Abu Dhabi's AiNative Programme Teaches Government Workers AI Tools and What Data to Keep Out

Abu Dhabi has launched AiNative, an AI training programme built with OpenAI, Microsoft and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence for every government employee and, later, the wider public. The programme aims to upskill 20,000 government employees by the end of the year, and it forms part of the drive to become the world's first AI-native government by 2027. A second target, around 23,000 employees across Abu Dhabi by early 2027, appears in Khaleej Times. For Metaintro readers working in, or applying to, the Abu Dhabi public sector, the useful part is what the course actually covers, from AI tools to the data rules that decide what can be typed into them.

What Is AiNative, and Who Built It?

AiNative was unveiled at the Ai Everything Abu Dhabi event by the Department of Government Enablement, the body known as DGE. The Department of Government Enablement owns the curriculum, which was shaped with OpenAI, Microsoft and MBZUAI, and the programme is designed to be open and technology-agnostic, providing flexibility to add further partners over time.

Each partner has a defined job. OpenAI is helping curate the curriculum around AI skills and tools, Microsoft is supporting training around Copilot, while MBZUAI is helping develop personalised one-to-one learning sessions. The three organisations are partners on the same platform rather than separate agreements, said Faisal Al Hawi, Director of AI Factory at DGE.

The programme has foundation learning journeys for government employees and the public, alongside a dedicated executive programme for department leaders. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the exhibition, and Farouk El Hamzawi, Head of Enterprise at OpenAI MENA, is pictured signing the MoU with the Department of Government Enablement.

Is the Target 20,000 Employees or 23,000?

Both figures come from the same government programme, but they carry different owners and different deadlines. AiNative aims to upskill 20,000 government employees by the end of the year, a deadline given as the end of 2026, according to Gulf News.

The higher figure, a target to train around 23,000 employees across Abu Dhabi by early 2027, comes from Khaleej Times. The sources do not explain the gap.

The two descriptions of the rollout differ. Officially, the programme is being rolled out in phases, with an initial pilot within government already under way, before it will be made public. Al Hawi put it differently, saying the programme initially ran as a pilot involving several government entities but is now available across the Abu Dhabi Government.

AI will only create lasting value when people have the knowledge and confidence to use it well, Wesam Lootah, Director General of GovDigital at DGE, said, according to the AiNative launch release.

What Will Government Employees Actually Learn?

The government journey uses named tools. It equips employees at scale with practical tools, including Codex and Microsoft 365 Copilot, alongside OpenAI's chatbot, so staff can use AI confidently and responsibly in daily work. Al Hawi said DGE worked with OpenAI to build a curriculum around its chatbot, the secure version for government and then the open version for the public.

The order of study is set out too. Al Hawi said the platform will begin with foundational AI training and executive-level learning before expanding into specialised programmes for functions including tax, procurement, legal and finance. Specialised, function-specific certifications, including areas such as coding and data, will follow in later phases.

For example, an HR employee could learn which tools could help with manpower planning, while a legal employee could be trained to use AI for tasks such as contract drafting. The platform is also meant to help employees identify which AI tools are appropriate for particular jobs, while taking account of security and relevance to government work.

The reason given is speed of change. The training is being designed around a practical problem facing government workers, the rapid pace at which AI tools are changing.

Which Data Rules Will Staff Be Taught?

Security is a key component of the programme, and employees are taught what types of government data can be entered into AI systems, what should not be shared and what must never be shared.

Data rules also featured in the July Copilot rollout. All of the 35,000 Copilot licences are provisioned with Advanced Data Residency, ensuring that all AI processing takes place within UAE borders, and that rollout is underpinned by rigorous security, data governance, and readiness assessments. In the words of Al Hawi, employees should understand what kind of data can they provide these tools.

Al Hawi also described what the tools can save. For a legal employee preparing a contract, AI could reduce a task that previously took a week to an hour or even a few minutes, leaving more time for work that needs human judgement. Al Hawi said he uses AI agents to cut the time spent preparing reports and presentations for senior leadership, and the remaining work involves applying human judgement to the output.

With agents in place you can literally give it a task, come back to it in an hour and you have probably 80 to 90 per cent of the job done, Faisal Al Hawi, Director of AI Factory at DGE, said, according to the Khaleej Times report.

How Does AiNative Connect to the 35,000 Copilot Licences?

The 35,000 figure is a total of Microsoft 365 Copilot licences, not a count of trainees. By its 6 July announcement, Abu Dhabi had recently deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot to 26,000 civil servants across 27 government entities, building on 9,000 existing licences to reach a total of 35,000. The first phase of the Frontier Employee Programme took the total number of licences to 35,000, and AiNative follows the rollout of Microsoft 365 Copilot to 35,000 Abu Dhabi Government employees.

The July rollout already carried a training element. It also includes AI training and certification programmes, ensuring employees can use these tools responsibly, securely, and to maximum effect, and it is backed by an AI Adoption and Enablement framework, covering structured rollout, change management, and user enablement.

The government presents the two as a pair, since together they pair access to advanced AI tools with the skills required to use them responsibly and at scale.

In July, an AI Factory capability was being established with a target of hundreds of use cases and more than 1,000 agents across the public sector, with agents that will span functions from document processing and constituent query handling to policy analysis.

When Can the Public Use AiNative, and What Will It Cover?

Not yet. The public programme comes after the government pilot, since an initial pilot within government is already under way, before it will be made public. The free programme will later be opened to Abu Dhabi citizens and residents through Tomouh, using UAE Pass, and Al Hawi said anyone holding a UAE Pass will be able to log in and use it.

The public journey has a different focus from the staff course. It will cover practical applications of AI in everyday life, including managing personal finances, running a small business, finding a job, studying and creating content responsibly online, and it will be delivered through the free version of OpenAI's chatbot.

Tomouh is already Abu Dhabi Government's AI-enabled learning platform, designed to deliver a personalised and future-focused learning experience for its employees, and an Abu Dhabi Media Office release dated 11 August 2026 describes a DGE delegation's visit that recognised the Tomouh team after the platform was selected among the top five worldwide in the e-learning category at the International Telecommunication Union's World Summit on the Information Society.

What Else Is Abu Dhabi Doing to Become an AI-Native Government?

AiNative forms part of Abu Dhabi's strategy to become an AI-native government, and the emirate has a goal of deploying more than 200 AI solutions across government. The Abu Dhabi Government Digital Strategy 2025-2027 was set to deploy AED13 billion through 2025-2027 to support innovation and technology adoption. The strategy also aims to reach 100% adoption of sovereign cloud computing for government operations.

The plan also includes the development of a unified digital enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, and it built on over a decade of digital evolution, progressing from e-government to smart and now to AI-powered services.

The strategy already pointed to training. Under its AI for All programme, the Abu Dhabi government is investing in training and empowering its citizens in AI applications, and the plan names partnerships with the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence for upskilling.

It also made a jobs projection. The strategy was anticipated to contribute over AED24 billion to Abu Dhabi's GDP by 2027 and create more than 5,000 employment opportunities supporting Emiratisation efforts. That is a projection, not a count of filled roles.

How Does It Compare With the UAE-Wide Push to Train 80,000?

A national figure was also given at the same event. On Tuesday at Ai Everything Abu Dhabi, the UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Omar Sultan Al Olama, said the UAE is training about 80,000 government employees to become super users of artificial intelligence, capable of building AI agents and working with advanced models.

The national plan has fewer public details so far. Al Olama did not, however, give a timeline for completion or details of the curriculum during the session. He described the training drive as very aggressive.

The national effort aims for staff capable of building AI agents, while AiNative starts Abu Dhabi government staff on foundational AI training and executive-level learning before function-specific tracks.

What This Means for Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

For anyone aiming at an Abu Dhabi government role, AiNative is built for every government employee. The government journey covers Codex and Microsoft 365 Copilot, and staff are taught what types of government data can be entered into AI systems. A few practical steps follow from what the sources say.

• Learn the tools the government uses. Microsoft 365 Copilot is the AI productivity platform for Abu Dhabi Government, so everyday fluency with it is a reasonable starting point, and it helps to show AI skills on your resume and in interviews with examples from real tasks.
• Treat data handling as a skill. The course teaches what should not be shared and what must never be shared, so be ready to explain how you keep sensitive information out of AI tools in your current job.
• Match AI to your function. Later tracks will cover functions including tax, procurement, legal and finance, and the examples given include manpower planning in HR and contract drafting in legal teams. If you work in one of those areas, practise using AI on those exact tasks.
• Watch for public access. The public journey will come via Tomouh, DGE's AI-powered learning app, by logging in with UAE Pass, and it includes finding a job as a topic. Building AI literacy at every career stage does not have to wait for that.
• Read the numbers with care. The 20,000 figure is the goal for the end of the year, the around 23,000 figure is the early 2027 target from Khaleej Times, and the 35,000 figure counts Copilot licences.

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People Also Asked

Q: How many Abu Dhabi government employees will AiNative train?

A: AiNative aims to upskill 20,000 government employees by the end of the year, while Khaleej Times reports a target to train around 23,000 employees across Abu Dhabi by early 2027.

Q: Can members of the public use AiNative?

A: Not yet. The free programme will later be opened to Abu Dhabi citizens and residents through Tomouh using UAE Pass, after an initial pilot within government.

Q: Is the 35,000 Copilot figure the same as the AiNative target?

A: The 35,000 figure is the total of Microsoft 365 Copilot licences under the Frontier Employee Programme announced in July, while AiNative is a separate training programme that follows the rollout.

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