Public trust in government has been lagging for years, but new Salesforce research reveals AI agents could help rebuild it.
Constituents around the world agree there’s room for improvement when it comes to government service. Forty percent struggle with government interactions, and over a third are unsure of available programmes. However, the research indicates overwhelming public support for AI solutions – with 90% of global constituents saying they’d use an AI agent to engage with their government.
The arrival of AI agents presents governments with an exciting opportunity to strengthen public trust by streamlining services and speeding up response times, Salesforce says. And in the face of tightening budgets, agents can augment public servants and better serve their constituents – without having to add headcount.
“It is clear from our research that there is a need for AI solutions like Salesforce’s Agentforce that help governments streamline and scale services to better meet the needs of their constituents,” says Nasi Jazayeri, executive vice-president and GM of Public Sector at Salesforce. “As global leaders gather in Davos, we have a tremendous opportunity for the public and private sectors to come together and explore how major advancements in technology like AI agents can improve how governments support citizens.”
The new research, Jazayeri says, points to some pertinent facts:
Public calls for improved government service
- 40% say it’s difficult to interact with the government when they have questions or need help.
- Less than half of survey respondents find it easy to understand what public services (42%) and public assistance programmes (46%) are available to them.
- Top service delivery improvements desired by global constituents include:
- Reducing the number of steps to address needs
- Responding to their needs faster
Constituents eager to engage with agents
- 90% of global respondents said they’d use an AI agent to interact with the public sector.
- Constituents in Brazil, Spain, Singapore, and Italy are among the most willing to use AI agents to interact with the public sector, providing these countries with the opportunity to be trailblazers in the agentic AI era.
- 20% of German and American respondents say they’re very likely to use an AI agent to help fill out government forms (eg. filing taxes, completing applications).
- Three factors global respondents said they prioritised when considering using AI agents in the public sector:
- 24/7 access to information and services (47%)
- Helping them efficiently access government resources (44%)
- Reducing the number of websites and steps needed to address their needs (40%)