A new IDC study commissioned by Dell Technologies finds governments worldwide are accelerating plans for agentic AI adoption, with security, sovereignty and trusted infrastructure emerging as critical conditions for deployment.
Public sector leaders worldwide are moving from AI exploration to implementation, with agentic AI emerging as the credible path forward.
A new global study commissioned by Dell Technologies, conducted by IDC, finds that 71% of government decision-makers believe agentic AI – systems capable of autonomously completing complex tasks – will accelerate AI adoption in government.
The findings reflect a public sector at an inflection point, where workforce constraints, widening skills gaps and mounting pressure to modernize are converging. In response, government leaders are becoming more deliberate about how – and under what conditions – they advance AI initiatives.
The study surfaces several trends shaping how governments are approaching sovereign AI adoption:
• Agentic AI as a workforce multiplier: With more than half of leaders (51%) planning to invest in agentic AI within the next 12-18 months, governments are moving from exploration to implementation – looking to autonomous systems to handle complex administrative and analytical tasks and free government workers for higher-value work.
• A widening skills gap: A majority (66%) of public sector organizations report that technology is evolving faster than their workforce can keep up, creating significant operational pressure and urgency around AI-enabled solutions.
• Guardrails as the condition for acceleration: Appetite for agentic AI is high but conditional. Nearly half of leaders (44%) state they will only accelerate AI adoption if strong safeguards – including data security, privacy and sovereignty protections – are firmly in place.
• A call for partnership: Nearly 61% of leaders agree that public-private partnerships will be critical to accessing the expertise and technology required for secure, successful AI implementation.
The findings point to a clear shift in public sector AI strategy. Governments are no longer debating whether agentic AI has value – they are determining what it takes to deploy it responsibly and at scale.
While agentic systems offer a clear path to easing workforce pressure and modernizing operations, confidence in foundational capabilities will ultimately determine the pace of adoption.
That scale, however, requires more than intent.
The study found that 58% of government leaders identify strong sovereign data governance, quality and control as among the most critical platform requirements for sovereign AI, reinforcing that trusted data foundations are not a secondary concern – they are a prerequisite for adoption.
For public sector organizations, deploying AI with confidence means having robust data sovereignty, privacy protections, governance frameworks and infrastructure choices in place from the outset.
When those foundations are secure, the path to sovereign agentic AI at scale becomes viable.
Perspectives
“Governments worldwide are no longer asking whether to adopt AI – they’re asking how to do it at scale, securely and on their own terms. The agentic AI era is here and operational readiness is the defining challenge. Dell Technologies is committed to simplifying that path – delivering sovereign, seamless and scalable AI infrastructure that gives the public sector the confidence to move from ambition to action,” said Nicole Jefferson, VP, Global Government Affairs, Dell Technologies
“Agentic AI is moving quickly from concept to practical consideration for government and executive decision-makers,” said Alan Webber, Program Vice President, National Security, Defense and Intelligence, IDC.
“The study shows strong momentum, with public sector leaders looking to autonomous systems to help close skills gaps, ease workforce pressure and accelerate AI adoption. However, that momentum is conditional. Governments will only move at scale if they have confidence in the security, privacy, sovereignty and infrastructure foundations underpinning these systems.”
The findings send a clear message: agentic AI is no longer a future consideration for governments – it is a near-term priority.
The speed of adoption will be set not by ambition alone, but by the strength of the sovereign data, infrastructure and partnerships that underpin it.
For governments ready to act, secure and sovereign foundations are what turn intent into impact.
The survey polled 258 government IT decision-makers across six countries to understand current and future plans and capture sentiments around sovereign AI and its critical implementation components.
Respondent organizations included national civilian governments, military and defense organizations, regional, state and local government organizations, research institutes and private companies closely tied to government operations.
