AI offers government an opportunity to rethink how services are planned, organised and delivered. The missing link is turning that potential into practical changes in how public services work.
An ambition beyond productivity
Public bodies face rising demand, workforce pressures and constrained budgets. Citizens experience the consequences through delays, complex processes and difficulty accessing support.
The public recognises AI’s potential to help. Research commissioned by Pegasystems, based on a nationally representative survey of 2,008 UK adults, found that 53% believe AI could make government services faster, while 51% believe it could reduce running costs.
Speed and efficiency are valuable starting points. The wider opportunity is to rethink how people receive support, enabling earlier intervention, more informed decisions and better use of resources as demand changes.
For Scotland’s digital leaders, the opportunity is to fundamentally rethink how public services are delivered, from identifying needs earlier to coordinating support across departments. Pega and Aaseya can act as strategic partners in this transformation, helping public bodies turn policy ambitions into practical service redesign through workflow, decisioning and AI.
From responding to requests to anticipating needs
Many services begin when someone identifies a need, finds the right department and submits an application. People often carry the responsibility for understanding what assistance exists.
AI could support a more proactive approach. With appropriate permissions and safeguards, a change in circumstances could prompt relevant support, while information already provided could reduce application effort.
Someone losing their job, for example, may need financial assistance, housing support and employment advice. Organising delivery around that life event could help them access coordinated assistance without navigating each service independently.
For staff, AI could summarise information, surface relevant guidance and identify cases requiring attention, creating more time for professional judgement and personal support.
Connected operations make transformation deliverable
Delivering this model requires clear ownership, consistent decisions and coordinated processes across departments and systems.
Intelligent workflow can manage hand-offs and actions, decisioning can apply relevant policies and rules, and AI can assist with specific tasks. Together, these capabilities help turn service redesign into day-to-day practice.
Aaseya’s work with the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing (MOMAH) in Saudi Arabia illustrates this operational foundation.
Municipalities had been using separate inspection systems. The programme brought inspection processes onto a common digital platform, connecting field surveys and visit reviews with approvals, fines, notifications to establishment owners and routes to appeal.
MOMAH reported that the platform operated across 70 municipalities with more than 6,000 users, with a 67% reduction in processing time.
Although municipal inspections differ from citizen support services, the delivery challenge is relevant to both: coordinating work across systems while maintaining accountability. For Scotland, the lesson is to address the whole process when introducing new capabilities.
Public confidence must shape implementation
While 81% of survey respondents support some form of AI rollout, 60% have heard little or nothing about how public bodies are using it.
Public confidence requires more than explaining the technology. People should understand how their information is used, be able to correct it, question an outcome and reach a person when needed.
These routes should be built into service delivery, with clear responsibility for reviewing decisions and resolving concerns.
A strategic partnership for government transformation
A practical starting point is to choose a priority service, map its delays and hand-offs, and identify where workflow, decisioning and AI could improve outcomes.
Pega and Aaseya can support that journey from service assessment and roadmap development through to implementation and continuous improvement. Pega’s platform capabilities, combined with Aaseya’s process transformation and integration experience, help public bodies translate policy priorities into operational change.
I’ll be speaking at Digital Scotland 2026 on 24 November in Edinburgh, presenting “AI in Public Services: Are We Listening to Citizens?”
Join me for the masterclass and meet the Aaseya and Pega teams to explore what this approach could mean for your organisation.