The government has launched a national programme to test “agentic” AI assistants aimed at cutting the time people spend on everyday bureaucracy and providing personalised guidance through major life transitions.
According to procurement notices and government announcements, the National AI Tender will bring together Whitehall expertise and specialist labs to prototype and pilot systems before any nationwide rollout. A phased “Scan, Pilot, Scale” model is planned, with pilot activity during 2025/26, scale targeted for 2026/27 subject to review, and broader deployment by late 2027 if trials prove successful.
Agentic AI goes beyond chatbots. Government guidance describes it as autonomous, task-oriented software made up of interacting agents and enhanced by large language models, capable of reasoning, orchestrating multi-step tasks and retaining memory. Advocates say such assistants could book appointments, complete forms and provide tailored advice, while explaining their actions to users.
Early pilots will focus on high-impact life moments: helping 16–34-year-olds find apprenticeships and career routes, guiding education choices and supporting housing transitions. Frontier model providers are explicitly invited to contribute to an “agentic-AI powered” GOV.UK Chat.
Officials stress that participation will be voluntary and development will follow a test-and-learn methodology with human oversight, staged functionality and clear accountability. The guardrails mirror national AI guidance calling for robust testing, transparency, governance and proportionate risk controls.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle framed the initiative as part of a wider rethink of public service delivery. “If deployed successfully, agentic AI could deliver unprecedented levels of service, helping people find better opportunities and avoid wasting hours on administrative tasks,” he said.
The push builds on evidence from earlier AI projects. A major trial with 20,000 civil servants found generative tools saved an average of 26 minutes a day by drafting documents, summarising meetings and automating routine tasks. Other “Exemplar” projects include an Extract tool digitising decades-old planning records, freeing planning officers’ time.
Reforms to procurement and infrastructure are central. The AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out measures to support smaller innovators, encourage shared infrastructure and open standards, and fund scaling. Officials emphasise that projects can be adapted or halted if safety or effectiveness thresholds are not met.
Challenges remain. Agentic systems’ autonomy raises questions over error handling, auditing, privacy and remedies when decisions go wrong. Civil libertarians and technologists are likely to demand clarity on data use, third-party model reliance and oversight mechanisms.
If pilots show consistent reliability, user benefit and robust governance, the UK could establish a global model for deploying agentic AI in government services while maintaining public trust. Ministers are pitching the programme as an experiment in being both ambitious and careful — using AI to make everyday life less bureaucratic without compromising safety or accountability.
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