From ambition to impact: How agentic AI and data foundations are transforming public services

In today’s evolving public sector landscape, the demand for efficient, transparent, and citizen-centric services has never been greater.

As per Capgemini Research Institute’s recent report – “64% of public sector organizations are already exploring or actively working on Generative AI initiatives, with 90% planning to explore, pilot, or implement agentic AI within the next 2–3 years.” The partnership between Capgemini and ServiceNow offers a powerful response to this challenge – combining cutting-edge technology with deep transformation expertise to reimagine how public services are delivered and experienced.

This blog explores how agentic artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping both employee and citizen experiences, and why Capgemini and ServiceNow are uniquely positioned to lead this transformation.

Introducing Agentic AI: From Reactive to Proactive

Unlike traditional AI, which responds to prompts, agentic AI takes initiative. Only 21% of public sector organizations have moved to pilots or actual deployment of Gen AI, and just 6% have put Gen AI into production – highlighting the gap between ambition and execution. Agentic AI can plan, decide, and act autonomously to achieve goals – without needing step-by-step instructions. In a public sector context, this means:

• Proactive Service Delivery: Identifying issues before they escalate and resolving them autonomously.
• Autonomous Task Management: Coordinating multi-step workflows across departments.
• Enhanced Decision-Making: Synthesizing data to support faster, more informed actions.
• Human-Centric Design: Freeing employees from repetitive tasks so they can focus on meaningful work.

Empowering Public Sector Employees

Capgemini and ServiceNow are helping public sector organisations create intelligent, efficient, and engaging employee experiences:

• Automating Routine Tasks: ServiceNow’s AI automates repetitive processes; Capgemini tailors these to maximise impact.
• Predictive Analytics: ServiceNow predicts incidents; Capgemini helps interpret and act on the data.
• Personalized Support: ServiceNow delivers tailored experiences; Capgemini ensures they are intuitive and inclusive.
• Continuous Improvement: ServiceNow gathers feedback; Capgemini drives adoption and iteration.

Together, they enable public sector teams to work smarter, not harder – boosting engagement, reducing attrition, and improving service delivery. Less than 25% of public sector organizations report high maturity in any aspect of data readiness, including infrastructure, skills, and governance.

Elevating the Citizen Experience

Agentic AI isn’t just transforming internal operations – it’s revolutionising how citizens interact with public services. Here are some of the most impactful use cases:

• Healthcare Access: AI agents can schedule GP appointments, send reminders, and triage symptoms – reducing wait times, no-shows and improving outcomes.
• Tax and Benefits Support: AI can resolve tax queries, track welfare applications, and proactively update citizens for better engagement and faster resolutions.
• Local Services: From reporting potholes to graffiti removal, agentic AI can log, route, and track issues across departments – ensuring faster resolution and better community relations.
• Permit and Licence Management: AI can guide citizens through applications for parking permits, business licences, or event permissions – ensuring compliance and ease.
• Education and School Services: Parents can apply for school places, track transport eligibility, or manage special education needs – all through AI-guided workflows.
• Public Safety and Crisis Response: AI can coordinate emergency logistics, notify citizens, and track resource deployment in real time.

These capabilities not only improve satisfaction but also build trust in public institutions. Only 25% of citizens are satisfied with customer service from government agencies – Gen AI-powered virtual assistants can help bridge this gap.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Public Sector AI

As AI continues to evolve, agentic AI will play a pivotal role in shaping adaptive, intelligent, and human-centric public services. Capgemini and ServiceNow are at the forefront of this shift – empowering organisations to deliver experiences that are not only efficient but also empathetic and inclusive.

By embracing agentic AI, public sector organisations can unlock new levels of autonomy, innovation, and impact – while keeping humans in the loop to provide oversight, context, and judgement – ensuring both their people and their citizens are equipped to thrive in the digital age. 67% of public sector organizations are falling behind in their efforts to build data mastery – highlighting the urgency to invest in foundational capabilities.

Real-World Impact: Case Studies

• Healthcare: A Healthcare trust is working with ServiceNow and Capgemini to enhance HR service delivery. By automating routine HR tasks and providing personalised support, the hospital improved engagement, reduced turnover, and enabled staff to focus on patient care. The UK NHS is rolling out an AI tool that predicts patient falls with 97% accuracy, potentially preventing 2,000 hospital admissions daily and saving £2 billion annually.
• Local Government: A council used ServiceNow’s AI to automate IT service management. With Capgemini’s support, the council reduced incident resolution times by 40%, improved employee satisfaction, and achieved significant cost savings.
• Defence Sector: By leveraging the ServiceNow platform, the defence sector is building a centralised Service Management layer that unifies HR, Finance, and Commercial functions. With an intuitive, consumer-grade user experience and a single shared services model, departments can work seamlessly together. Orchestration and AI capabilities add further value, streamlining complex processes and enabling faster, smarter decision-making to strengthen resilience and operational efficiency.