The survey was designed and led by Liquid, drawing on 25+ years of experience supporting digital transformation and emerging technology strategy in government.

Rather than defaulting to standard opinion polling, our approach included balanced structured questions with open-ended prompts to surface deeper insights:

quantitative questions helped us understand general patterns across roles, sectors and jurisdictions.
open-text responses were manually coded and thematically mapped to capture nuance and context
segmentation and comparative analysis enabled us to connect the dots, understanding how views differ across job level, geography, sector and function.

Our goal was not just to observe but to clarify. We didn’t ask if AI was “good” or “bad”, rather we asked where it was gaining traction, what barriers were being encountered and how public servants themselves want to move forward.

And crucially, we took a “yes, and …” approach: yes, there are constraints, but there are also opportunities. Yes, governance matters, and so does experimentation. By focusing on what’s already shifting, we aimed to support action, not just analysis.

Report: Insights from the first national survey on public sector attitudes towards AI

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