Abu Dhabi to train 20,000 government staff in AI by year-en

Key Points

1. Abu Dhabi launched AiNative with OpenAI, Microsoft and MBZUAI to spread AI skills.
2. Training targets 20,000 government employees by the end of this year.
3. It anchors the emirate's bid to be the first AI-native government by 2027.

The latest:

Twenty thousand Abu Dhabi government employees will receive artificial intelligence training by the end of the year under AiNative, a programme announced Wednesday at the Ai Everything conference in the capital. The emirate’s Department of Government Enablement built the scheme with OpenAI, Microsoft and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. It is central to a target of becoming the world’s first AI-native government by 2027.

Details:

• The tools: Government employees will build expertise with ChatGPT, Codex and Microsoft 365 Copilot, according to the Department of Government Enablement. Specialised, function-specific certifications in areas including coding and data are planned for later phases of the project rather than the initial rollout.
• Public access: Citizens and residents can reach the training through Tomouh, DGE’s AI-driven learning app, entered via the UAE Pass government app. That track will be delivered through the free version of ChatGPT, removing a subscription cost from public participation.
• The curriculum: Content covers practical everyday applications: managing personal finances, running a small business, finding a job, studying and creating content responsibly online. DGE owns the curriculum, which was developed jointly with OpenAI, Microsoft and MBZUAI.
• The rollout: AiNative is being introduced in phases, with an initial pilot already under way inside government before the programme opens to the public. No date was given for the public launch or for the later certification phases.
• Official framing: 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.” He described the programme as building a shared foundation for an AI-enabled society by combining government, industry and academia.
• The university view: Eric Xing, president and professor at MBZUAI, stressed access to AI for all and a culture of lifelong learning. He said developing the capability at scale would be an important part of the emirate’s transition to an AI-native government and society.
• The precedent: The launch follows the rollout of Microsoft 365 Copilot to 35,000 Abu Dhabi government employees under the Frontier Employee Programme, announced in July. AiNative layers structured training onto a workforce already handed the software.
• The money: Abu Dhabi’s Digital Strategy 2025-2027, led by DGE, allocates Dh13 billion, or $3.5 billion, to upgrade digital infrastructure, automate 100 per cent of government processes and integrate sovereign cloud computing across all operations.
• The return sought: The strategy is expected to add more than Dh24 billion to Abu Dhabi’s economy by 2027 and create more than 5,000 jobs supporting Emiratisation, according to figures published with the programme.

Background:

Abu Dhabi set out its ambition to run the world’s first AI-powered government last year under the Digital Strategy 2025-2027. The emirate’s Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council, chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon, has been reviewing progress on that track.

Between the lines:

The sequencing is telling: 35,000 employees received Copilot in July, and AiNative now supplies the skills to use it. That order suggests software deployment outpaced staff capability, a gap the 20,000-employee target is designed to close before the 2027 deadline. Tying the public track to UAE Pass and the free ChatGPT tier also signals a reach-first approach over depth, with certifications deferred to later phases.

What’s next

Watch for the completion of the 20,000-employee target by December, the end of the internal pilot and the opening of Tomouh to the public, and the launch of the function-specific certifications in coding and data.