About the report
Public service organizations across Europe are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance efficiency, empower staff, and improve the public’s experience. Achieving this ambition requires a shift from pilots to scaled adoption, focusing on embedding AI and evolving operating models to maximize return on investment.
While full automation may remain distant for many people-centric services, the opportunity today lies in “augmented public services,” where AI supports, rather than replaces, human expertise. This approach not only helps address rising demand and budgetary pressures but also enables the delivery of smarter, more responsive, and ethically grounded public services. Achieving this ambition requires a shift from pilots to scaled adoption, focusing on embedding AI and evolving operating models to maximize return on investment.
In the face of mounting demographic and economic pressures, public service organizations are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) as a catalyst for transformation. The vision is not to fully automate public services, especially in sectors like healthcare and education that rely on human interaction, but to create “augmented public services” where AI enhances, rather than replaces, the work of public servants.
Key drivers and challenges:
Across Europe, public services are grappling with rising demand, ageing populations, and heightened expectations shaped by the public’s digital consumer experiences. At the same time, many administrations face significant budgetary constraints, exacerbated by pandemic-related spending and slow productivity growth. In this context, AI offers a ray of hope, providing the potential to automate routine processes, enhance decision-making, and free up staff for higher-value tasks.
However, AI adoption is not without challenges. Ethical risks, the importance of human judgment, and the complexity of many public sector decisions require a careful balance. Building trust and ensuring transparency are crucial to responsible and sustainable transformation.
Three pillars of augmentation:
The report categories examples of augmented public services around three overarching goals:
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Efficiency through automation
AI-driven automation can streamline lower-value activities and enable more flexible, agentic workflows. Examples include tools to analyze large volumes of parliamentary amendments or consultation responses, which are already delivering significant time savings for policy officials across France and the UK.
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Empowerment of public servants
Virtual assistants and advanced analytics tools are enabling staff to make more informed decisions and work more efficiently. Tailored solutions, such as Germany’s F13 and France’s “Albert,” are transforming day-to-day routines and teamwork, while advanced data analysis is supporting risk management and fraud detection.
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Enhanced experiences for the public
AI is enabling more personalized and virtual interactions between administrations and the public. From chatbots supporting business users in the UK to AI-guided clinical assessments in healthcare, these innovations are improving service quality and accessibility.
Success factors:
To realize the full benefits of augmented public services, four key enablers are essential:
- Skills and engagement
Upskilling staff to use AI tools effectively and ethically, supported by managers who engage teams to adapt ways of working and integrate new capabilities. - Ethics and security
Build trustworthy AI through robust ethical frameworks, legal compliance, and strong embedded data security. Transparent safeguards, such as “human in the loop,” are crucial for citizens and public servants. - Data and infrastructure
Access to high-quality, secure data is a significant barrier. Coordinated efforts are necessary to develop national data libraries and invest in foundational technology. - Innovation and scaling
Successful organizations start small, pilot new solutions, and scale what works. Expanding the use of proven, off-the-shelf tools can complement in-house innovation and accelerate adoption.
