Ajman’s Department of Economic Development processed the UAE’s first trade licence renewal using agentic AI technology, completing a transaction without human intervention at any step of the process. The Department of Digital Ajman engineered the system, which officials describe as a “proactive, headless government service model,” designed to execute government transactions autonomously across multiple agencies.
Agentic AI is an autonomous form of artificial intelligence capable of making decisions and pursuing specific objectives with minimal human oversight. The Ajman system was built to identify customer needs, chart the service journey, secure approvals, and coordinate procedures across relevant departments, removing the requirement for citizens to navigate between agencies or complete redundant steps.
Additional reference context is available at https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2026/07/23/ajman-uses-agentic-ai-to-renew-trade-licence-in-uae-government-first/.
The first phase of implementation covers trade licence renewals. Under the new framework, customers receive automatic notification before their licence expires and are directed to an intelligent assistant within the unified AjmanOne government app to finalize the renewal. The architecture integrates with the Ajman Municipality and Planning Department when a valid commercial lease is required for renewal. If lease renewal is necessary, customers proceed through that process before the trade licence renewal continues automatically, with both departments coordinating through the system rather than through the applicant.
Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman and Chairman of the Executive Council, framed the deployment as evidence of institutional commitment to translating leadership vision into practical services. “Artificial intelligence is a means to accelerate services, enhance quality of life and build a proactive government, with people at the heart of every decision and experience,” he stated. He described the launch as “a practical step under the Ajman Artificial Intelligence Programme” and said the government is developing AI models intended to serve society, improve decision-making, enhance customer experience, and support government integration “within a framework of governance, trust, accountability and data protection.”
What changed at the federal level: in April, the UAE Cabinet announced plans to deliver half of all government services through AI Agents within two years. That national mandate includes training 80,000 workers, ranging from ministers to junior employees, in AI agent use. The training programme is being developed in partnership with leading universities and global technology companies and covers five categories: leadership, technical skills, specialist roles, the general workforce, and additional support for trainers.
A dedicated digital platform, itself powered by agentic AI tools, will be created to guide federal employees through personalized learning pathways tailored to their role and skill level. The Ajman deployment now stands as the first completed instance of that broader federal ambition made operational.
Whether other emirates move to replicate the model at scale, and how quickly the federal two-year timeline translates into similar cross-agency integrations elsewhere, remains the open question for regulators and oversight bodies tracking the UAE’s AI governance commitments.