For a great many people, their main direct engagement with artificial intelligence is the ubiquitous chatbot. Common on consumer and government websites, chatbots were once considered to be cutting-edge owing to their apparent ability to “think” and engage naturally with users.Given the breakneck speed with which AI is developing, digital assistants like these were always fated to make way for something qualitatively different. Agentic AI – technology that goes from “thinking” to “doing” – has been attracting the attention of many businesses and governments. In the UAE, however, it is being adopted systematically and across government.This week, it was announced that 80,000 workers, ranging from government ministers to junior employees, would be trained on these AI agents. This programme, described by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, as the largest AI training programme launched by the UAE government, is to support the country’s goal of delivering half of all state services using such AI within two years.This is a significant evolution to government work. Agentic AI is autonomous technology that does not just give answers or suggestions when prompted but actually carries out tasks. Once trained on a job, the agent can be left to perform it with minimal supervision. In the commercial world, AI agents can manage workflows and customer interactions or be taught to compare prices. Tech companies can leave AI agents to build, test and debug apps.For governments, smart systems have the potential to boost productivity and efficiency by redesigning policies, processes and procedures. The UAE is to develop a dedicated digital platform, powered by Agentic AI tools, to help federal employees through personalised learning pathways tailored to their role and skill level.Play15:12Dmitry Balyasny on Abu Dhabi expansion, AI agents and 2026 outlookBy embarking on this training programme, the UAE is giving itself another head start in the race to use AI to its fullest extent. By rolling out Agentic AI not in one or two key departments but throughout government, the Emirates is turning AI from a tool used by a few specialists into a core capability.In its goal of building a more globally competitive state, the UAE is already moving from digital government to next-generation government. Humans will remain at the heart of public service but will use tools that execute faster, speed up approvals, automate policy implementation and offer real-time support.As a first-mover on AI, the UAE is in a unique position to embark on this journey and see what Agentic AI can do. It has the required digital infrastructure, homegrown expertise and a track record of successfully powering government services with AI, such as the TAMM app in Abu Dhabi.And while the two-year timetable is ambitious, it will provide an opportunity to see what works and what doesn’t. That should lead to an outcome where government services deliver for the people in a faster and smarter way.