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Paper short abstract

While many public sector organisations adopt AI for various tasks, many public sector employees also adopt generative AI tools in an ad hoc or ‘shadow’ manner to complete their own work. As such, the adoption of GenAI tools within public administrations can bypass the organisation itself.

Paper long abstract

We conducted a large survey of public sector managers in seven EU countries to explore the perspectives and use of AI and GenAI in the context of their own work, and that of their organisation. Most respondents reported that their organisations are already using AI, with still more reporting such initiatives in the planning stages, primarily for service delivery and internal operations. When it came to their own use of AI for their work, a substantial minority of these managers reported using (or planning to use) GenAI tools, often for support with writing tasks. Much of this use constitute an ad hoc or ‘shadow’ adoption, whereby GenAI is used within the organisation at the personal initiative of the employee without being formalised through an organisational policy. This introduces a dynamic whereby the adoption of GenAI tools within public administrations can, to an extent, bypass the organisation itself. Further data collection and analysis will be conducted in 2026 with the exploration of emerging themes continuing in parallel. We propose to present interim findings for discussion at the conference in September.