The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) released a new report Tuesday, crafted to offer guidance and insights into the use of agentic AI. Known as “Beyond Generation: The Rise of Agentic AI in State Government,” it outlines five phases states may go through as they evolve their use of AI from generative to agentic tools.
Several states are already exploring agentic AI, generally through pilot projects, such as an initiative in Virginia that scans state regulations to spot conflicts with state laws, in an effort to clarify and simplify language. The endeavor emerged following a 2025 executive order from then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Alaska recently began a small internal proof-of-concept project to validate “what we think agentic AI can do for us, in terms of the [myAlaska] app and making digital services accessible to Alaskans,” Bill Smith, Alaska’s state CIO, said. MyAlaska is a single-point-of-entry mobile app and web portal Alaskans use to access dozens of state services.
“We want to see if we can embed agentic AI within the mobile app interface user experience, in order to make it more accessible for Alaskans, make it more intuitive, potentially to have more of a conversation with the app, get you to the right spot, get you to the right service,” Smith said, adding his office hopes to be able to integrate the AI agent into the mobile app later this year.
A possible task for an AI agent embedded into the myAlaska app could be to ask the resident a series of questions and then, based on their answers, make recommendations for the proper forms or other steps to take to access state services.
“A fairly simple use case, but it could make a big difference with someone who is trying to navigate state government in order to get the services that they need,” Smith said.
Last year, the Delaware Artificial Intelligence Commission approved creating a framework for a “sandbox” for the testing of innovative and novel technologies that use agentic AI.
“What we realized is that a regulatory sandbox is really the best way to encourage and develop this innovation, be at the forefront of it, and then create a responsible and ethical framework for these types of products to exist,” Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez, Delaware’s secretary of state, said at the quarterly commission meeting in July 2025.
Officials are taking a largely cautious approach to engaging and using AI tools, the report concluded. Some 82 percent of state CIOs surveyed last year reported the formation of advisory committees or task forces related to AI, according to the NASCIO report. And eight states reported they now have some agentic AI tools in production.
Some of the headwinds slowing the development of AI technologies include the limitations of legacy technology systems, as well as general reservations among workers.
The NASCIO report cites data from Accenture which found only 55 percent of front-line workers agreed with the statement, “I feel positive about the potential integration of AI into my day-to-day work,” while 75 percent of state CIOs reported “serious concerns” around the use of GenAI in “direct citizen services.”
