While the West argues over how to regulate AI, Abu Dhabi has quietly built an AI-native government. In the UAE capital, a single app already renews your ID, books your doctor, and pays your parking fine, sometimes before you ask.
Most governments are still drafting their first AI strategy. Abu Dhabi is running on one.
The emirate has near-universal adoption of an app called TAMM, Arabic for “consider it done.” It knows when your national ID, health insurance, or vehicle registration falls due. Its “AutoGov” feature goes further. It handles the paperwork and pays what you owe before you even ask. Axios’s Mike Allen reported as much after two interviews with the man who runs it.
That man is Mohamed Al Askar, director general of TAMM. He describes an AI-native government that treats the citizen as a customer. Snap a photo of a broken streetlight and the app routes it to the right department. That department cannot close your request until you confirm the fix.
A decade-long bet
