A Cabinet Office-affiliated global network for public officials has reported growing interest in artificial intelligence and pressures related to climate change as top issues for civil servants and their counterparts this year.
The Apolitical platform brings together more than 500,000 officials from around 170 countries – including the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States – to learn from peers, upskill on key priorities and boost productivity.
Last week, it published its new What’s Top of Mind for Public Servants 2026 report, which brings together trends from the Apolitical network, supported by individual surveys and viewing data for particular themes. Here are five things we learned:
Civil servants are recognising that AI can provide relief from resourcing and time pressures – and practical skills are a priority
According to Apolitical, debate has moved on from whether AI belongs in government to how it will actually transform workflows, policymaking, decision-making and even core models of governance in time.
It says data from the platform shows public servants are “hungry for practical, hands-on guidance on using AI in their everyday work”. Apolitical said that, across its regular events programme, the strongest engagement consistently came from highly practical AI upskilling opportunities.
The platform’s best-performing article was a guide to getting higher-quality outputs from Copilot, the Microsoft AI tool favoured by the majority of governments around the world.
Apolitical concludes that public servants are starting to see ways AI could reshape how government works as the practical applications become easier to grasp.
Leadership and people skills in pole position as enablers for career-progression
Despite the growing interest in – and acceptance of – AI and digital skills, Apolitical found that skills technology cannot easily replicate are still considered the most valuable for public service career progression.
A survey found 35% of respondents describing “leadership and people skills” as the most critical attributes for career progression in public service. Strategic thinking and foresight took second place on 21%, while effective communication followed close behind on 19%. “Digital, data and AI confidence” was named as the most critical attribute for career progression by 12% of respondents, securing fourth place overall.
“Problem-solving, creativity and effective interpersonal communication are seen as difficult for AI to replace,” the report said. “Those who hone and sharpen both their technical and human skills will be better positioned for progression in their jobs.”
Climate is (still) the hardest policy challenge to grasp in government
Apolitical said a survey of public servants on the platform found 32% of the sample group naming climate change as the hardest policy challenge to deal with, putting it ahead of economic inequality (29%) and healthcare (18%).
The report said governments are “battered” by multiple pressures, including budget cuts to aid and a retreat from climate ambitions. It said there is urgent demand for resilience capability at every level of government, not just in dedicated climate teams, but across finance ministries, planning departments, health agencies and beyond.
Apolitical’s head of climate Fiona Macklin said: “We are at the cusp of the largest economic transformation in human history, and public servants are its primary architects. Yet the gap between national commitments and delivery on climate has never been wider. The problem is rarely one of ambition; it is one of capability.”
Cutting budgets and headcount doesn't necessarily drive efficiency
One year on from Elon Musk’s short-lived tenure leading the US “Department of Government Efficiency”, Apolitical members reflected that efficiencies can “most quickly be realised” by examining systems, blockers and problems rather than simply cutting budgets or reducing headcount.
“The conclusion from public servants was that strategic, evidence-based redesign can produce budget savings and service improvements simultaneously,” the report said. “Focusing solely on inputs (budgets, human resources, physical infrastructure) can ultimately undermine efficiency goals. If the aim is to reduce costs, considering systems as a whole is essential.”
Apolitical said a “common narrative” about systems sometimes rewarding behaviours that impede efficiency emerged from its research. “Improving the system means building a public sector capable of doing more with what it has by reshaping how government operates under real-world constraints,” the report said.
Many people spend up to half of their working hours in meetings
Staying on the theme of efficiency, the report contains survey details that shine a light on opportunity costs from meeting attendance and sending emails.
It suggests that unlocking the existing capacity and capability of public servants is inherently linked to how their time is used – and removing constraints. The report says that, simply put, officials are “just too short on time”.
One survey quoted in the report found 28% of respondents state that they spend between 10 and 20 hours of their working week in meetings. More than half of respondents – 57% – said they spend between five and 10 hours of their working week in meetings.
Some 46% of respondents to a different survey said they sent between 10 and 25 emails a day.
“Unlocking capacity starts with recognising the invisible architecture of the working day – the emails, the meetings, the micro-tasks – and redesigning it,” the report said. “Our network told us this could be a small but important step towards governments redirecting human talent toward the ambitious, complex challenges that define a high-performing state.”
The What’s Top of Mind for Public Servants 2026 report can be read in full here.