Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai has launched the Annual Government Challenge, a new national platform inviting federal ministry and entity employees to develop innovative solutions for government priorities, starting with Agentic AI.
Announced in conjunction with UAE Innovation Month, the first edition asks government employees to design Agentic AI applications that redesign services and internal operations, improve decision-making and raise performance across federal entities. The initiative will be overseen by the Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs.
“As UAE Innovates begins, we launch today the Annual Government Challenge for UAE Government employees and teams. A new national initiative to inspire our government talent to create bold new solutions with real impact on our services, operations and projects. The first challenge: Agentic AI. We will honour the top 9 government projects and teams. We want unconventional ideas. Solutions that make a difference. Projects that take government work to new levels,” Sheikh Mohammed said in a statement.
Nine winning projects will be selected across three categories. Government Services targets solutions that simplify customer-facing journeys and cut processing steps.
Internal Operations focuses on reducing repetitive work, improving coordination and raising productivity within entities. Unconventional Ideas invites proposals that fundamentally reimagine how government operates, with an emphasis on models that could accelerate national targets or strengthen the UAE’s competitive position.
Total prize money across all three categories is AED9 million.
Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the National Committee for the Agentic AI Project, framed the challenge as a signal of intent rather than a one-off competition. “Government work in the UAE is more agile and better prepared to deal with change. In the next phase, we aim to deploy Agentic AI assistants to work alongside employees in driving development, efficiency and productivity. Through this challenge, we are counting on our ability to combine the expertise of our people with the capabilities of technology to design a faster, more efficient and more proactive government. Agentic AI is not merely a new technical tool. It is an opportunity to redesign how government works, multiply the capabilities and impact of employees, and develop new government models that are practical and deliver greater impact and results,”
“Through the Annual Government Challenge, we want every government employee to be a partner in developing government, and every outstanding idea to become an opportunity to design a better service, a more efficient process or a new operating model. The best government ideas come from those who live the challenges every day, and our role is to provide the environment that enables them to turn these ideas into solutions that make a difference,” he added.
The first edition is part of a broader UAE Government target to transition 50 percent of government sectors, services and operations to Agentic AI models within two years.
Each subsequent annual edition will be dedicated to a different national priority, with the intention of making innovation a structural feature of government rather than an individual exercise.
Entries are assessed on alignment with strategic priorities, solution quality and feasibility, suitability of the proposed Agentic AI application, measurable impact, scalability, and governance. All federal ministries and their employees are eligible to participate through the challenge’s dedicated digital platform.
