A new report by Accenture and the World Governments Summit (WGS) Organisation warned that despite the rapid adoption of AI by government service entities worldwide, most are using the technology to speed up outdated systems rather than redesign them, creating what experts call an “experience paradox.”
The report estimates that unless governments shift toward more proactive, citizen-centered models, AI investments will fall short of improving public satisfaction.
The report, “Getting to the Five-Star Review: How Governments Can Use AI to Build Trusted Service at Digital Speed,” introduces the Accenture AI Proactivity Index. The analytical model shows that resident satisfaction is driven not by the volume of technology, but by how effectively governments predict needs, empower their workforce and ensure radical transparency.
“The goal of AI in government services is to make it intuitively human, not just operationally efficient,” said Andrew Vo, Accenture’s MEA Chief Transformation Officer and Head of Strategy & Consulting. “Our research demonstrates that the highest ‘five-star’ experiences come from entities that move beyond reactive automation to proactive prediction, delivering service before residents even need to ask.”
Despite widespread experimentation with AI, a new study of 7,250 residents and 4,100 frontline government employees reveals a significant disconnect between technology adoption and service impact.
Nearly half (45%) of residents describe digital government services as “in need of improvement,” while employee empowerment has declined from 87% feeling empowered three years ago to just 73% today. This suggests that technology is being deployed faster than it can be effectively integrated.
Compounding the issue, only 35% of government entities offer structured upskilling for AI-enabled roles, with one-third of employees citing a lack of skilled talent as the main barrier to improving service quality.
To resolve the “Experience Paradox”, the report outlines three strategic imperatives for government reinvention.
First, it urges governments to move beyond simply digitizing outdated processes and instead use AI to anticipate key life events, such as birth, marriage, or retirement, and proactively deliver services.
Leading examples include Estonia’s one-click service model and Singapore’s AI-driven OneService Chatbot.
Second, the report emphasises the importance of treating employees as innovation partners, noting that entities engaging staff as co-designers see five times higher engagement and four times faster skill development. Australia’s GovAI platform and Singapore’s “Pair” system are cited as models that allow officials to experiment in secure sandboxes.
Third, the report highlights the need to rebuild trust through greater transparency, as only 47% of residents trust their government to use AI responsibly. To address this, it recommends public registers of algorithms to give citizens visibility into how decisions are made and reinforce accountability.
The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Singapore consistently outperform on the AI Proactivity Index.
The report concluded that in the age of AI, responsiveness has become the new benchmark for government credibility. True excellence is measured by how effectively governments remove friction from the lives of the people they serve.
