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UAE Prime Minister and Dubai ruler H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced a major overhaul of the federal government on Thursday, saying the country plans to convert 50% of government sectors, services and operations to self-executing “Agentic AI” models within two years.
In a post on X, Sheikh Mohammed said the move was being launched at the direction of the UAE president, in a push he described as an effort to make the UAE government “the world’s first in transforming its sectors and services into self-executing and self-leading AI models.”
H.H added that the new framework would go beyond using artificial intelligence as a support tool and place it at the center of government execution.
AI will be our governmental executive partner in supporting decisions, improving services, enhancing operational efficiency, and even evaluating results and making improvements in real time.
2-Year Timeline and Performance Evaluation Set for Ministries and Federal Entities
Sheikh Mohammed said the transformation would be governed by a strict timetable: “We have a specific deadline to accomplish this transformation in accordance with the directives of the President of the State—may God protect him—and it is two years.”
He added that the performance of ministers, general managers, and federal institutions during that period would be judged by how quickly and effectively they adapt to the new model.
That assessment, he said, would hinge on “their ability to keep pace with this transformation, their speed in applying the new standards for governmental work, and their skill in using AI tools to create entirely new mechanisms for managing future governmental work.”
Federal Workforce to Undergo AI Training
A central pillar of the initiative will be retraining the federal workforce, with Sheikh Mohammed saying the government intends to prepare all employees to work in an AI-driven system rather than be displaced by it.
“As we will transform all federal government employees to become experts in this field through continuous specialized training,” he wrote, adding that the aim was to ensure staff are “capable of embracing this transformation.”
H.H. also said the government would bring in top specialists to support the effort, describing the project as “the largest governmental transformative project over the next two years.”
Leadership Takes Charge of Rollout
H.H. said the initiative would be overseen by the leadership as the government moves ahead with implementation.
“My brother, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, will oversee the realization of my brother, the President of the State—may God protect him—in this important governmental transformation,” he said, adding “we have formed a working team chaired by Mohammed Al Gergawi to follow up on implementation under His Highness’s supervision.”
Government Model Framed Around Speed, Impact and Human Development
Sheikh Mohammed presented the shift as part of a broader redesign of how government should function in a fast-changing technological era, while insisting the end goal remained human development rather than technology for its own sake.
“The world is changing and tools are evolving… And technologies are accelerating,” he said. “Yet the primary goal remains the human being.”
H.H. ended the announcement by presenting the initiative as the start of “a new phase in government,” one he said would be “more beautiful and better and faster and more beneficial.”
The announcement places artificial intelligence at the heart of the UAE’s next phase of state modernization, with the government tying success not only to adoption of new systems but to how deeply public institutions can redesign themselves around them.
