Q&A: Flexible Tech Strategies for Uncertain Terrain

QUESTION: What is the overall technological challenge for state and local governments?
The pressure is on agencies to adapt to a new fiscal landscape while also making sure they’re moving the needle with their technology, systems and organizations all at once. It’s like building a plane, flying it and redesigning it at the same time while the public watches your every move.

QUESTION: How should agencies approach technology in times of budget constraints?
It’s not that funding disappears completely. It’s about changing priorities. Leaders should invest in things that truly drive efficiency and impact based on the right business cases. When there’s less money, you get more focused. You’re not funding things that aren’t necessary.

QUESTION: How can agencies foster innovation?
Agencies should focus on three fundamentals. First, engage people and leadership. Innovation comes from collaboration and diverse perspectives. Second, leaders must get their data in order. Clean, structured data is the foundation for AI and modernization. And finally, solving challenges should start with the outcome. Define the problem clearly, then work backward to solutions.
Innovation doesn’t have to be massive. Small, iterative improvements build momentum and create lasting impact.

QUESTION: How can agencies communicate the value of AI to stakeholders?
We must break AI down from this big, abstract concept into what it’s really doing, which is automating tasks, helping with research and improving efficiency. If you can show leaders that AI can help them accomplish something in one-tenth of the time, the real question becomes: What can we do with the time we’re saving?

QUESTION: What are the most impactful AI use cases in government today?
Right now, it’s about embedding AI into core platforms to perform routine, mundane tasks like data entry and process automation. Then you can move into analysis and how employees and constituents interact with systems — where AI is guiding and supporting that experience.

QUESTION: What emerging challenges or trends should leaders prepare for?
Cybersecurity will become even more complex as AI and advanced computing evolve. No single organization can manage this alone. The future will require stronger collaboration — across agencies, with federal partners and with the private sector — to effectively manage risk and protect critical infrastructure.