Dubai RTA Sets AED300 Million Annual Value Target in Updated AI Strategy

The strategy covers 41 business areas across the RTA's agencies, sectors and departments, according to Emirates 24|7 and Middle East AI News. The first two implementation waves cover 11 of them, including vehicle licensing, traffic, roads, public transport, customer happiness, procurement and human resources. The RTA says it has identified more than 180 use cases.

Reports differ on the number of AI products. Emirates 24|7 says the strategy includes 200 AI products. Middle East AI News, citing the RTA, reports a plan for 40 AI products over two and a half years plus four foundational projects. The two figures may describe different time frames, but the published material does not explain the gap. Both outlets say 11 products are already live from the first phase: five in planning and business development, five in vehicle licensing and one in right-of-way.

Targets the Public Can Check

The RTA has attached numbers to its goals. It aims to cut congestion by 3 to 5 percent and the time to process cases and complaints by 20 to 30 percent. Waiting times at its customer happiness centres are to fall by 14 to 16 percent and service delivery times there by 15 to 20 percent. Other goals include 10 to 20 percent fewer accidents involving newly licensed drivers, procurement cycles 10 to 15 percent shorter and a similar cut in operational and engineering working hours.

The authority's chatbot, Mahboub, is being rebuilt as an agentic system that completes transactions through the RTA app, website and WhatsApp. Customers can already finish five vehicle licensing services through it. The RTA wants 10 percent of its services delivered through Mahboub by the end of 2026 and 50 percent by the end of 2027.

Other tools include an AI system for the electronic no-objection certificates needed for work near RTA assets. The authority issues about 130,000 of these a year, and the system aims to make the process three times faster. An agentic auditor for vehicle licensing documents is designed to save more than 25,000 hours of manual work a year. A bus network planner uses about 20 AI agents to find service gaps.

More than 90 percent of RTA staff with access to Microsoft Copilot use it, saving 10 percent of working time, according to the authority. It built eight strategic initiatives with Huawei, Boston Consulting Group and Microsoft.

Why It Matters

The RTA's plan fits a wider push across UAE government toward agentic AI. The federal government recently set a goal of moving half its services and operations to AI agents within two years. What sets the RTA apart is the level of detail. By publishing measurable targets that matter to residents, such as congestion, complaint handling and new-driver accidents, the authority has given the public and suppliers a way to judge whether the systems deliver. For vendors, the 180 use cases and the named partners point to a large and growing procurement pipeline in Dubai's transport sector.