Youngkin's move is part of an increase in efficiency-focused initiatives at the state level, a growing number of which largely rely on new technologies such as AI. In Virginia, Executive Order 51 (2025) establishes a new pilot aiming to enhance governmental efficiency and build on previous work in this space with agentic AI.
This also is not Youngkin's first executive move to reduce regulations in the state, with previous efforts including Executive Directive 1 (2022) and Executive Order 19 (2022), which called for a 25 percent regulatory reduction. The state has exceeded that goal, with agencies streamlining 26.8 percent of regulatory requirements and eliminating 47.9 percent of the words in guidance documents.
“Using emergent artificial intelligence tools, we will push this effort further in order to continue our mission of unleashing Virginia’s economy in a way that benefits all of its citizens,” said Gov. Youngkin in a statement.
Agentic AI is the latest iteration of the technology, differing from generative AI because of its autonomous decision-making abilities. Essentially, an agentic AI system takes some type of action.
In the new initiative, an AI tool will scan all of existing regulations and guidance documents and identify opportunities to streamline them. Areas in which regulation contradicts state statute will be flagged. It will identify redundancies and highlight parts of the language used that can be improved.
For state agencies that have not yet reached the 25 percent reduction goal, the AI tool is expected to help bridge the gap. The initiative is expected to empower agencies to use AI in future regulatory review processes.
Virginia is the “first state to launch an agentic AI tool to power the regulatory reduction process,” read a statement from Reeve Bull, directory of the Virginia Office of Regulatory Management.
Looking ahead, the executive order also requires executive branch agencies to use AI in their regular regulatory reviews every four years. This requirement applies to all reviews that will take place after Dec. 31. Both humans and AI tools should have a role in these processes, the order states.
Virginia has worked to take a responsible approach to implementing AI, with Youngkin providing guardrails to safeguard data and guide use. Also, the Virginia AI Task Force was created to provide feedback on policy and advise on AI-related pilot programs.
“We’re very much looking forward and seeing that as these innovations come out, there’s value to embrace them, to harness them, to apply them,” CIO Bob Osmond previously told Government Technology of AI, underlining that they are tools to be used with and by human staff.
