AI Adoption and Capability Gaps in Swiss Public Administration
Kratka vsebina
Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely regarded as an important technology in public administration, yet empirical evidence on the conditions that shape broader AI adoption remains limited. This paper examines digitalization, AI adoption, and implementation barriers across Swiss municipalities with populations of at least 10,000 and cantonal administrations in German-speaking Switzerland. The analysis is based on a 2025 anonymous survey, with one respondent per organization responsible for digitalization and/or AI-related initiatives. The study covers internal administrative processes and externally oriented administrative services, distinguishing between non-AI digital systems and AI-related applications. The findings suggest that digitalization is often comparatively advanced, while AI adoption remains concentrated in assistive applications and is still limited in analytical and decision-adjacent forms. Reported barriers include legal uncertainty, limited expertise, resource constraints, and fragmented responsibilities. The results indicate that broader AI adoption is driven not only by the availability of technology, but also by organizational and governance-related conditions.






