The United Arab Emirates has taken one of its boldest steps yet in merging artificial intelligence with statecraft, approving a new Cabinet AI Advisor System designed to support ministers as they draft policy, evaluate legislation, and track the rollout of national projects.
The initiative was announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who chaired a Cabinet session at Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi as the government entered its new working season. According to officials briefed on the plan, the system will deploy 32 specialised AI advisors, each tasked with a distinct area of government function — from reviewing global best practices and assessing the impact of proposed laws to flagging risks and recommending adjustments before policies are finalised.
Unlike a single generalist chatbot, the structure is built around a network of purpose-built digital assistants that will work continuously alongside ministers, following up on the implementation of Cabinet decisions around the clock. Officials described this as a shift toward “agentic” artificial intelligence — systems capable of carrying out multi-step tasks autonomously rather than simply answering queries — and said it reflects a broader ambition to make government operations faster, more consistent, and less prone to delay.
A Wider Push Into AI-Driven Governance
The Cabinet AI Advisor System does not stand alone. During the same meeting, ministers signed off on a nationwide programme to train 22,000 teachers and educators in using artificial intelligence for lesson planning, assessment, and curriculum design. A companion initiative will introduce AI-focused coursework across both public and private schools, with officials indicating the UAE intends to position its education model as a template other countries could study or adapt.
The government also used the session to approve a National Ecotourism Policy and review progress on the country’s long-running strategy to combat desertification, underscoring that the AI rollout is happening in parallel with — rather than instead of — the UAE’s environmental commitments. Several international agreements were ratified as well, spanning investment, healthcare, cybersecurity, energy, and tourism cooperation, signalling that the government intends AI adoption to sit within a broader diplomatic and economic agenda rather than as an isolated tech initiative.
Why It Matters for Residents and Businesses
For residents, the practical effects of an AI-assisted Cabinet may not be immediately visible, but the ambition behind it is significant. Officials have framed the system as a tool to shorten the time between a policy being proposed and it reaching implementation — a factor that could influence everything from business licensing reforms to infrastructure rollouts and social programmes.
Sheikh Mohammed used the meeting to deliver three central messages to government teams as the new season begins: a commitment to keep delivering results despite regional and economic headwinds, an emphasis on the transformative role of agentic AI in reshaping public services, and a reminder of the institutional trust the UAE has built over decades of governance. Taken together, the messages suggest the Cabinet views AI not as a novelty but as core infrastructure for how the country intends to run itself over the coming years.
Part of a Broader Regional AI Race
The announcement lands amid intensifying competition among Gulf states to establish themselves as leaders in applied artificial intelligence, an area the UAE has invested in heavily through initiatives tied to its national AI strategy and its dedicated Artificial Intelligence Office. Officials have previously signalled that agentic AI — systems that can plan and execute tasks with minimal human prompting — will increasingly underpin public services, from immigration processing to municipal permitting.
Analysts who track government-technology policy note that while several countries have experimented with AI tools for internal government use, an AI Advisor System operating at Cabinet level, with dozens of specialised functions feeding directly into ministerial decision-making, would represent one of the more advanced applications globally. Whether the system delivers the efficiency gains officials are promising will likely become clearer as specific policy outcomes — new laws, faster approvals, or revised regulations — begin rolling out in the months ahead.
For now, the Cabinet’s message is one of momentum: as the UAE begins a new government season, it is doubling down on the idea that artificial intelligence, deployed carefully and at scale, can make the machinery of the state move faster without sacrificing oversight. Next Article
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