large proportion of federal government services had become available through digital channels, supported by an advanced infrastructure that includes electronic payment systems and a unified digital identity system, most notably the “UAE PASS” platform, which has more than 13 million users and has contributed to unifying access to government services and simplifying digital verification procedures.

In 2017, the UAE appointed the world’s first Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence and launched the “UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence 2031”, which aims to integrate artificial intelligence into government work and the economy to a rate of up to 100% in the areas of services and analytics by 2031.

The government has also invested extensively in building national capabilities, with the number of programmers in the country exceeding 450,000, supported by national platforms aimed at promoting sustainable employment and linking competencies with job opportunities in the digital economy.