Abu Dhabi Is Rewiring Government, by Training 20,000 Employees in AI

Beenish Qureshi

By: Beenish Qureshi

Thursday, October 8, 2026

Oct 8, 2026

3 min read

Abu Dhabi is rolling out AI training across its government workforce with OpenAI, Microsoft and MBZUAI. But the bigger experiment is whether an entire public sector can move from simply using AI tools to organising work around them.

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Abu Dhabi is making a big shift in its technological capabilities by launching a large-scale AI training program for 20,000 government employees. The new AiNative program, developed by the Department of Government Enablement in conjunction with OpenAI, Microsoft, and Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), aims to train 20,000 government officials by the end of 2026. Media Office Abu Dhabi

The goal is to transition from merely using AI to an AI-centered, organized workflow. The Emirate will conduct training for the government workforce in OpenAI, Microsoft, and MBZUAI.

Khaleej Times reports a wider rollout is expected to reach approximately 23,000 employees by early 2027, according to Faisal Al Hawi, Director of AI Factory at the Department of Government Enablement. Khaleej Times

While it may come across as yet another AI capacity development program by the government, its encompassing activities suggest something substantial. People will be trained to deploy AI software, restructuring government leadership and rebuilding digital infrastructure at the same time.

This will determine whether civil servants can not only learn to use AI, but whether the entire government workforce operates differently because of it.

From Literacy to Native

Most corporate programs first train boards on how generative AI works, how to write an effective prompt, and what employees should refrain from sharing with public models. The AiNative program takes it much further by expanding into specialized learning journeys for crucial functions like legal, finance, procurement, tax, and human resources. Furthermore, the training will actually work inside government workflows.

No two users use AI identically. Lawyers do not really need to understand how procurement officers can use AI best. Similarly, a finance team analyzing a budget has starkly different needs from HR evaluating workforce requirements. This programme is designed towards role-specific AI competency rather than a one generic skill set.

Training employees would have limited impact if AI tools remained outside their daily work. In July, the government announced one of the public sector's largest deployments of Microsoft 365 Copilot, providing licences to 26,000 civil servants across 27 government entities. Combined with 9,000 existing licences, that brought the government's total deployment to approximately 35,000 Copilot licences. (Media Office Abu Dhabi)

Since government data is sensitive and security measures are high. The challenge is to teach employees what data can be shared and what cannot. Abu Dhabi’s approach suggests that AI literacy in government means understanding data bounderies, model choice and accountability.

His Excellency Wesam Lootah, Director General of GovDigital at DGE, said: “AI will only create lasting value when people have the knowledge and confidence to use it well. AiNative puts that capability at the heart of Abu Dhabi’s AI journey, giving government employees and the wider community practical skills to use AI responsibly in their work and everyday lives. By bringing together government, industry and academia, we are building a common foundation for an AI-enabled society and government.”

Abu Dhabi’s strategy is in line with its ultimate goal to be the first fully AI-native government. Eventually, this programme is expected to be available for a broader community through a UAE Pass.

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