Public servants’ perspectives on AI adoption and AI literacy in Austrian public administration.

Abstract

This paper examines how stakeholders in the Austrian public administration sector perceive the barriers to, and enabling conditions for, the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), and the AI literacy needs that emerge from these perceptions. Using exploratory data from these stakeholders, the study applies a descriptive thematic approach to examine perceptions of AI adoption in the administrative context. The results reveal that stakeholders primarily associate AI adoption with legal uncertainty, data protection and compliance issues, security and risk concerns, and questions of trust, quality, and accountability. At the same time, they emphasize the importance of enabling conditions, such as clear governance, leadership support, organizational readiness and training opportunities. The analysis suggests that successful AI adoption depends on strengthening competences that combine skills, knowledge, and attitudes, while also fostering the confidence needed to engage with AI in everyday administrative practice. The paper concludes that successful AI adoption in Austrian public administration requires both technological resources and stronger institutional capacity, as well as context-specific competence development across stakeholder groups.