New analysis: AI could unlock up to 90,000 full-time roles in Denmark's public sector

​A new analysis from Netcompany Institute finds that AI could free up capacity equivalent to up to 90,000 full-time roles in Denmark’s public sector by 2035. Based on a mapping of more than 16,000 tasks across public authorities, the analysis finds that the government’s ambition of freeing up 30,000 full-time equivalent positions is achievable, but that the long-term potential is significantly greater.

Denmark’s welfare state is coming under increasing pressure. Demand for healthcare, care services and public administration is rising, while the workforce is not growing at the same pace.

Maintaining high-quality public services will therefore require the public sector to deliver more with the people available.

According to a new analysis from Netcompany Institute, artificial intelligence could become a critical enabler of future welfare services by helping public authorities free up time for higher-value and citizen-facing tasks.

Based on a mapping of more than 16,000 tasks across the Danish public sector, the analysis identifies a potential to free up working time equivalent to up to 90,000 full-time roles by 2035, three times the joint ambition set by the Danish Government, Local Government Denmark (KL) and Danish Regions.

In economic terms alone, this corresponds to a potential annual gain of approximately DKK 54 billion.

AI Assistants are not enough

However, the most important conclusion of the analysis is not the scale of the opportunity, but what it will take to realise it.

The analysis finds that standard AI assistants for caseworkers, teachers, care workers and similar professions can realistically free up between 11,000 and 17,000 full-time equivalent positions. After accounting for annual implementation and operating costs of DKK 0.9-1.9 billion, this corresponds to an annual economic gain of DKK 7-10 billion.

In other words, Denmark will not achieve its ambition of 30,000 full-time equivalent positions simply by purchasing AI licences for public-sector employees.

Most of the potential can only be unlocked through purpose-built AI solutions designed to support and automate complex public-sector workflows.

This requires AI systems that can be integrated with public-sector data, regulations and existing IT systems, while meeting strict requirements for legal certainty, transparency and data security.

Purpose-built AI solutions deliver the greatest benefits because they can automate entire workflows rather than individual tasks, freeing up substantially more time.

The analysis further highlights that widespread adoption of AI in critical public-sector processes raises new questions around data sovereignty, resilience and strategic autonomy. As AI becomes embedded in the infrastructure supporting core public functions, decisions regarding providers, cloud platforms, AI models and data infrastructure increasingly become questions of control.

The analysis therefore underlines the importance of both diversifying technology suppliers and strengthening European technological capabilities.