UAE puts AI transformation at the heart of government
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed to chair new AI and Development Council
#UAE #digitaltransformation — His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has approved the renaming of the Ministerial Development Council as the Ministerial Council for Artificial Intelligence and Development. The council will be chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court. The decision reflects the UAE’s commitment to placing AI at the centre of government work and policy development. The news comes a few days after the announcement of a new UAE government framework to deploy agentic AI across 50 percent of government sectors, services and operations within two years.
SO WHAT? — Seemingly a cosmetic change, renaming the Ministerial Development Council is a clear signal that the UAE government has made AI a top priority for the long-term. This move makes it clear that the authority and accountability for AI implementation in government now formally belongs to the council. The Ministerial Council for Artificial Intelligence and Development will oversee federal performance, review policies and legislation submitted by all federal entities, and supervise AI deployment across government operations. The council gives the UAE government’s AI transformation direct executive authority at the highest tier of government. No other country has restructured its ministerial architecture in this way.
KEY POINTS:
The UAE has renamed its Ministerial Development Council as the Ministerial Council for Artificial Intelligence and Development, chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The restructuring places AI governance at the centre of federal ministerial authority and policy development.
The council will oversee federal performance in delivering government policies and national priorities, reviewing legislation, policies and strategies submitted by federal entities and providing recommendations to the Cabinet to ensure alignment and faster execution across the government.
The council will supervise plans, programmes and projects expanding AI use across federal operations, from service development and process optimisation to improved public spending efficiency> This gives it direct oversight of the two-year agentic AI transformation programme announced earlier this month.
The council will evaluate solutions to improve service quality across key sectors including healthcare, education, housing, infrastructure, transport, energy and telecommunications, ensuring faster and more efficient AI-enabled public services for all community members.
The renaming forms part of the new federal operating model announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai in April 2026. The government is targeting the deployment of agentic AI across 50% of government sectors and operations within two years: a world first in moving towards autonomous, intelligence-driven government.
The restructuring reflects a deliberate pattern of placing AI at the highest levels of UAE governance, with Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed who also oversees the dedicated agentic AI transformation taskforce chaired by Minister of Cabinet Affairs H.E. Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi.
The council’s mandate connects directly to existing AI systems already embedded in federal decision-making, including the National Artificial Intelligence System deployed as an advisory member across all federal entity boards from January 2026, and the AI-powered regulatory intelligence ecosystem approved in April 2025 to accelerate law-making by up to 70 percent.
ZOOM OUT — The ministerial restructuring follows directly from a landmark announcement made just days earlier to deploy agentic AI across 50 percent of UAE government sectors, services and operations within two years. The move will see autonomous systems designed to monitor changes, manage operations, execute decisions and introduce real-time improvements without human intervention. A dedicated was formed to drive execution, with ministerial and director general performance to be assessed directly on the speed and quality of their AI adoption.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Read more about UAE government AI announcements:
UAE to deploy agentic AI across 50% of government (Middle East AI News)
UAE deploys AI system to improve performance (Middle East AI News)
UAE embeds AI at the core of government planning cycle (Middle East AI News)
UAE embraces future with government-wide AI advisors (Middle East AI News)
UAE approves first-of-its-kind AI regulatory ecosystem (Middle East AI News)