In this report, La Follette students, in collaboration with The Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation, evaluate AI adoption practices across four U.S. states to identify actionable recommendations for government practitioners implementing AI.
The Capstone student team provided the full report for this project directly to their client, the Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation. Because this report included candid insights from government practitioners regarding their agencies’ AI adoption and experiences, the full text of the report is not available to the public.
Summary
State and local governments across the United States are increasingly exploring artificial intelligence (AI) technology to solve long-standing staffing challenges, enhance service delivery, and improve efficiency. However, government practitioners lack an in-depth understanding of AI, while existing resources lack clear, action-oriented best practices and recommendations. To address this knowledge gap, the research team, in collaboration with the Beeck Center, conducted interviews with government practitioners who adopted AI into their systems and services. Through analysis of interviews from five AI adoption case studies in Arizona, California, Florida, and New Jersey, the research team distilled recommendations for governments to consider when adopting AI. Findings reveal successful AI adoption projects possess strong leadership, human-in-the-loop testing, and clearly defined project ownership. This report recommends government practitioners conduct readiness assessments prior to AI adoption, consider data security as a top priority, establish ownership early in the development process, prioritize data readiness, develop a thorough understanding of data before sharing it with third parties, and set proactive evaluation metrics to assess user experience and service delivery impact.
Information
- Course: Workshop in Public Affairs, PA 869, taught by Jason Delbourne, Spring 2026
- Authors: Emma Baumgartner, Abbie Klein, Hunter McCormick, and Luis Navarette
- Client: The Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation