National Artificial Intelligence Agenda (ANIA): vision, principles, pillars and governance model (2026–2030)

The National Artificial Intelligence Agenda (ANIA), approved by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 2/2026, establishes a strategic and operational framework to accelerate the adoption of AI in Portugal, with a direct focus on increasing productivity, modernising the State and creating economic and public value.

AI as an opportunity and a central objective: productivity and State transformation

ANIA is based on a clear diagnosis: Portugal faces a structural productivity challenge. Artificial Intelligence is presented as a historic opportunity to change this trajectory, enabling efficiency gains, intelligent automation and improved performance across economic sectors and Public Administration.

In this context, ANIA’s central objective is unequivocal: to increase the productivity of Portuguese workers by 2030, bringing Portugal closer to the European average and translating this progress into higher wages, better public services and improved quality of life.

A strategic and hybrid positioning: “Adopter” and “Producer”

ANIA clarifies Portugal’s strategic positioning in AI as both:

• Adopter: maximising the adoption of existing AI technologies to achieve rapid productivity gains across organisations, with a particular focus on SMEs and the public sector.

• Producer: selectively investing in the development of technology and knowledge (R&D, models, intellectual property) in high-value areas where research can create technological advantage and sovereignty.

The proposed strategy is hybrid: leveraging the Adopter role to generate returns and scale, while simultaneously financing and consolidating the Producer role in strategic domains where Portugal can differentiate itself.

Public Administration as a leader

ANIA assigns a leadership role to Public Administration: the State should act as a pioneer, creating scale, trust and benchmarks to accelerate AI adoption across the wider economy. The Agenda identifies opportunities to apply AI to transversal and replicable tasks (such as document summarisation, decision support, public procurement, administrative processing and licensing simplification), promoting an approach that prioritises reusable solutions with scalability across multiple entities.

Six guiding principles of ANIA

ANIA is underpinned by six guiding principles that shape how AI should be developed and adopted in Portugal:

1. Responsible innovation: developing and adopting transparent, ethical and secure AI aligned with European values and fundamental rights.

2. Focus on strategic bets: concentrating resources on areas with the greatest transformational potential, avoiding dispersion and maximising impact.

3. State as a catalyst: leading by example, reducing barriers and accelerating adoption in the private sector and the wider ecosystem.

4. More than technology: recognising that the challenge is primarily organisational and human (people, processes and culture), not purely technical.

5. Product-oriented AI: prioritising initiatives with concrete, useful and scalable outcomes that deliver measurable value.

6. Build on what works and ensure continuous evaluation: strengthening proven capabilities and projects while maintaining continuous cycles of measurement, learning and adjustment.

Four strategic pillars of public intervention

The Agenda is structured around four strategic pillars that organise public intervention and the 2026–2030 Action Plan:

• Infrastructure and Data
  Strengthening computational capacity and developing a robust data economy, reducing external dependencies and enabling access to high-quality, interoperable data.

• Innovation and Adoption
  Protecting fundamental and applied research while accelerating AI adoption across the economy, with a focus on SMEs and with Public Administration acting as a scale driver and value demonstrator.

• Talent and Skills
  Training, attracting and retaining AI talent and reskilling the workforce to ensure labour sustainability and the capacity for responsible and effective AI adoption.

• Responsibility and Ethics
  Promoting responsible and sustainable AI, ensuring an effective regulatory framework, support for compliance and conditions that enable innovation with security and trust.

Governance and operationalisation: from strategy to execution

The Resolution also approves the ANIA Action Plan (PAANIA) 2026–2030, defining initiatives and responsible entities, and establishes a governance framework for monitoring and oversight.

Learn more about ANIA: 🔗Agenda Nacional IA e governação.pdf