Data and AI in Government 2026

AI adoption across government is accelerating, with organisations moving beyond experimentation and exploring a wider range of use cases. However, scaling remains a challenge.

The Capgemini Research Institute’s latest report, Data and AI in government 2026, explores what successful public sector organisations are doing to transition from fragmented AI pilots to enterprise-wide data and impactful AI.

Key insights:

Only 28% of public sector organisations have successfully scaled AI initiatives
One in four organisations is now an AI front-runner with advanced AI maturity capabilities
Governments recognise that data readiness is critical to achieving AI ambitions
Digital sovereignty is becoming a top strategic priority for governments worldwide
Organisations are improving their data maturity, but further progress is needed to unlock AI at scale

The report examines trends in government AI adoption, data strategy, and digital transformation. It is designed to help public sector leaders make decisions around modernisation, service delivery, workforce transformation, and responsible adoption of AI. Its findings are based on a global survey of 600 senior public sector organisations and interviews with government leaders.

“Many public sector organisations aspire to be AI-driven, but AI can only be as effective as the data foundations beneath it.”
Marc Reinhardt, Executive Vice President, Public Sector Global Industry Leader

From AI ambition to operational maturity

How governments are scaling AI adoption

Governments are expanding AI adoption but struggling to operationalise it at scale.

Adoption of AI in a range of forms is growing, but only 28% of organisations report successfully scaling their initiatives, with governance not keeping pace. Growth has been mainly in measurable, lower-risk operations such as fraud detection, administrative automation, citizen engagement, and decision support.

Why data readiness matters for government AI

Governments recognise that fulfilling AI ambitions depends on data readiness.

Organisations increasingly view data as a strategic asset underpinning modernisation, service delivery, and organisational resilience. However, data quality and accessibility continue to be constrained by legacy systems, siloed architectures, and poor interoperability.

AI front-runners in the public sector

A small group of organisations demonstrates greater AI maturity.

One in four organisations (“AI front-runners”) exhibits advanced capabilities, while the proportion of data front-runners has increased compared with 2025. These organisations align leadership, governance, workforce strategy, and data modernisation to achieve operational readiness and public value.

Digital sovereignty and government data strategy

Digital sovereignty is rising as a strategic priority.

As digital sovereignty becomes increasingly important, governments are reassessing how capabilities are built, governed, and controlled. Data and cybersecurity are emerging as the leading concerns as organisations seek to balance innovation, resilience, security, and trust. Dependence on foreign technology providers remains significant.

Key recommendations for public sector leaders to scale data and AI

The report outlines five priorities for public sector leaders:

Drive mission-led transformation, citizen-centric services and public value.
Enable data quality, governance, sharing, interoperability, and enterprise trust.
Provide the architectures, platforms, infrastructure, and resilience required for scale.
Embed AI into operations through governance, reuse, evaluation, and outcome-driven scaling.
Embed cybersecurity, privacy, resilience, and AI risk management across data, platforms, and AI systems.

Learn how government organisations are advancing from AI pilots to scale deployment through stronger data governance, AI readiness, digital transformation, and operational maturity.

Download the Data and AI in government 2026 report to discover actionable strategies for building an AI-driven public sector.

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Meet our experts

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“We are proud to be a leading partner to public sector organizations globally, supporting mission-critical systems that touch the lives of millions of citizens and users every day. While developing the next generation of citizen-centric, inclusive public services, we are also enabling organizations to transform to tackle the most important challenges our societies face. As we look to the 2030 targets of the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it’s clear that technology is a tool for achieving better outcomes, and that societal purpose should be a driving force behind the sector’s use of digital to perform and transform.”

Philipp Fuerst joined Capgemini as VP for Data & AI in Capgemini’s Global Public Sector team in January 2023. He is a quantitative political scientist by training and has over 20 years of experience in public management as well as IT consulting, advisory, and sales. In his current role, he is responsible for providing thought leadership on core industry and technology trends to help public sector organisations leverage data and AI to achieve their mission-critical priorities.

Debarati is a seasoned expert in Data-Driven Government, specialising in data ecosystems, governance, and AI-driven analytics for the public sector worldwide. She collaborates with leaders and AI specialists to drive strategic initiatives, ensuring ethical, sovereign, and anonymised data solutions. Her expertise helps governments and citizens unlock the true value of data, enhancing decision-making, service delivery, and overall public benefit through AI and Generative AI innovations.

Data and AI in government 2026

From AI ambition to operational maturity

AI adoption across government is accelerating, with organisations moving beyond experimentation and exploring a wider range of use cases. However, scaling remains a challenge.