In today’s dynamic institutional landscape, performance has transcended traditional metrics, becoming a pivotal determinant of success across both public and private sectors. Governments, in particular, face mounting pressure to deliver on promises, ensure efficient resource utilisation, and meet the evolving needs of their citizens.
Despite the proliferation of strategic blueprints, manifestos, and policy frameworks, a persistent challenge remains: the gap between articulated intentions and tangible outcomes. This disconnect often stems from the failure to effectively cascade national strategies and priorities down to operational levels, leading to duplication of efforts, resource wastage, and missed opportunities for synergy.
Performance Contracting (PC) emerges as a strategic tool designed to bridge this gap. In Kenya, the adoption of PC has aimed to institutionalise accountability, enhance service delivery, and align individual and departmental goals with national development objectives. However, the effectiveness of this mechanism is frequently undermined by inadequate monitoring systems, delayed reporting, and limited real-time feedback — factors that ultimately impede timely decision-making and corrective actions.
To address these challenges, there is an urgent need for robust, integrated monitoring frameworks that provide real-time insights into performance metrics. Such systems would empower leaders to track progress continuously, identify bottlenecks promptly, and make informed decisions that drive efficiency and effectiveness.
In essence, performance management should not be a retrospective exercise, but a proactive, continuous process that begins with clear target-setting, encompasses ongoing monitoring, and culminates in measurable outcomes. By embracing this holistic approach, institutions can transform performance from a conceptual ideal into a practical reality, thereby fostering sustainable development and rebuilding public trust.
The Transformative Potential of AI in Performance Management
Building upon this need for real-time, impact-driven governance, Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers a transformative solution. Far beyond automation, AI emerges as a strategic partner capable of redefining how institutions align their strategies, monitor progress, and deliver results. Its role can be unpacked across four critical dimensions:
Analysing National Strategies and Institutional Mandates
AI systems can process complex national strategies, visions, and policy documents to distil clear, actionable insights for institutions.
Using natural language processing (NLP), AI can parse frameworks like Kenya Vision 2030, the BETA, or Medium Term Plans (MTPs) and map them accurately against institutional mandates.
In Estonia for example, a government-led AI system called Kratt analyses policy documents and automatically identifies where departmental mandates must be updated to remain aligned with evolving strategic priorities. Kenya could adopt similar models to ensure that no institution operates in strategic isolation.
Detecting Functional Overlaps and Identifying Synergies
Duplication of functions often results in wasted resources. AI can cross-reference mandates and operational data across government agencies to flag overlapping roles and propose strategic mergers or collaborations.
In Singapore, for example, AI tools reviewed government service charters, revealing 17 overlapping citizen services, which were subsequently consolidated. The result was significant operational savings and a more seamless citizen experience. A similar approach in Kenya would strengthen inter-agency collaboration while minimising redundancy.
Formulating Aligned Strategic and Performance Plans
Rather than relying on manual drafting, AI can assist institutions in generating strategic plans and performance contracts that directly align with national development blueprints. This ensures that no project or KPI drifts from the overarching national agenda.
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for example, AI planning tools ensured that every departmental strategy directly fed into the National Agenda 2021 pillars. Any misaligned activity was automatically flagged for correction. Kenya could similarly leverage AI to enforce strategic discipline and coherence across ministries and parastatals.
Monitoring and Evaluating Performance in Real-Time
Beyond alignment, AI enables continuous live monitoring of institutional performance. AI-powered dashboards provide a real-time view of progress, resource utilisation, citizen feedback, and emerging gaps, enabling swift corrective actions.
In Finland, municipalities use AuroraAI to track service delivery and citizen satisfaction continuously, with instant data available to decision-makers. A similar dashboard in Kenya would shift performance management from reactive evaluation to proactive governance.
Local Inspiration: Kenya’s Digital Foundations
While the potential of AI is enormous, it builds on an encouraging foundation. Kenya has already demonstrated digital innovation through platforms like eCitizen, which consolidates citizen services online, and Huduma Centres, which offer integrated service delivery under one roof.
These successes show that Kenya is capable of technological leapfrogging — and AI integration into performance management would be a natural next step.
We are now firmly in the era of technological innovation, and AI must be leveraged to modernise performance management.
The entire system — from baseline documentation to strategic intentions and operational execution — must be digitally tied together. Waiting for annual or even quarterly reports is increasingly obsolete in a world demanding agile governance and instant impact.
Performance evaluation must no longer be subjective, reliant on misplaced paperwork or manual assessments. It must be data-driven, real-time, and impact-informed.
A central, AI-driven dashboard is not merely a technical upgrade; it is an essential infrastructure for the future of governance. Through AI, governments can ensure that formulation, tracking, reporting, and improvement of performance contracts happen seamlessly, continuously, and objectively.
Imagine a Kenya where every institution operates in real-time transparency, where citizens witness government delivery live, where accountability is not promised but proven. That future is not distant — it is possible now.
The future of performance is not documentation. It is real-time impact. And it starts today.
Edward Mwasi is a Media Industry Strategy and Innovation Consultant, CbiT.
