Italy AgID AI Guidelines: New Rules for Public Administration
Italy's Agency for Digital Italy (AgID) has adopted guidelines that tell public administrations how to introduce and manage artificial intelligence systems.
Italy's Agency for Digital Italy (AgID) has adopted guidelines that tell public administrations how to introduce and manage artificial intelligence systems. The agency approved them through Determination No. 169 of November 9, 2026.
AgID is the government body that coordinates the country's digital transformation. Its document, titled Guidelines for the Adoption of AI in Public Administration, gives operational guidance on regulatory compliance and on how organisations should arrange their work around AI.
Built with input from key public bodies
The guidelines grew out of the consultation process for Italy's 2024-2026 Three-Year Plan for Information Technology in Public Administration. Several public bodies contributed, among them the National Cybersecurity Agency and the National Anti-Corruption Authority.
The Department for Digital Transformation, the National Social Security Institute and the national statistics agency also took part. That mix covers security, integrity, social services and data, areas where public-sector AI is likely to be tested.
Alignment with European law
The text sets out recommendations and procedures for public bodies, and it aligns public-sector AI adoption with the EU AI Act. The European regulation is the bloc's framework for artificial intelligence, and Italian administrations must read their own AI plans against it.
Italy has also adopted a national AI law that complements the EU rules, described by legal commentators as the first of its kind in Europe. The AgID guidelines sit alongside that law as practical guidance for the public sector.
What businesses say
Outside government, Italian companies have signaled their own appetite for AI. An Ipsos survey found that Italian businesses believe firms that fail to adopt AI risk falling behind competitors, and that they want practical support to use it.
The guidelines are aimed at public administrations rather than private firms. Still, the same demand for practical, operational guidance is what the AgID document tries to meet for public bodies.
The full list of areas covered by the recommendations has not been detailed in the summary of the determination. AgID has published the guidelines on its website.
