Article
Looking ahead: Where agentic automation may drive the greatest impact in the public sector
May 21, 2026 · Authored by Jeff Barenz
As public sector organizations continue to explore emerging technologies, agentic automation is quickly moving from a future concept to a practical tool for improving operations and service delivery. While many government entities are still in the early stages of adoption, historical patterns suggest that innovation trends often emerge in the commercial sector before expanding into public institutions.
Over the next 12 to 24 months, public sector agencies may see meaningful opportunities to apply agentic automation in core administrative and operational functions — particularly in areas that rely heavily on repetitive processes, documentation and complex workflows.
Jeff Barenz, a Director from our Digital Solutions team, recently shared his thoughts on this evolving landscape and the future potential of agentic automation in this UiPath interview.
Modernizing administrative and back-office functions
Functions such as finance, human resources and legal operations have long relied on process-driven activities that require significant manual effort. Agentic automation introduces the ability to move beyond traditional task automation by enabling systems to understand context, make decisions and execute workflows with greater autonomy.
For public entities, this can create opportunities to:
- Reduce time spent on repetitive administrative tasks
- Improve process consistency and accuracy
- Support workforce capacity challenges
- Accelerate service delivery
Rather than replacing employees, these technologies can help organizations optimize work by removing low-level, process-driven data management tasks and creating space for staff to focus on higher-value activities that require judgment, strategy and constituent engagement. In doing so, they also provide an opportunity to reimagine what work may look like in the future.
Improving high-volume administrative processes
Government agencies that manage high volumes of documentation and case-related activities may experience some of the earliest impacts from agentic capabilities.
For example, organizations responsible for processing claims, benefits applications or supporting documentation often manage extensive paperwork and complex review processes. Agentic automation can help streamline activities such as:
- Document collection and validation
- Workflow routing
- Information extraction
- Case prioritization
- Status tracking and reporting
By reducing manual processing burdens, agencies may improve efficiency while creating a better experience for both employees and constituents.
Streamlining request for proposal (RFP) development and assessment
RFP development and compliance management present another area of opportunity.
Public organizations frequently manage detailed procurement and solicitation requirements that demand both precision and consistency. Agentic technologies may help draft requirement sets, structure evaluation criteria, and support the back-end assessment of incoming bids by organizing submissions, identifying gaps or exceptions, comparing responses against predefined standards, and surfacing key insights for review. Agentic technologies may assist with:
- Requirements drafting and structuring
- Evaluation criteria development
- Bid intake and submission organization
- Compliance and exception assessment
- Comparative response analysis against requirements
These capabilities can help procurement teams reduce administrative burden, improve consistency in how requirements are developed, and bring greater structure and transparency to the review of incoming bids.
Supporting legal and contract management activities
State and local governments manage large volumes of contracts, permits, ordinances and legal documentation that require ongoing monitoring and review.
Agentic automation can help organizations better understand and manage these assets by supporting activities such as:
- Contract analysis and interpretation
- Renewal tracking
- Permit review workflows
- Ordinance monitoring
- Risk identification
As regulatory environments evolve, these capabilities may help organizations improve visibility and reduce the burden associated with managing large document repositories.
Turning possibilities into practical outcomes
While the potential use cases for agentic automation continue to expand, successful adoption will depend on more than technology implementation alone. Organizations will need to establish governance, identify high-value use cases and help employees understand how these tools fit into daily operations.
The possibilities for agentic automation are broad, but organizations that begin with focused, practical applications may be best positioned to scale successfully over time.
How we can help
As public sector organizations evaluate the opportunities surrounding agentic automation, identifying where to start can be as important as selecting the right technology. High-value outcomes often begin with understanding where operational inefficiencies exist and determining which processes can deliver measurable impact through automation.
Baker Tilly helps organizations assess and prioritize opportunities across finance, human resources, legal operations, claims processing and other document-intensive functions to identify practical use cases aligned with strategic goals.
Our team can help organizations:
- Assess current-state processes and identify automation opportunities
- Prioritize high-impact use cases based on business value and feasibility
- Establish governance frameworks and risk considerations
- Develop implementation road maps and adoption strategies
- Support change management and workforce enablement efforts
- Scale automation capabilities across the organization
Public sector leaders should evaluate areas where manual, document-heavy and process-driven work create operational friction. These functions often represent strong opportunities to realize near-term value while building a foundation for broader transformation initiatives.
