Abu Dhabi partners with Inception to deploy advanced AI across core government operations
Abu Dhabi's Department of Government Enablement (DGE) has partnered with Inception to accelerate the emirate's goal of becoming the first AI-native government by 2027. The collaboration will embed AI across core back-office functions, improving responsiveness and decision quality across entities.
At the center is (In)Government - a product suite built to rewire government domains from the ground up. The question guiding the work: If we rebuilt this function today with AI, what would it look like?
What launches first: Procurement and Human Capital
The initial rollout focuses on two pillars with immediate operational value and measurable outcomes: Procurement and Human Capital. Both are designed for quick wins now and a broader roadmap later.
Procurement: From onboarding to contract analytics
- Automated supplier registration and verification.
- Virtual purchasing assistants to handle repeat orders.
- Negotiation copilots to support category managers.
- Smart RFP creation with policy-aligned templates and criteria.
- Real-time insights on demand, cycle times, and supplier performance.
This end-to-end approach shortens cycle times, reduces manual workload, and gives leadership a live view of spending and compliance risk.
Human Capital: Smarter matching through market feedback
The Human Capital pillar supports Mawaheb, the Abu Dhabi Government's national talent platform. It uses Inception's Talent Enablement Platform to learn from outcomes - hiring, retention, and performance - and continuously refine how talent is matched to roles.
The result is a feedback loop that better aligns Emirati talent with sustainable career paths and helps entities fill priority roles faster.
Leaders' perspectives
"Our collaboration with Inception marks a pivotal step in our journey to build the world's first AI-native government. This collaboration centers on domain rewiring, which means looking at the entire area of work and asking: If we built this from scratch today using AI, what would it look like?" said His Excellency Wesam Lootah, a Director General at DGE. "Partnerships like these are instrumental to our ambitions, and allow us to push the boundaries of what's possible with this generational technology. It is not just about improving efficiency; it is about creating a holistic, data-driven ecosystem that empowers every Abu Dhabi Government entity to deliver effortless value to our citizens and residents."
Ashish Koshy, CEO of Inception, said the (In)Government Suite will improve productivity, enable smarter decisions, and enhance how services are delivered. He emphasized responsible deployment of AI to address complex public sector challenges and support Abu Dhabi's position as a global hub for government innovation.
Scale and scope: 200+ AI use cases underway
DGE has identified a pipeline of more than 200 AI use cases across government. Over 100 are already live. The Procurement pillar is expected to enable about 25 additional use cases, while the Human Capital pillar will unlock at least 10 more.
For broader policy context, see the UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence on the official government portal: UAE AI Strategy.
What this means for government leaders
- Start where volume and repeatability are highest. Processes like supplier onboarding, RFP drafting, and routine purchasing are prime candidates for automation.
- Bake in policy and audit from day one. Use structured templates, explainable models, and immutable logs to meet oversight requirements.
- Treat data as infrastructure. Standardize taxonomies, integrate master data, and set clear retention and access rules across entities.
- Pair AI with new operating rules. Update delegation of authority, thresholds, and review steps to match faster, AI-assisted cycles.
- Measure what matters. Track cycle time, cost avoidance, supplier diversity, vacancy fill time, and retention - not just activity counts.
- Invest in roles that make AI useful. Product owners, prompt and policy engineers, data stewards, and change leads shorten time-to-value.
- Keep humans in the loop. Use AI for recommendations and drafting; keep final decisions, exceptions, and ethics with accountable officers.
- Plan for scale. Prioritize reusable components (workflows, data models, policy packs) that can extend to new domains quickly.
Why the domain-rewiring approach matters
Rather than adding tools to old workflows, DGE's approach rethinks the process itself. That's the difference between small gains and step-change performance - simpler paths, fewer handoffs, and cleaner data.
What's next
Procurement and Human Capital are the first of several products in the (In)Government portfolio. Both organizations signaled intent to expand into additional domains with clear value cases and shared infrastructure.
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