UAE Creates AI And Data Authority To Put Agentic AI Inside Government

The UAE has approved a new Artificial Intelligence and Data Authority, creating a single federal body for public data, artificial intelligence and digital government as the country moves its AI programme from policy coordination into government operations.

One Authority Takes Over A Fragmented Mandate

The authority will report directly to the Cabinet and will be chaired by Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence.

Its mandate absorbs the former AI office, the UAE Data Office and the digital-government arm inside the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority.

That structure gives the new body a broad operating role rather than a narrow advisory function.

It is responsible for national priorities for a unified digital government system using agentic AI, for policy and strategy proposals, and for coordination between federal and local digital projects.

Data Quality Becomes A Government Infrastructure Question

The authority is also expected to lead the national AI strategy and manage government data so that it is higher quality, available and shareable across federal entities.

That makes data governance part of the same policy chain as AI deployment, digital services and government decision-making.

Its platform role is important.

The authority will operate and develop AI-powered national data platforms intended to support evidence-based government decisions.

It will also work on digital infrastructure that can support smarter public services, including systems that use data and AI to improve how services are designed and delivered.

The source announcement frames the shift around a government model that is faster, more proactive and less dependent on paperwork.

In practical terms, the test is whether the new authority can turn separate data offices, service platforms and AI policy teams into one execution layer across ministries and federal agencies.

Agentic AI Moves From Slogan To Administrative Design

The announcement is explicit that agentic AI is part of the authority’s remit.

That matters because agentic systems are not just chat interfaces; they can plan tasks, call tools and act across workflows when they are given controlled access to data and systems.

For a government, that creates both a service opportunity and a governance burden.

The authority will need to define where automation can safely accelerate public services, where human review remains necessary, and how federal entities share data without weakening accountability or privacy controls.

The institutional design also gives Dubai and Abu Dhabi’s wider digital-economy ambitions a federal counterpart.

Instead of treating AI, data and online public services as separate programmes, the UAE is placing them under one body that can set standards while coordinating with local digital initiatives.

The Next Checkpoint Is Cross-Government Execution

The next checkpoint is not another AI strategy document.

It is whether ministries and federal entities start using common data platforms, shared governance rules and agentic AI systems under the authority’s direction.

The announcement gives the new body a wide mandate: national AI strategy, digital government alignment, data availability, platform operation and policy proposals.

That range gives the UAE a clearer command structure for public-sector AI, but it also raises the execution bar.

The authority will be judged by whether those mandates produce faster services and better decisions across government, not by the creation of another digital office.