Digital experiences for residents getting in touch with public agencies have improved in recent years. But there is sometimes still friction on the front line. Anita Puri, Global Public Service Lead, and Natalie Sisto, Workforce and Talent Transformation Lead, Health and Public Service, Accenture, explore the three areas where leading with reinventing experience can drive long-term success.
Public agencies have moved fast on digital in recent years, investing in tools, infrastructure and platforms. It has led to an improved service quality – with nearly six in 10 residents viewing digital government experiences as ‘mostly’ or ‘always’ good, a significant jump from 44% in 2022.
However, on the front line, many employees still face friction. Systems are siloed, processes slow and residents quickly switch back to phone or in‑person support when digital channels fail. Tool rollouts have outpaced upskilling and learning investments, creating a paradox: technology expands, but the everyday experience of delivering great service hasn’t kept pace. Our survey of 4,100 government workers across 14 countries shows that 58% claim it’s harder than ever to deliver consistently excellent customer service. Even in digitally mature markets like the UK, where citizens have higher digital comfort and governments have rolled out more digital tools, workforce experience challenges persist. This reinforces the global finding that tools alone don’t translate into better outcomes without skills, integration and support.
Our research and work with leading public service organisations shows that making experience the guiding principle for Digital Transformation can turn investments into trusted outcomes. Here are three areas, where leading with reinventing experience can drive long-term success:
Simplify access
Many agencies follow a ‘no wrong door’ approach, ensuring residents can access services regardless of where they start. But too many doors create confusion – 49% of residents and 34% of workers say people simply don’t know where to begin.
When online journeys break, demand shifts to high-cost channels. Call waiting times rise, and multiple transfers force people to repeat their needs and re-verify identity. Sixty-three percent of employees report identity checks alone take over five minutes per case. Staff spent more time managing basic enquiries than on core casework.
Creating a single entry point – a digital ‘front door’ that greets users and guides them to the right services – can simplify the path by structuring content around life events and streamlining log-in. Improved experience allows users to complete a task from start to finish themselves, decreasing demand for in-person channels and building service credibility. Secure digital IDs can enable users to sign-in once, not only simplifying access but also encouraging adoption of digital channels.
Transform work with AI
As channels multiply, staff are still spending too much time toggling between platforms, re‑entering information in different formats and chasing contexts. This is slowing decisions and draining energy that should go to problem‑solving and care. Sixty-two percent of workers say these inefficiencies have a significant to severe impact on their ability to meet customer expectations.
Deploying artificial intelligence (AI), responsibly designed with accountability and safety checks, can clear routine tasks and free staff to focus on strategic, rewarding work. Workers report that 42% of customer interactions are in fact simple queries, which can be solved by automation. Customised AI agents can triage cases, assess urgency and pass full context to specialists, ensuring residents get the right help at the right time.
We found that 69% of public service workers already expect AI to reduce their workload. This represents a critical opportunity to preserve and even improve human touch in cases where empathy, nuance and deep problem-solving are key. While most workers assume AI will help them improve customer service, less repetitive work also links to higher job satisfaction and lower attrition. Additionally, AI-powered assistants can instantly surface policies, cross-agency requirements and case histories, making workers more confident and informed.
Equip and empower
The share of employees who feel equipped with the right tools for their roles has dropped from 89% in 2022 to 77%. And while most agencies adopt AI, only 35% are upskilling at pace, and just 28% see improved outcomes – fuelling hesitation and inconsistent use.
Agencies can’t solve skill gaps through hiring alone; they need rapid capability growth through continuous learning. Success depends on fostering an AI co-creation culture where employees actively shape workflows, not just use them. Organisations adopting human-AI collaboration and creating the conditions for co-learning, where people and AI systems learn together in the flow of work, are achieving 5x higher workforce engagement and 4x faster skill development.
We have also found that training priorities differ by generation: older workers prefer hands-on guidance, while younger workers want clear best practice examples with room to experiment. Giving employees autonomy to ‘choose their own adventure’ in AI skills development ensures confident learning across the board. Done well, an empowered workforce delivers significant impact. Stronger workforce experience can cut expected attrition from 20.6% to 9.7%.
Experience as the engine of transformation
Workforce transformation is where digital investment becomes real. The way forward is to make experience the strategy: the central lens through which processes and services are designed, built and continuously improved with AI. When agencies simplify journeys, automate routine tasks and equip people to learn and lead alongside AI, service quality rises, backlogs shrink and trust grows. Employees want to deliver great outcomes; it’s our job to design systems that let them do exactly that.
