TLDR: A recent report by EsadeEcPol highlights the significant potential of Artificial Intelligence to transform Spain’s public administration, projecting a 9% increase in productivity per worker over ten years, adding €7 billion in annual value. AI is expected to streamline administrative tasks, improve citizen interactions, and reduce bureaucratic burdens, with two-thirds of public workers believing AI will change how the sector operates.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to bring about a profound transformation in Spain’s public sector, promising substantial cost reductions and efficiency improvements, according to a comprehensive report by the Center for Economic Policy – EsadeEcPol, published on May 22, 2025. The study, conducted in collaboration with Implement Consulting Group and supported by Google, underscores AI’s capacity to enhance public service delivery and address critical challenges such as bureaucratic hurdles and citizen engagement.
The report employs a task-based economic model, analyzing the potential impact of generative AI on 1.44 million public administration workers across local, regional, and national levels in Spain. The findings are compelling: an estimated 67% of public administration workers, representing over 960,000 individuals, could see between 10% and 50% of their tasks enhanced by generative AI. For a further 9% of occupations (approximately 130,000 workers), the potential for AI integration extends to over half of their daily tasks. Only 24% of workers, about 345,000, are in roles with low AI enhancement potential due to the non-replaceable nature of their duties.
Assuming widespread adoption of generative AI, the model projects an average productivity increase of 9% per public administration worker over a ten-year deployment period. This surge in efficiency is estimated to add approximately €7 billion in annual value to the Spanish economy, utilizing the same overall resources. This figure aligns closely with the 10% productivity increase estimated for the entire European Union.
Key areas identified for AI implementation include improving interactions between citizens and the administration, significantly reducing bureaucratic and paperwork burdens, alleviating bottlenecks in public procurement, supporting one-by-one decisions for grants, monitoring, and control, and feeding data and evidence into the policymaking process. These initiatives are supported by existing frameworks such as the Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2024 and Digital Spain 2026.
An online survey conducted among public administration workers reveals a strong awareness and expectation regarding AI’s impact. Two-thirds of respondents believe AI could fundamentally alter public sector operations, with 35% identifying excessive bureaucracy as a main challenge that AI could address, and 16% seeing it as a tool to improve management. Notably, 54% of public workers already use AI at least occasionally, with a large majority anticipating a positive impact on their jobs. Data analysis, document summarization, and translation are the most frequently executed AI-assisted tasks. While only 6% believe AI can fully perform their jobs, 88% expect to require reskilling, and 82% anticipate having more time for high-value tasks. A significant 90% agree that the public sector must keep pace with technological changes, though nearly 60% feel their institutions are not yet prepared for AI integration.
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To fully harness AI’s potential, the report emphasizes the need for clear and predictable governance frameworks that foster controlled, bottom-up innovation and information exchange among workers. Investing in modern technological infrastructure, particularly robust public cloud computing capabilities, and prioritizing skill development are also highlighted as crucial government priorities.
