Governing with AI: A new AI implementation blueprint developed for policymakers
Today, around 70% of countries report using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve internal governmental processes, while a third use it to support policy design and implementation. Others are even exploring the possibility of using AI as a substitute for core governmental functions. Yet caution and pragmatic considerations are needed to ensure a successful AI implementation as statistics show that over 80% of AI projects fail.
To support governments facing these challenges, an international group of experts led by Prof. Catherine Régis (IVADO, Université de Montréal) and Prof. Florian Martin-Bariteau (University of Ottawa) analyzed key factors of AI implementation success and failure in the public sector to propose policy guidance for a transformative and resilient public administration in the age of AI and to better guard against the potentially negative effects and risks brought forth by this technology.
Building a resilient public administration in the age of AI
Canada is no stranger to dipping its toes in the AI race, with Mark Carney's government recently using an AI platform to translate and summarize the 11,000 submissions collected during its recent public consultation on the update to its AI strategy and proposing an ambitious deployment of AI in the federal public service.
"Governments deciding to use AI should go slow and steady, while being ambitious from the start. This should not be seen as indecision, but rather as a mark of seriousness and responsibility," says Dr. Catherine Régis, director of social innovation and international policy at IVADO and professor of law at Université de Montréal.
Outcomes for integrating AI depend less on the technology's sophistication than on institutional capacity, accountability mechanisms, vendor power relations, and resilience planning.
The policy brief's authors recommend four courses of action to tackle this implementation:
- Redesign public services around real problems before deploying AI and involve public servants as co-designers to build on proven successes, scaling up what works.
- Invest in institutional capacity through training and cross-functional teams.
- Rebalance power with private sector through collective procurement and collaboration to create and share AI tools that meet requirements.
- Anchor public-sector AI by building a public trust stack around transparency, accountability and oversight, plus resilience.
"Bottom-up, problem-driven planning is the only credible way to transform an administration with AI," says Dr. Florian Martin-Bariteau, director of the AI + Society Initiative and associate professor of law at the University of Ottawa. "Without planning, transparency, accountability and oversight, AI in the public sector will only amplify current dysfunctions and feed distrust from public servants and populations."
A global policy initiative
These recommendations have been developed as part of the Global Policy Briefs on AI initiative, a joint endeavor of IVADO, Canada's leading AI research and knowledge mobilization consortium, and the AI + Society Initiative at the University of Ottawa aiming to provide policymakers with rigorous, actionable public policy recommendations to address major global challenges related to AI. This is the second outcome of the initiative, following last year's focused on developing a roadmap for protecting democracies in the age of AI.
More information:
The global policy brief, "Governing with AI: Four Actions to Build a Transformative and Resilient Public Administration in the Age of AI," was developed in December 2025 during a week-long policy retreat of AI experts representing North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. It can be viewed here.
Provided by University of Ottawa
