Why Agentic AI demands new skills, governance and leadership

Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, and government agencies are beginning to explore a powerful new frontier: agentic AI. Unlike earlier predictive AI models, agentic AI goes beyond recommendations to autonomously execute tasks, fundamentally reshaping how public sector teams approach their missions.

“Earlier versions of AI… were very predictive. It was answering questions like what might happen,” says Nadia Hansen, global digital transformation executive at Salesforce. “Agentic AI is different. These are autonomous agents that can take action. They don’t just recommend; they interact like humans executing tasks.”

Hansen, who previously served more than 15 years in government IT leadership roles, emphasized that AI adoption is arriving at a critical juncture in a new podcast interview produced by Scoop News Group for Salesforce. “One of the biggest challenges we have is capacity. Agencies are being asked to do more with less, whether it is serving a growing population, managing crises or modernizing decade-old systems,” says Hansen. She noted AI must be paired with investments in workforce skills and confidence.

“It’s not just about technology. It’s about people,” says Hansen. “Teams need clarity on what skills they should develop first and reassurance that AI is here to augment, rather than replace, and training pathways to build that confidence.” She pointed to programs like Salesforce’s free Trailhead learning platform as a way to democratize AI and data literacy training across all levels of government.

Hansen also outlined a practical “playbook” for government leaders looking to deploy agentic AI responsibly. The top three priorities are:

1. Top-level sponsorship: AI adoption must be an enterprise priority, not an isolated IT experiment.
2. Cross-functional oversight: Establish a group with representatives from various departments (e.g., HR, legal, finance) to set guardrails and ensure compliance.
3. Start small with clear use cases: Begin with low-risk, but high-value workflows, such as automating reports or providing executive dashboards for data-driven insights.

Human oversight is non-negotiable. “AI agents are accelerating work, but really, the final accountability in the public sector stays with the employee,” says Hansen.

The potential for agentic AI to transform daily government work is also significant. Hansen predicts it will shift the focus of government work from administrative to more strategic. “It’s also going to redefine what talent looks like in government,” she says. “We’ll need more people who can think critically about data, who can think critically about ethics, who can think critically about citizen or resident experience.”

Ultimately, agentic AI represents a cultural and operational shift for government leaders that requires governance, skills development and intentional design from day one.

Learn how Agentforce for Public Sector helps organizations deploy AI agents with purpose-built skills to solve everyday challenges.

This video podcast was produced by Scoop News Group for FedScoop and underwritten by Salesforce.