Sheikh Mohammed launches worker-led drive to take government services to 'new levels'

Show caption: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid wants government workers to play …

Government employees will be honoured for delivering innovative ideas to help raise standards

The National

November 02, 2026

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, has issued a rallying call to enterprising government workers to help develop 'bold new solutions" to drive UAE progress under a new nationwide campaign.

Sheikh Mohammed on Monday set out plans to champion the country's talent and harness their expertise in an ambitious mission to take government services to "new levels".

The Annual Government Challenge - announced to coincide with the start of UAE Innovation Month - will initially focus on advancing the use of assistive artificial intelligence.

Sheikh Mohammed said the top nine government projects and teams will be honoured for making a "real impact" in improving services.

"With the launch of the UAE Innovation Month we announce today the launch of the Annual Government Challenge for employees and teams of the UAE Government," Sheikh Mohammed wrote on X.

"A new national initiative through which we aim to encourage government cadres and talents to innovate bold new solutions that create a real impact in our services, operations, and government projects.

"And we begin with the first challenge in the field of assistive artificial intelligence. we will honor the top nine government projects and teams.

"We want unconventional ideas, solutions that make a difference, and projects that elevate government work to new levels."

AI action plan

The strategy is just the latest step forward in the UAE's long-term push to promote the safe and responsible use of AI within the government.

In May, the UAE unveiled plans to train 80,000 workers – from ministers to junior employees – in the use of AI agents in a bid to ensure half of government services are delivered by the emerging technology within two years.

Sheikh Mohammed said at the time it would be the largest AI training programme launched by the UAE government.

It will focus on raising AI capabilities in five categories, covering leadership, technical skills, specialist roles, the general workforce and additional support for trainers. A dedicated digital platform, powered by Agentic AI tools, will be developed to assist federal employees through personalised learning pathways tailored to their role and skill level.

The project aims to utilise AI agents – an autonomous model of AI capable of making decisions and achieving specific goals with limited supervision – to reshape government.

The AI agents will be used to redesign government policies, processes and procedures and will enable smart systems to perform tasks proactively to reduce operational costs and boost productivity and efficiency.

There will be a phased introduction of the scheme in ministries and federal departments, based on continuous performance and impact assessments. This will pave the way for a wider roll-out across the federal government.

Updated:

November 02, 2026, 8:49 AM