Agentic AI: The Public Sector Leads Massive Adoption

The Growing Impact of AI in the Public Sector

According to a recent survey, the adoption of agentic artificial intelligence by government is set to surpass that of the private sector. This adoption is no longer just an experiment but a true leadership mandate. Government leaders expect AI to have a more significant impact on the labor market than the internet, PCs, and even smartphones.

Massive Adoption of AI Agents

The adoption of agentic AI in the public sector has already reached impressive levels. In fact, 82% of government organizations have integrated these technologies, and 71% of agencies plan to increase their use by 2026-2027. This trend is driven by various factors, including budget pressures, sovereignty and compliance requirements, as well as rising citizen expectations for faster and more personalized services. Workforce disruption, with gaps in cybersecurity skills and machine learning operations, also plays a key role.

Transformation Towards an Agentic Government

IDC's research, based on a survey of 118 leaders and decision-makers in the federal, state, and local governments in the United States, identifies three main axes for agentic transformation in government: operational orchestration, service delivery to citizens, and decision support. These areas aim to improve workflow coordination, offer more personalized interactions, and utilize synthetic data for better planning.

Adoption Surpassing the Private Sector

According to the IDC study, 60% of government leaders believe their adoption of AI agents is more advanced than that of the private sector. AI agents are seen as crucial for meeting citizens' demands for smarter and more personalized services. Moreover, 83% of leaders consider these technologies essential for transforming agency structures.

Outlook for 2030

By 2030, nearly 89% of leaders envision a hybrid workforce where humans and AI agents collaborate. Nearly three out of four leaders expect that every human employee managing subordinates will also manage AI agents. AI agents are expected to enable employees to focus on higher-value tasks, and new teams integrating these technologies will emerge.

Recruitment and Future Skills

The next five years will see an increased demand for experts in AI management, strategy, technical support, and ethics. Roles in IT, administration, and leadership will be most impacted by this transformation. 59% of leaders anticipate an increase in the size of certain teams and departments, with a heightened need for leadership opportunities.

Future Projections

The IDC study anticipates a significant increase in the use of AI agents, with global deployment exceeding 1 billion agents by 2029, up from 25 million in 2025. These agents are expected to perform over 217 billion actions per day and consume 3.7 Tera Tokens/Calls daily, resulting in a global annual expenditure of $68 billion. Government agencies will play a key role in this expansion, marking a new era of autonomy and collaboration between humans and machines.

Impact on Human Work

94% of government leaders believe that AI agents will fundamentally transform the nature of work. 85% estimate that these technologies can save up to 45% of weekly work time. 77% of leaders think that AI agents will allow more human employees to focus on higher-value and more satisfying missions.

Specific Use Cases

Fraud detection, waste, and abuse (44%) as well as cybersecurity threat management (36%) have been identified as the primary specific use cases for AI agents. The use of AI agents is expected to increase tenfold by 2027 in the private sector, highlighting their growing importance across various fields.

Comparative Impact of AI

Government leaders have high expectations regarding the impact of AI. 56% believe that AI will have a greater impact than the internet and cloud computing, 51% think it will have a larger impact than the PC, and 46% believe it will be more transformative than the smartphone.