AI is moving beyond corporate offices into government agencies, where it's helping public sector workers analyze regulations, identify policy gaps, and build capacity on the ground. Rather than replacing human judgment, these tools are functioning as thought partners that help officials work more systematically through increasingly complex policy landscapes. Two emerging case studies from Indonesia and Africa reveal how this shift is unfolding in practice.

Why Are Governments Turning to AI for Policy Work?

The challenge facing modern governments is straightforward but daunting: policies are fragmented across multiple documents, agencies, and levels of authority. Understanding how a single regulation actually works requires reading laws, implementing regulations, technical policies, and budgetary frameworks together. This coordination problem is where AI is beginning to add value.

Syaravina Lubis, a Legal Analyst consultant working on food environment policies in Indonesia, encountered this complexity firsthand during five years at the Regional House of Representatives in North Sumatra Province. She learned that policymaking extends far beyond drafting regulations; it requires understanding coordination dynamics, political negotiations, and how different interests align into implementable policies.

"Sometimes we already have the big picture in mind, but the ideas are not yet fully organized. AI helps me structure those thoughts more clearly and identify other aspects I may not have considered before," Lubis explained.

Syaravina Lubis, Legal Analyst Consultant

For Lubis, AI tools like Microsoft Copilot function as analytical partners that help organize thinking, compare policy approaches across countries, and identify regulatory linkages that might otherwise remain hidden. She uses the technology to accelerate the process of mapping how regulations interact with budget structures and government governance frameworks, while preserving the critical role of human judgment in interpreting policy context.

How Are Public Sector Workers Using AI in Practice?

The applications emerging in government agencies span policy analysis, capacity building, and knowledge transfer. In Indonesia's Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Janu Dwi Kristianto applies AI to a different but equally pressing challenge: helping fisheries practitioners and vocational students understand complex technical materials.

Kristianto observed that technical content delivered only verbally or in overly formal language often fails to reach field-level practitioners. After joining Microsoft Elevate, a capacity-building initiative, he began using AI to develop learning modules, accelerate report writing, support risk analysis, and prepare training materials that practitioners could actually understand and apply.

Both Lubis and Kristianto share a critical perspective: AI is not a decision-maker but a tool to strengthen human capacity. For Lubis, the technology helps people think more systematically and opens new perspectives in policy analysis. For Kristianto, it speeds up administrative work while final decisions remain grounded in human judgment.

Steps to Integrate AI Into Government Operations

• Start with Specific Bottlenecks: Identify where policy analysis or knowledge transfer currently moves slowly, such as reviewing fragmented regulations across multiple documents or preparing training materials for field staff.
• Use AI as a Thought Partner, Not a Decision-Maker: Deploy AI tools to organize ideas, compare approaches, and identify gaps, while preserving human judgment for interpreting context and making final policy decisions.
• Build Capacity Alongside Technology: Pair AI adoption with training programs that help government workers understand how to use these tools effectively and responsibly in their specific roles.
• Focus on Accessibility: Use AI to translate complex technical or policy content into formats that field-level practitioners, students, and community members can understand and act upon.

What Role Does International Partnership Play in AI Governance?

While Indonesia is experimenting with AI-assisted policy analysis, a broader geopolitical dimension is emerging around how countries build AI capacity and governance frameworks. The United States is moving aggressively to structure its global AI engagement through bilateral Technology Prosperity Deals (TPDs), nonbinding agreements designed to align technology standards, accelerate joint research, and expand AI exports.

Four TPDs have been signed to date: with the United Kingdom in September 2025, Japan and South Korea in October 2025, and Sweden in May 2026. Each agreement shares a common architecture focused on accelerating AI innovation, aligning regulatory frameworks, promoting full-stack AI exports, and advancing standards cooperation, though each is customized to the partner country's distinct technology ecosystem.

Africa, however, remains largely absent from this structured U.S. engagement. Countries like Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa are emerging as strategic players in the global AI competition, yet a comprehensive U.S.-Africa AI partnership has not materialized. This gap is increasingly consequential, as China has developed foreign policy initiatives including the Belt and Road Initiative and the Digital Silk Road, which have helped Beijing become the dominant player in Africa's digital infrastructure. In 2024 alone, China pledged $50 billion through the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, including AI-related projects and digital infrastructure investments.

Kenya represents a potential model for U.S. engagement, given its U.S.-aligned strategic interests, vibrant technology ecosystem, national AI strategy, and ongoing conversations with the United States on AI cooperation. A Technology Prosperity Deal with Kenya could serve as a replicable baseline, adaptable to other African partners and helping bridge the gap between U.S. AI ambitions and Africa's development-centered priorities.

The broader picture emerging from both Indonesia and Africa is that AI governance is no longer solely a domestic policy question. It is increasingly intertwined with international partnerships, technology standards, and geopolitical competition. At the same time, the ground-level work of integrating AI into government operations remains fundamentally about how people can work more adaptively amid complex challenges. When used responsibly, AI can strengthen human capacity, improve coordination, and help public sectors make more informed decisions.