Artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are vital to the development of smart cities and have a substantial impact on the delivery of smart services. The primary objective of this study is to provide substantial support for the notion that AI and IoT have a significant impact on the delivery of smart services in smart cities, as well as how smart administration in smart cities mediates this relationship. Government leaders and decision-makers around the world are vigorously changing and implementing dynamic policies to administer healthcare, education, infrastructure and disaster management, and other government services, particularly in backlash to the unique COVID-19 pandemic. It is now more essential than ever to comprehend how developed and emergent AI and IoT technologies might assist smart city administration in delivering smart services. We examined our hypotheses using data from 550 university graduate students in SPSS 26 and discovered that deploying AI and IoT in smart cities has a significant positive impact on smart service delivery and that this direct relationship is substantially mediated by the smart city administration.