Yes& follows the trends and technologies shaping public sector decisions. Agentic AI, the next frontier of artificial intelligence (AI), is beginning to transform the public sector with its ability to perform autonomous, goal-driven actions.  

This blog offers insight into how agentic AI can improve efficiency and productivity within the government. 

What is Agentic AI? 

Agentic AI uses large language models (LLMs) and other AI techniques to carry out complex, multi-step tasks independently. Unlike traditional AI, which typically follows fixed, pre-defined rules, agentic AI actively plans, reasons, and adjusts its actions to achieve a broader goal. Its capability to serve as a “digital teammate” is transforming the public sector, improving applications in workforce optimization, cybersecurity, incident response, recovery, and more. 

Workforce optimization: Amplifying human potential 

Government agencies, often limited by tight budgets and staffing shortages, are adopting agentic AI to improve efficiency.  

By automating complex and repetitive tasks, agents allow human staff to focus on more strategic, creative, and empathetic work, such as: 

• Streamlined benefits processing: AI agents can help caseworkers by automatically evaluating eligibility, verifying documentation, and applying complex policy rules for applications like Medicaid or disability benefits. This significantly reduces backlogs and speeds up service delivery for citizens. 

• Enhanced workforce planning: AI agents can analyze vast amounts of data on hiring trends, labor needs, and operational demands to provide actionable insights for long-term planning. This enables agencies to manage staffing levels and skill development proactively. 

• Automated administrative tasks: Processes like back-office operations, procurement, and human resource queries can be handled by AI agents around the clock, improving internal efficiency and reducing operational costs. 

Cybersecurity: A more resilient defense 

As the threat landscape becomes more sophisticated, agentic AI equips public sector security operations centers (SOCs) with a powerful tool to shift from a reactive to a proactive defense stance, offering capabilities such as: 

• Autonomous threat detection and response: AI agents can continuously monitor networks, analyze real-time data to identify subtle anomalies, and autonomously contain and remediate threats. This reduces the mean time to contain (MTTC) incidents from minutes to seconds. 

• Reduced alert fatigue: By triaging, investigating, and prioritizing security alerts, AI agents can filter out false positives and minimize the overwhelming volume of notifications for human analysts. 

• Proactive vulnerability management: Agents can continuously scan for weaknesses, prioritize which vulnerabilities to fix first based on risk, and even automate patching in controlled environments, effectively shrinking a government agency’s attack surface. 

• AI vs. AI defense: Agentic AI is becoming a crucial countermeasure against adversarial AI used by hackers. Automated defense agents can monitor abnormal behavior, trace attack routes, and contain threats in real-time through collaboration and information sharing. 

Automating missions, increasing efficiency  

The impact of agentic AI extends to diverse government functions, promising to make services more efficient, responsive, and data-driven, including: 

• Faster citizen services: Agentic AI-powered virtual assistants can guide citizens through complex processes, such as permit approvals or license applications, by proactively fetching information and completing forms. 

• Accelerated disaster response: A system of multi-agents can coordinate emergency efforts by analyzing real-time data, assessing damage from images and videos, and optimizing logistics for resource allocation. 

• Evidence-based governance: Agents can help inform policy development by processing vast amounts of data, simulating outcomes, and identifying unintended consequences, all while improving transparency and documentation. 

• Cross-agency integration: By operating as a connective tissue between disparate government departments, AI agents can automate data exchange and coordinate workflows, eliminate information silos and improve collaboration. 

Navigating challenges and building trust 

While the potential is transformative, public-sector leaders must approach agentic AI with a strategy that balances innovation, control, transparency, and ethics.  

Successful implementation involves a “human-in-the-loop” approach, where human experts oversee performance, validate results, and retain the final authority in critical decisions.  

Agencies need to establish clear and robust policies for AI accountability, data privacy, and ethical decision-making to earn and maintain public trust.  

Furthermore, many government IT infrastructures are outdated and fragmented. Secure and smooth integration of agentic AI with these legacy systems is essential.  

Finally, to prepare for the future of human-AI collaboration, agency leaders must invest in training programs that enable employees to use and manage AI tools effectively. 

Shifting towards an agentic future 

The shift toward agentic AI is already in progress. By carefully managing its roll-out, government agencies can build a more effective, responsive, and secure future for public service. 

Yes& helps support the marketing and communications needs of clients who develop agentic AI and intelligent automation solutions that address many government requirements, including streamlining processes for better citizen service, upskilling the workforce to handle complex tasks, and securing critical assets and data.  

For more information on how Yes& can support your communications in the B2G market, please contact Carmel McDonagh at cmcdonagh@yesandagency.com.