Abu Dhabi plans to launch the latest version of the Tamm app in December as it pursues its goal of becoming the world’s first fully AI-native government, a senior executive has said.
The refreshed Tamm 5.0 app, which would be introduced at the Gitex Global technology exhibition in Dubai, promises "increasingly intelligent" services, Department of Government Enablement director general Ruba Al Hassan told The National at the AI Everything summit in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Those services are to also be more "proactive and personalised", but they still have to remain "simple and trusted", said Ms Al Hassan, who oversees strategic affairs and future foresight at the department.
Tamm currently has about 4.7 million users, having grown by more than 1.5 million in just a year. About 90 per cent of its transactions are finalised within a day, the latest data from the DGE shows.
Tamm 5.0 would be "another step" in the evolution from a digital government to an AI-native government, "moving towards a model where government increasingly understands context ... anticipates needs and helps people achieve things more easily", Ms Al Hassan said.
The DGE did not reveal the specific changes to Tamm or new services that are to be introduced. "It’s time for the next phase, which is about making the experience even more seamless and reducing the effort required from residents, businesses and visitors," she added.
The DGE remains "focused" on its goal of transforming the capital's government services into a fully AI-native platform by next year, Ms Al Hassan said. The agency is "moving with urgency, but building responsibly", she added.
"We are already seeing that tangible progress across government, not only through individual AI applications, but through the foundations that make AI-native government possible," she said, referring to data, infrastructure, digital services, workforce capability and governance.
"The question is not whether we can deploy AI faster, it’s whether we can create lasting value at scale, so we believe we are on the right path to do that."
Abu Dhabi is boosting tech use across the emirate under its digital strategy, which focuses on five key enablers – one of them being the use of AI across public services.
Despite the persisting challenges – especially issues involving AI models going rogue and compromising other websites – the DGE is seeking to ensure the safety and reliability of such systems.
"We’re seeing a lot of noise in the global AI conversation. New models are constantly coming out, capabilities are getting better quickly and everyone’s focused on what might happen in the future," Ms Al Hassan said. "Our focus is slightly different. We’re interested in where AI delivers practical value today ... we also believe trust is critical. People need confidence that AI is being used responsibly, transparently and with clear human accountability."
Educating users is also a key part of the DGE's mandate, she said. "As AI improves, the value of human judgment actually also increases. People need to know how to work effectively with AI, challenge AI outputs and make better decisions," she said.
"When it comes to AI, the skill won’t be coding, it will be maintaining judgment."
'Most powerful generation'
Meanwhile, Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, described the present generation as the "most powerful in human history", while calling for more responsible use of AI.
"The reason ... is because you have the intelligence of every single generation, every single human that has lived, that has actually produced something that has lasted ... the content and knowledge are at your fingertips," he told the conference.
"And you don't just have raw knowledge. You're actually able to leverage intelligence to do something with it through agentic AI," he added, referring to the class designed to make autonomous decisions and act with minimal human supervision.
"This is the time for a new ambitious generation ... people might not believe in your ideas, to wield these tools to create something that others can't see or don't believe is possible. It's a calling."
