Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping global power, prosperity and security but debates about AI sovereignty are often binary, conflated, lacking evidence and disconnected from the complex trade-offs leaders face. The AI Agency Tool, presented in this report, offers a practical solution.

The tool is a structured and repeatable method to assess a nation’s AI maturity, sovereignty and agency across 103 AI capabilities, producing prioritised recommended actions. It provides a structured method to assess the maturity of each capability, maps the capability on a sovereignty spectrum (that spans access, control, choice and leverage), and considers the global scarcity of each capability. These assessments are then combined into a single view to arrive at an AI agency score. The tool is adaptable and scalable. 

The aim is not to control or excel in all 103 capabilities – but, rather, to understand the strengths, reduce critical dependencies, and build leverage where national advantages exist. 

The tool was applied to produce Australia’s 2025 AI Agency Assessment: the first comprehensive, independent, evidence-based, expert-led assessment of Australia’s AI capabilities at the national level. The Australian Government’s 2025 National AI Plan was then mapped against the assessment.