Agentic AI is accelerating quickly and nowhere is the impact more meaningful than in the public sector. In Canada, the federal government’s AI Strategy for the Public Service has made one thing clear: AI isn’t about shiny tools. It’s about improving services, strengthening decision‑making, and enabling public servants to work smarter and faster for Canadians.

But even with strong momentum, the question I hear most often from public‑sector leaders is still the same: “Where do we actually start?”

IBM’s latest research on agentic AI echoes what we’re seeing across Canadian departments. Leaders are ambitious, but most organizations aren’t yet ready to scale autonomous agents. The path forward starts small, focused, and intentional.

Here’s how public-sector teams can begin:

Start with one workflow

Choose a service or internal process that’s high‑volume and rules‑based, something like benefits processing, permits, case triage, or policy research support. Run a small agentic AI pilot to test how tasks can be orchestrated, how models communicate, and where human oversight is required. This aligns with Canada’s emphasis on responsible experimentation and incremental adoption.

Start with the data you already trust

Agentic AI needs real‑time, high‑quality data. Identify the most critical data sources for your pilot and connect them with secure, governed access. This is directly in line with the Government of Canada’s push for better data integration and interoperability across departments.

Start by defining human–AI roles

Canada’s AI Strategy stresses responsible use, transparency, and keeping humans in the loop. For your first use case, define clear KPIs for both public servants and AI agents, clarify who makes which decisions, and introduce simple monitoring to ensure accountability. This builds trust and ensures alignment with public‑sector values.

What we’re seeing in Canada and globally is consistent: the organizations leading today aren’t the ones trying to deploy agentic AI everywhere, they’re the ones taking focused first steps, learning quickly, and scaling what works.

Agentic AI has enormous potential to help governments deliver faster, more accessible, and more citizen‑centred services. Starting small is how we turn that potential into real public value.

Read more all about how to get started here: The essential guide to scaling agentic AI | IBM