Governments worldwide face a common challenge: how to deliver better public services with tighter budgets. Artificial intelligence offers a potentially game-changing answer.

We are already seeing governments at all levels experiment with innovative AI solutions to challenges ranging from processing patents faster, to vetting fraudulent benefit claims, to fixing potholes quicker. Each week, we see new AI-enabled solutions being deployed by public sector institutions.

While this technology is potentially transformative for governments at every stage of development, no group may be better positioned to seize the opportunity than developing countries.

Why? Because unlike developed economies that are often dependent on legacy IT systems and bespoke government software, developing countries typically don't have that burden. Much as emerging markets were often faster to adopt mobile telecommunications, AI offers another chance for developing country governments to “leapfrog” ahead. They can build new, AI-optimized systems from scratch, bypassing the long and expensive process of modernizing outdated infrastructure, and they can build solutions that better align with their bespoke needs.

Creating a triple-win for developing countries with AI

Our new report with PwC, AI Works for Governments, quantifies the scale of the opportunity. By 2035, broad AI adoption in the public sector of developing countries can yield a triple dividend:

• Fiscal strength: Reducing federal deficits by up to 22%;
• Better public services: Increasing public administration productivity by up to 3%; and
• Economic growth: Increasing national GDP by up to 4% and average household income by up to 2%.

In delivering these dividends, AI can make developing country governments more effective, more inclusive and more trustworthy.

Getting started: four archetypes of government AI adoption

Every country begins its AI journey from a different point. The AI Works for Governments report introduces four “AI readiness archetypes” to help governments assess their progress and prioritize their next steps: Explorers; Infrastructure Ready; Governance Ready; and Leaders.

These archetypes are accompanied by practical guides that can help governments identify quick wins while laying foundations for sustainable, system-wide transformation.

Benefiting from AI by investing in policies, people and quick wins

AI transformation in the developing world — much as in the developed — won’t be automatic. It will demand intentional government deployment, driven by clear leadership, investment and all-of-government initiatives. Success will hinge on three critical elements:

• Establishing an enabling policy environment with clear, pro-innovation and cloud-first policies;
• Investing in people to build an AI-ready civil service; and
• Prioritizing quick wins that can build momentum.

Not everyone will succeed. But those who do will help place themselves and their populations in the pole position for the 21st Century.

Read our full report to get started.