UAE unveils first Agentic AI agents to boost ‘quality of life’

UAE unveiled the first set of Agentic AI agents to carry out essential government services, marking the Gulf nation’s boldest move yet to move AI from experimental deployments to administrative adoption putting technology at the core of its operations.

The launch came during the national Agentic AI Retreat in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. It was attended by UAE Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum alongside Vice President Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Deputy Prime Minister Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan.  

More than 400 ministers, federal officials and media personnel gathered to discuss how the UAE plans to integrate Agentic AI into its government systems, part of a broader ambition to transition 50 percent of its operations and services into AI-powered models within two years.

The first rollout includes four specialized AI agents focused on procurement, tax auditing, customer service and technical support. 

The ‘agents’ are more than just automation tools that follow predefined instructions, agentic systems are designed to independently plan, execute and optimize tasks with minimal human intervention. UAE’s move toward AI adoption comes as there is a growing race among governments and enterprises to deploy AI systems capable of acting autonomously across workflows rather than simply generating content or executing prompts.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said the UAE was implementing the vision of President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to position the country at the forefront of the next phase of AI adoption. 

“More than 400 ministers and senior officials are shaping and implementing the transformation of 50 percent of government services and operations through Agentic AI, advancing our President’s vision for the UAE to lead the world in this transition. We also launched the first cohort of AI agents covering procurement, tax audit, customer happiness, and technical support, and celebrated the graduation of a new cohort from the Federal Artificial Intelligence Programme,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

He added: “What we are building today, under the supervision of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed and with the support of our national teams, is not just a government project, but a model that will inspire the world. Technology must serve people and enhance quality of life.”

Mohammed bin Rashid, Accompanied by Mansour bin Zayed and Saif bin Zayed, Attends National Retreat to Review the New Phase of the UAE Government's Agentic AI System#uaegov pic.twitter.com/jBHAooBTwy— UAEGOV (@UAEmediaoffice) May 20, 2026

What will these AI Agents do?

The Procurement AI Agent is designed to streamline sourcing and purchasing operations across government departments and bodies by optimizing workflows and reducing administrative bottlenecks. 

The Tax Auditing AI Agent will focus on data verification and compliance reviews, with officials positioning it as a way to accelerate audit turnaround times and improve reporting accuracy.

The move towards automation and AI-driven governance is not just about productivity, true to the vision of its leaders, and the country’s core values, there is also a Customer Happiness AI Agent which has been developed to support frontline government service teams with faster access to information and response systems.

The Technical Support AI Agent will manage IT-related operations and assist digital service teams in resolving system issues. 

ADNOC reveals major AI integration

The launch of AI Agents signals a shift in tone from the UAE’s earlier AI initiatives, which largely focused on infrastructure, investment, cloud services and digital transformation. The narrative has now moved toward autonomous execution systems operating inside government departments.

Speaking at the retreat, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and the Head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, outlined how ADNOC is building its own agentic AI ecosystem across the energy sector.

Al Jaber said the company had evolved from establishing digital infrastructure to embedding AI directly into industrial operations, with ADNOC now moving toward physical AI, robotics and autonomous systems. He announces the launch of ENERGYai, a platform designed to connect intelligent AI agents across the energy value chain.

ADNOC has already deployed more than 115 AI agents across core corporate divisions including finance, HR, procurement and auditing. 

The scale of internal adoption is notable. Around 20,000 ADNOC employees have reportedly been trained to develop role specific Agentic AI models, resulting in roughly 3000 active models now supporting daily operations. 

Al Jaber said Agentic AI utilization inside the company had reached 80 percent during the past 90 days, suggesting the company is attempting to industrialize AI usage across its workforce rather than isolate it within specialist teams. 

AI is now at the forefront of government operations 

Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications said technology is now a defining factor in future government competitiveness and efficiency. 

Al Olama said administrations were moving beyond simple digitization and automation toward systems capable of independent planning and execution. He argued that countries adopting Agentic AI early would gain significant advantages in governance speed, service delivery and policy responsiveness. However, he also warned of a widening capability gap between governments that aggressively integrate AI systems and those that had fallen behind.