AI is a priority for local governments, and cities are increasingly appointing CAIOs to support the technology’s adoption and gain a competitive advantage.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced McKnight’s appointment in a post Friday on LinkedIn, and said investing in a “human-centric” approach to technology will support city teams by reducing their repetitive tasks, freeing up time they can use to serve residents.
McKnight brings nearly three decades of experience with Intel Corp. to the role, most recently serving as senior technical program manager for upskilling and AI adoption with Intel Foundry, according to her LinkedIn profile. Prior to working with Intel, she was an immigration paralegal with Frost Brown Todd. She holds an associate degree in paralegal studies from Sullivan University, a bachelor’s degree in English from Centre College, and is pursuing an MBA from Murray State University.
“My focus will be on harnessing AI to enable our employees to better serve our citizens — building human‑centric solutions that improve everyday experiences, from faster responses to streamlined services, while keeping people at the center of innovation,” said McKnight in a Saturday LinkedIn post. This appears to be her first public-sector role.
Louisville first revealed its plan for AI advancement this summer. These included expanding the city’s IT operating budget by $2 million to support new AI pilots, hiring a CAIO and building a four-person AI team.
“There’s a lot for us to learn as a government, there’s a lot for our workforce to learn around AI and there’s a lot of work that has to be done to integrate it into the systems we have in place,” Director of Information Technology Chris Seidt told Government Technology at the time.
This new AI leadership team, led by the CAIO, is intended to educate other metro departments on how AI can make government work better, Seidt said. He noted that the CAIO is expected to work closely with Metro Technology Services’ data officer.
In the video below, from his LinkedIn account, Greenberg welcomes McKnight to the Louisville Metro Government team.
