Abu Dhabi’s government services platform, TAMM, is advancing a vision to transform public administration by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce the workload placed on residents. Dr. Mohammed Al Askar, Director General of TAMM, outlined the platform’s strategic goal to evolve from digitizing government services toward establishing an AI-native government that proactively addresses citizen needs without requiring explicit requests.

TAMM, which means “consider it done” in Arabic, currently integrates over 1,200 services into a unified digital experience and reports a customer satisfaction rate of 94.5 percent. The initiative is part of Abu Dhabi’s broader objective to become the world’s first AI-native government by 2027.

Reflecting on his childhood experiences accompanying his businessman father on traditional government errands, Al Askar highlighted the historical challenges of navigating physical paperwork and multiple offices across a city. He noted that while many government services have been digitized, simply moving processes online does not eliminate the complexity and burden borne by users. Instead, the goal is to shift increasing responsibility onto government systems, allowing them to anticipate and manage complexities on behalf of residents.

Al Askar emphasized that incorporating AI should not merely automate inefficient procedures. Instead, AI deployment in public services must be purposeful, considering the users' needs and maintaining human judgment and accountability. Citing examples from the United Kingdom, he noted that government employees saved an average of 26 minutes per day by using AI tools, illustrating how technology’s true value lies in returning time to people.

The TAMM director outlined a phased approach that begins with simplifying service access, moves toward AI handling internal governmental complexity, and ultimately aims to create a government capable of acting preemptively in residents’ lives.

While praising AI’s productivity benefits, Al Askar also warned of attendant risks, including a potential erosion of skills over time. He rejected calls for fear or halting AI development, asserting that no single entity controls its trajectory. Instead, he framed the critical challenge as determining how society chooses to shape AI’s role, stressing a responsibility to guide its evolution for the benefit of future generations.