AI in the Public Sector: How Governments Can Use Artificial Intelligence to Deliver More, Better—and with More Trust

Artificial intelligence is transforming the way companies operate, make decisions, and deliver value. But its impact extends beyond the private sphere: governments, city halls, and public agencies also face a significant opportunity to increase efficiency, improve services, and transform their relationships with citizens.

In a country like Brazil — continental, unequal, with major management challenges — the strategic use of AI can be the key to overcoming historical bottlenecks with innovation, scale, and operational intelligence .

According to McKinsey , governments that adopt AI in a structured way can reduce the cost of administrative processes by up to 30% and, at the same time, increase the perceived quality of public services.

From queues to fluidity: where AI can generate real impact in public management

While in the private sector AI is often used for competitive gains, in the public sector the focus is on expanding access, reducing waste, and improving the citizen experience.

Some areas with high potential for impact include:

• Citizen service with conversational agents (chatbots and voicebots) capable of clarifying doubts, issuing guides, scheduling appointments and avoiding unnecessary travel;

• Public health , with automated screening, predictive outbreak analysis and the use of AI to streamline regulatory processes and SUS queues;

• Education , with personalized learning paths, identification of school dropouts and support for pedagogical management;

• Contract management , automated audits and data cross-referencing to prevent fraud;

• Infrastructure and urban mobility , with agents that optimize the use of sensors, cameras and open data to improve traffic flow, identify potholes, plan predictive maintenance and signal occurrences in real time.

Success stories around the world — and in Brazil

The adoption of AI in the public sector is already a reality in developed countries and is also beginning to gain momentum in local governments in Brazil.

Estonia

Estonia is a global leader in the use of AI for public services. The country has more than 80 AI agents integrated into its digital systems. One example is Kratt ( https://www.kratid.ee/en/tehisintellekt ) , an ecosystem of interoperable conversational agents that allows citizens to resolve complex issues without bureaucracy—from school enrollment to tax payments.

Singapore

With the Smart Nation program ( https://www.smartnation.gov.sg/ ) , Singapore uses AI for smart surveillance, digital medical triage, and urban flow forecasting. Accenture highlights that the use of AI in government processes has increased public satisfaction with services by 50%.

Brazil: promising signs

Recife – Connect Citizen and Automatic Senior Citizen Card (with Google Cloud)

The Conecta Cidadão platform uses AI to cross-reference data and automate services. A practical example: more than 14,000 seniors were automatically notified of their eligibility for the Senior Citizen Card , without having to request one.

Espírito Santo – Virtual assistant “Lia” on the ES.GOV portal (with AWS)

The Espírito Santo State Government has integrated 660 public services into an AI-powered portal. Lia, the assistant, has already handled over 2.5 million automated services , such as scheduling and issuing travel guides.

Federal Revenue Service – Revenue Analytics to combat fraud

The Brazilian Revenue Service developed Receita Analytics , which uses AI and complex network analysis. The tool helped recover R$5.3 billion in customs fraud between January and October 2024, with over 90% accuracy .

These examples indicate that Brazil already has the technical capacity and concrete demand — it just needs to scale up good practices with a national strategy.

The Brazilian reality: challenges and opportunities

Implementing AI in the Brazilian public sector requires navigating a specific context:

• Fragmented systems , often with low interoperability between municipal, state and federal platforms;

• Lack of data structure , with incomplete or inconsistent records;

• Limited training , with public teams that need to be prepared to work with technology and understand its limits;

• Citizen distrust , which demands transparency and data protection.

On the other hand, the country has broad digital coverage (more than 80% of the population connected), technical centers of excellence (such as universities and innovation hubs) and a growing community of developers interested in public causes.

Deloitte points out that emerging countries that create appropriate institutional and legal environments for AI can make leaps in efficiency—even without abundant resources. But this requires vision, governance, and the courage to break with outdated models .

To work, it needs to be safe: fundamental precautions

The implementation of AI in the public sector requires technical rigor and ethical responsibility . Poorly designed algorithms, without human oversight, can reproduce biases, exclude vulnerable populations, or make opaque decisions.

Some essential principles include:

• Explainability : agents must be auditable and have human-understandable decisions;

• Privacy and LGPD : all data use must respect the legal framework and citizens' rights;

• Cybersecurity : agents need to operate in secure environments, with protection against leaks, attacks and manipulations;

• Multistakeholder governance : include civil society, universities and experts to ensure plurality in defining the uses of AI;

• Bias mitigation : Models must be continuously monitored to avoid discrimination based on race, gender, income, location, or any other unfair criteria.

Conclusion: AI as the engine of a more efficient, human and digital State

More than a technological promise, AI represents a historic opportunity to transform the Brazilian public sector into a leaner, more responsive, and citizen-centered structure .

With a well-coordinated national agenda, encouraging local innovation, and a focus on the ethical and efficient application of AI, Brazil can stop playing catch-up and start leading .

References

• McKinsey & Company (2023) – How AI can deliver value to governments

• Deloitte (2024) – Government Trends: The Rise of the AI-Enabled State

• Accenture (2022) – Public Service Futures: Reimagining Government with AI

• ThoughtWorks (2024) – AI Ethics in Public Systems

• BCG (2023) – AI in the Public Sector: Building a Smarter State