The Multiple Streams Framework: A Lens for Understanding Artificial Intelligence Adoption in the Public Sector

ABSTRACT The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is driving the transformation of the public sector through improvements in service delivery, public administration, and decision‐making. This study analyzes the policymaking process for implementing AI in the public sector of the State of Jalisco, Mexico, aiming to understand the factors influencing the adoption of this technological development in public administration. To explain the adoption process, the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) is employed, a theoretical model that analyzes how problems, policies, and politics converge at a given moment to generate changes in the public agenda. Through a qualitative and quantitative analysis of data obtained from semi‐structured interviews, the main factors related to the AI public policy adoption process in Jalisco were identified. The results of this study contribute to enriching the existing knowledge about the factors that facilitate or hinder the adoption of AI in the public sector, as well as the role played by policy entrepreneurs in this process.