21 Rajab 1447 - 9 January 2026
    
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Eye of Riyadh
Business & Money | Thursday 8 January, 2026 3:42 pm |
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Department of Government Enablement records landmark year under AI-native vision

The Department of Government Enablement (DGE) celebrated a landmark year in Abu Dhabi’s journey to become the world’s first AI-native government by 2027, made possible through strong, whole-of-government collaboration that has delivered real-world impact across services, digital infrastructure and human capital.

 

In 2025, Abu Dhabi moved from vision to execution as it scaled sovereign digital infrastructure, continued to build and deploy real-world AI use cases and invested deeply in the skills and capabilities of its people. This human-centred approach is at the heart of the Abu Dhabi Government Digital Strategy (2025–2027), ensuring that innovation moves in step with trust, accessibility and compassion.

 

In January 2025, DGE launched the Digital Strategy, backed by AED13 billion in investment. The strategy will deliver 100 percent end-to-end digitisation of government processes, 200+ AI solutions deployed across government, full sovereign cloud migration, and a unified ERP system. It is projected to contribute AED24 billion to GDP and create 5,000 new jobs, anchored in a future-ready skills agenda that elevates talent, leadership and digital confidence across every government entity.

 

Ahmed Tamim Hisham Al Kuttab, Chairman of the Department of Government Enablement – Abu Dhabi, said, "In Abu Dhabi, we are building the government of the future, where AI is intrinsic to its foundation. And in 2025, we proved how this isn’t a distant vision, it’s our daily reality and already changing the lives of millions.

 

“I am deeply proud of what we have achieved at DGE and in collaboration with other Abu Dhabi Government entities and ecosystem partners. Everything we build comes back to one question: how do we make people’s lives easier? Momentum is building, and Abu Dhabi is leading as we strengthen our position as the global benchmark for an AI-native government.”

 

TAMM, Abu Dhabi's AI-powered super app, became a global symbol of the emirate's leadership in 2025, winning three prestigious awards: Best e-Government Project at the UN-backed WSIS Prizes 2025, Best Comprehensive Government Application in the GCC at the Gulf Digital Government Awards and Excellence in AI-Powered Services at the UAE AI Awards.

 

Now serving 3.8 million users across more than 1,150 services in 90-plus languages, TAMM resolves 95 percent of requests through AI and has completed more than 1.9 million service cases through conversational AI. Plus, the launch of TAMM AutoGov, the world’s first AI public servant, marked a shift from reactive to anticipatory services as it automatically handles licence renewals, medical appointments and other recurring needs without users having to ask.

 

Dr. Mohamed Al Askar, Director-General of TAMM, said, "By eliminating over 36 million customers visits annually and resolving 90 percent of requests within one day, we are creating a government that doesn’t just protect people's time, it gives it back. With a 92.5 percent user satisfaction rate, TAMM demonstrates that exceptional public service is our daily reality in Abu Dhabi.

 

“It has been another remarkable year for TAMM, and we are only getting started. In 2026, we will push even further as we scale the next frontier of proactive, AI-native experiences for every community we serve.”

 

Abu Dhabi’s rapid progress is powered by its people. In 2025, the government achieved a major milestone as 95 percent of public sector employees completed AI training, building one of the most AI-literate government workforces in the world.

 

This year also saw the launch of Al Jadaara Leadership Development Programme, which recognises top-performing public sector talent, underscoring Abu Dhabi Government's commitment to building high-performing, digitally confident leadership for an AI-powered era.

 

Chief Digital and AI Officers were appointed in every Abu Dhabi Government entity to drive AI adoption and innovation, marking one of the most significant structural shifts of the year. These leaders are now embedded within each entity to steer AI adoption and foster a culture that champions continued innovation.

 

To bring this spirit to our communities, the rollout of AI Majalis across Abu Dhabi helped to create inclusive learning hubs, empowering citizens and residents with baseline AI skills.

 

Wesam Lootah, Director-General at DGE, said, "When over 40 government entities work together with one shared vision to use AI as a means to improve the lives of every single person, transformation accelerates meaningfully. This year, we built the foundation for what an AI-native government looks like: secure digital identity, sovereign cloud, proactive services, and human-centred design at scale.”

 

Abu Dhabi's leadership was on full display at GITEX Global 2025. The Abu Dhabi Government Pavilion attracted a record 55,000 visitors and showcased 55 AI-powered initiatives and partnerships. Major partnerships with Microsoft and G42 brought sovereign cloud capability to scale, whilst the Unified Government Data Centre launched with e& provides secure, AI-ready capacity to host and manage critical government data.

 

The expansion of the Abu Dhabi Effortless Customer Experience Strategy advances one of the central pillars of our AI-native government: services that are proactive, intuitive and designed around people’s lives. Powered by more than 600,000 data points from real customer feedback, the strategy resulted in 400,000 fewer service centre visits and dramatically reduced steps (23 percent fewer steps and 64 percent fewer customer requests).

 

With Abu Dhabi's population having grown 7.5 percent, exceeding 4.1 million residents, the emirate is set to continue to attract talent, families and innovators from around the world.

 

In 2026, DGE will build on this momentum by expanding proactive, AI-powered journeys, scaling enterprise AI use cases across every sector, and strengthening the sovereign digital infrastructure that underpins the government’s transformation.

 

The year ahead will see Abu Dhabi advance from early AI successes to globally defining standards in intelligent, anticipatory government.

 

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