Abu Dhabi’s Department of Government Enablement launched AiNative on 7 October with OpenAI, Microsoft and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. The programme is designed for government employees and the wider public. Its stated aim is to upskill 20,000 government employees by the end of 2026, as part of the emirate’s ambition to become the world’s first AI-native government by 2027. The number is a target, not a count of people who have completed training.

The government learning path introduces practical tools including ChatGPT, Codex and Microsoft 365 Copilot, with a separate executive programme for department leaders. Later phases are expected to add function-specific certifications in areas such as coding and data. DGE owns the curriculum, shaped with the three named partners, and says the programme is open and technology-agnostic so it can accommodate additional partners over time.

A public learning route is planned through Tomouh, DGE’s AI-powered learning application, with UAE Pass login. The announcement says lessons will cover everyday uses such as personal finance, small-business operations, job searches, study and responsible online content creation, delivered through the free version of ChatGPT. Public access is described as a programme feature, but the source does not specify the launch date, enrolment figures or course completion standards for that route.

The initiative is being rolled out in phases. An initial government pilot is already under way before the programme becomes public, while the 20,000-employee objective refers to year-end upskilling. A separate announcement noted that Microsoft 365 Copilot had been rolled out to 35,000 government employees in July through the Frontier Employee Programme. Tool access and training are different measures, so the latter figure should not be read as the number trained by AiNative.

For public organisations, training can help staff assess where AI tools are useful and where human review, privacy controls or subject expertise remain necessary. The announcement sets an ambition and describes the planned learning paths, but it does not report impact on productivity, service quality or error rates. Those outcomes would require later reporting with clear baselines and definitions of participation, completion and practical use.