The United Arab Emirates has unveiled an ambitious plan to embed autonomous artificial intelligence systems across its federal government, aiming to have half of all operations to be powered by “agentic AI” within the next two years.

The directive, announced by Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and backed by President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, signals a shift from traditional digital transformation toward systems capable of making decisions and executing tasks independently.

“AI is no longer a tool,” Sheikh Mohammed said, describing it instead as an “executive partner” integrated into government functions.

The initiative introduces performance benchmarks tied to adoption speed, implementation quality, and the extent to which agencies redesign workflows around AI capabilities. Oversight will be led by Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, with execution coordinated by a task force chaired by Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammad Al Gergawi.

Central to the plan is a workforce transformation effort. Federal employees will be trained in generative AI tools, repositioning civil servants as supervisors of AI-driven systems rather than traditional administrators.