Building a Public Sector Frontier Firm

The UK Public Sector is at an inflection point. AI and low-code are no longer nice to haves, they are essential for delivering better outcomes and public services at lower costs.

The argument for AI within the Public Sector has sharpened since the Prime Minister put a figure on the size of the opportunity - the potential of £45bn a year in savings and productivity gains through digitisation and AI adoption.

Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index coined a term for organisations that are already embracing AI as a core, scaled capability – “Frontier Firms”. These are organisations that are paving the route forward for their industries and setting new standards. Frontier Firms are those embracing the likes of embedding “intelligence on tap,” deploying human agent teams where AI agents act like colleagues, and redesigning roles so every employee becomes an agent boss (someone who delegates to, manages and collaborates with AI).

With the opportunities of what being a Frontier Firm means, the ambition should not be limited to that of the Private Sector. For Public Sector organisations, becoming a Frontier Firm is a pragmatic roadmap to:

·      Save money

·      Redirect spend from maintenance to innovation

·      Allow employees to focus on core purpose and value-add activities

·      Reduce risk through hard‑wiring compliance and consistency into everyday operations

·      Reduce the time tax on citizens through intuitive user-experiences.

Why the Frontier Firm Matters in Public Sector

Microsoft describes the Frontier Firm as a shift to intelligent division of labour through human agent teams resulting in more fluid, outcome driven “work charts” rather than rigid org charts. The approach drives:

1) Commercially Viable Services - Low-code and AI compress the cost and time to deliver change, while reducing ongoing IT overhead. This is why departments that scale the Microsoft Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Pages, Power BI and Microsoft Co-Pilot Studio) report sizeable ROI at enterprise scale.

2) Efficient, Outcome Driven Operations - AI agents and automation excel at end-to-end processes. The examples of end-to-end processes within the Public Sector are endless - eligibility checks, validation and document processing. Digitally transforming these processes has the power to free up civil servants to spend time focusing on judgment, policy, ethics and exceptions – rather than admin!

3) Intuitive Citizen Experiences - ‘Once only’ data collection with proactive nudges are the norm with everyday services such as retail and banking. This should be replicated in public services, but they require integrated data, consistent processes and accessible interfaces. These are exactly the strengths of a Frontier Firm model - agents at the core, low-code speed and integrated data, all built on a secure cloud and robust governance.

7 Key Enablers to Become a Public Sector Frontier Firm

1)      Leadership Mindset - Leadership that champions digitisation as one of the most powerful levers available to drive value (savings, efficiency, citizen experience, trust) rather than being viewed as a compliance or modernisation task that sits in IT.

2)      Governance and Guardrails - Ensure responsible innovation, set clear policies for AI and data use, manage risk and foster trust so departments can adopt advanced capabilities securely and effectively.

3)      Piecemeal Pilots - Move from ‘pilot theatre’ and piecemeal use cases to a ‘solution factory’ cadence and programme mindset: i.e. pipeline > discovery > feasibility > squads > scale. All governed by a Centre of Excellence that sets standards, governance, guardrails and controls.

4)      Think Bigger - Frontier Firms don’t just automate individual tasks within an ‘as is’ process. They think bigger and look to solve big problems across end-to-end processes or their entire organisation through reimagining ways of working and citizen services.  

5)      Procurement Drag - Leverage the Procurement Act 2023 which enables agile, outcome-based competitions which enables agile, outcome-based competitions with associated KPIs. Use dynamic Public Sector frameworks to reduce cycle time while maintaining required transparency and fair treatment.

6)      Skills and Change - Treat data and AI literacy as core civil service skills. Use citizen developer programs under IT guardrails to scale capability safely.

7)      Specialist Expertise - Work with trusted external partners to enable accelerated progress via specialist expertise, proven delivery approaches and additional capacity, helping organisations reduce risk, challenge existing practices and achieve impact sooner.

The Payoff

If Public Sector organisations set their sights on being Frontier Firms, the advantages are there for the taking: cashable savings, scaled efficiencies, faster policy-to-service cycles and measurably better citizen experiences.

If you recognise some of the challenges your organisation is facing in this article, please do not hesitate to get in touch to explore how Robiquity can help you on your maturity journey to being a Frontier Firm. Let’s enable frontier public services for everyone, together!