Consider it done: How TAMM is transforming government services in Abu Dhabi with AI
ABU DHABI, U.A.E. – Hammad Hanif Pasha, an IT consultant who has lived in Abu Dhabi since 2010, feels like the Emirate’s government services are always within reach, thanks to TAMM.
The AI-powered TAMM app puts about 950 Abu Dhabi government services at his fingertips. He says it has improved his quality of life by making it so much easier – no more fighting traffic to get to an appointment, no more waiting in lines.
“I haven’t been in a government building in four or five years,” he said. “I just don’t need to go anymore.”
The app, now in a 3.0 version, caters to 2.5 million Abu Dhabi citizens, residents and businesses, who made more than 10 million transactions in the past year, ranging from paying traffic fines to getting a marriage license. With TAMM’s AI assistant, finding answers to even the most complex government processes has become effortless – as simple as sending a text message.
Pasha cited car registration as one of the most convenient features. “It used to take three or four days before – you had to go for the inspection of the car, then find the right insurance, and after that part was done, you had to make sure that the actual registration happened on the same day that the insurance started.”
“If for any reason you failed, you had to get another one-day insurance policy to make it match.”
Now it’s easy, he says. It can all be done in the app, and there’s no waiting in lines, other than for the actual inspection of the car. The AI chatbot recommended the right type of insurance policy and synchronized it with registration.
Removing barriers for the Abu Dhabi community
TAMM is a key initiative driven by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, the largest Emirate in the United Arab Emirates, with about 3.8 million people. About 15 years ago, he started a drive to centralize government services and make them more accessible and service-oriented, Alhammadi said.
As smartphones became more common, the idea of making government services accessible anytime, anywhere, took hold and the efforts towards shaping TAMM started.
The services TAMM provides range from paying fines from the ubiquitous traffic cameras along Abu Dhabi’s roadways (which, as one person noted, is a national pastime), birth certificates, paying energy and internet bills, and basically anything else that one might need from a government office – like a visa renewal.
TAMM is more than just an app. What makes it unique is the fact that all these different government entities in Abu Dhabi came together to create a single, integrated platform. The TAMM platform is powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and G42 Compass 2.0. G42 is an Emirates-based company with sovereign cloud service, and Compass 2.0 is a next-generation enterprise AI platform offered by the company that provides access to many open-source models. This includes JAIS, which is billed as the world’s highest-performing Arabic Large Language Model, and Azure OpenAI GPT-4. (In 2024, Microsoft made a strategic investment in G42 to co-innovate and deliver advanced AI solutions with Microsoft Azure for various industries and markets across the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.)
Alhammadi said that TAMM was designed to remove the barriers between government workers and the citizens, residents and businesses who need services. “You know that desk they were sitting behind, or that window that separated them from people — those are gone,” he said.
Chloe Wilson, who has lived in Abu Dhabi for 10 years, was on her way home to the U.K. on a work trip when an immigration agent told her that her visa had not been fully processed and that she couldn’t leave.
“I was a very panicked girl,” said Wilson, “I was crying, I think.”
She opened the TAMM app on her phone, and when she couldn’t find an answer right away, she called the helpline. “I said I don’t know what to do, and the agent was literally amazing. He said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s getting updated now.’ — and I was on my way.”
“It was very different 10 years ago,” said Wilson who works in corporate marketing and is a local spin instructor. “When you didn’t have this app, it was hard work to do anything. You’d have to go to different places in the city, and it’s so busy. I notice a massive difference – it’s so much easier to get things done.”
Making customer service exciting
The TAMM Factory, as the headquarters of the app is called, has the feel of a tech startup in a loft space, with large open meeting areas and big screens updating with fresh user satisfaction data.
Alhammadi said that the agile approach is purposeful and adds to the satisfaction of TAMM employees.
“That aspect of the work makes it exciting because it’s not a routine job, it’s dynamic,” he said. “It feels like a startup. Every time there’s a launch, everyone’s staying up late at night and we’re testing to make sure we have the best quality of services and features before they go online.”
One of the recent additions is a photo reporting app, where people can take a photo of a problematic situation – a pothole, for example, or a broken traffic light – and the AI assistant will help fill out the report, then update the person who reported the incident on the progress of repairing the problem.
Alhammadi pointed out that in addition to making government more accessible, TAMM is saving thousands of car trips and lots of paper.
He showed a visitor his TAMM app – the utility bill and traffic fines to pay (yes, everyone has them) – and a handy feature that shows his year-in-review activity report.
“You see, I applied for more than 70 government services, which equals 350 sheets of paper saved. And that’s just for me,” he said. “Overall, in TAMM we saved 6,000 trees – over 12 million government services used.”
Inclusivity for all: supporting the entire Abu Dhabi community
Mohamed Hamed, a lifelong Abu Dhabi resident and an IT specialist, appreciates the practical aspects of TAMM, but for him, the most impressive aspect of the app is how it has helped him and his son, Khalid, 16, navigate government services for People of Determination (POD), the Emirati term for people with disabilities. Khalid has dyslexia and has been diagnosed with a spectrum of autism.
Hamed said that the process of getting a POD card, which is needed to qualify for special services, requires an assessment. Prior to the introduction of the TAMM app, this was often a process that could take a month and was fraught with uncertainty.
“It was very easy and very smooth through TAMM,” Hamed said. “And if there was a situation where they didn’t have an answer, someone would find out and get the answer to me. One of the things that I really like is that they follow up, they call me back. They make sure it gets done. I appreciate that.”
Shaping the future: AI-powered services for everyone
Khalfan Aljasmi, the delivery director of TAMM, said that for people who don’t have smartphones or for some reason can’t use them, there are service centers where the same unified approach to government services is available. And for those who are housebound, there is a house call service, where a TAMM agent comes to the door to help secure any needed services.
He said the newest version of TAMM with the AI assistant makes using it even easier, and the chatbot speaks several languages. Aljasmi opened his TAMM app. “Wherever you go on the site, you will see the falcon logo flying. Just click on it, and it will open up the assistant. ‘How can I help you today?’ Here I can continue my recent conversations, and here I can ask what’s the latest on my request.”
Aljasmi said that in the coming weeks users will be able to have spoken conversations with the AI assistant and ask it to take care of tasks.
Hammad Hanif Pasha said that even though TAMM is just an app in his phone, he feels like in the bigger picture it’s a way that the Abu Dhabi government is empowering its community by embracing the latest technology.
“It’s really changed things for the better,” he said. “It doesn’t just shape the future of the country, but it shapes the life of the people, whether we live in the city, town or country.”