Government agencies are struggling to keep pace with generative AI adoption. A new global study, Your Journey to a GenAI Future: A Strategic Path to Success for Government conducted by SAS, an analytics platform, and Coleman Parkes Research, finds that government agencies are lagging behind other sectors when it comes to the adoption of generative AI.

Despite this fact, 60 percent of government respondents believe generative AI will drive innovation, and those who have begun using it are already seeing improvements in employee satisfaction, compliance, operational costs and time efficiencies. 

The survey found that 84 percent of government decision-makers plan to invest in generative AI within their organizations during the next fiscal year. Meanwhile, 91 percent of respondents said they are already dedicating a portion of their operating budget to generative AI.  

"While they haven't been first to adopt GenAI, government agencies are poised to increase productivity and transform citizen services with this technology," said Grant Brooks, vice president of U.S. public sector and health care at SAS. "Deploying AI in a measured and responsible manner is crucial, but when properly planned and governed, we can be confident that GenAI will bring significant value to our nation's citizens and communities. We've partnered with government agencies through every major technological breakthrough of the last half century, and we're excited to see what we can do together with GenAI."

All sectors consistently shared concerns about data privacy, data security and AI government. However, the largest concern among government respondents was about cultural resistance to change at nearly 52 percent, while 46 percent believe compatibility with legacy systems could be a significant challenge. 

"It is natural that the government would have some reticence to adopt GenAI, but the public sector pioneers are already showing that the more it's used, the more confidence will grow and innovation will accelerate," said Jennifer Robinson, global government strategic advisor, SAS. "Large language models, digital twins and synthetic data hold tremendous potential for government agencies, once they have the processes and policies in place to maximize them."

A lack of regulatory preparedness and understanding of generative AI are also raising alarms. Only 52 percent of government organizations have a policy stating how employees are and are not allowed to use generative AI at work, compared with 61 percent across all sectors.

Meanwhile, of budgeted money for generative AI, only 64 percent of respondents said they have allotted one-tenth or less of their generative AI budgets to governance and monitoring. Additionally, 50 percent of public sector respondents said they either don't have a framework or that it's ad hoc or informal, in comparison with 39 percent across the board.  

The study also showed there is a lack of generative AI awareness among public sector employees. Just 35 percent are familiar with their organizations' adoption of generative AI, compared with the 46 percent overall average. 
 
Decision-makers are still driven to generative AI into their overall business structure, with 94 percent of respondents saying they have seen an improvement in employee experience and satisfaction, and 84 percent reported that the technology has created operational, financial and time efficiencies.