Registration and Continental Breakfast in Exhibit Area

Opening Remarks

Matt Mahan, Mayor, City of San Jose

Coalition General Session

Hear from GovAI Coalition leaders on the latest AI trends, challenges and insightful use cases.

Industry Partner Panel

Join industry leaders for a panel exploring real-world public sector use cases of AI in action. We’ll highlight innovative applications that are making a tangible difference in government operations and service delivery. This showcase brings practical examples of AI driving efficiency, improving decision-making, and addressing critical challenges.

Thought Leadership Industry Keynote

Networking Break in the Exhibit Area

Concurrent Sessions

Sustainable AI: How Local Governments Can Mitigate AI's Environmental Impact

AI-driven services are boosting government efficiency but increasing energy and carbon footprints. How can the public sector innovate while minimizing harmful environmental impacts? We'll explore concrete actions that local governments can take, including sustainable operations, metrics for tracking impact, and best practices for policies that align AI deployment with sustainability goals.

Moderator: Leila Doty, Privacy & AI Analyst, City of San Jose

Kate Stoll, Project Director, Center for Scientific Evidence in Public

A Good Pilot Knows When to Quit

Successful pilots set the stage for transformative IT deployments. How can you test new technology rapidly and safely while protecting your operations? In this session we'll explore streamlined pilot frameworks and partnering effectively with solution providers. Our panel will define clear go/no-go criteria for production. Walk away with actionable best practices to turn your next pilot into a deployment win.

Moderator: Albert Gehami, AI and Privacy Officer, City of San Jose

Melanie McDonough, Chief Innovation and AI Officer, City of Lebanon, NH

People-First Innovation: Making AI Meaningful

As government leaders race to showcase AI’s potential, it’s all too easy to let technology lead the story. This panel brings together IT leaders, front-line service providers, and technology developers to explore how to start by defining challenges before choosing tools. Our panel of experts will share practical tips for building stakeholder buy-in, crafting clear use cases with service teams, and balancing expectations. You’ll hear how to engage Fin-Ops in the conversation to lead with collaboration strategies for keeping business needs front and center.

Sabra Schneider, Chief Information Officer, Bellevue Washington

Micah Gaudet, Deputy City Manager, Public Safety, City of Maricopa

Chris Pahl, Chief Privacy Officer, County of Santa Clara

Lunch

Concurrent Sessions

Incentivizing Ethical AI: Driving Transparency and Trust

Responsible AI integration depends on aligning developer incentives with public values. What strategies can you adopt to foster accountability, transparency, and trust? Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University will share Coalition-backed research and actionable models for incentive frameworks, evaluation metrics, and Coalition-led policy implementation.

Blaine Kuehnert, Researcher, Carnegie Mellon University

Nari Johnson, Researcher, Carnegie Mellon University

Beyond the Pilot: Scaling AI Integration for Maximum Impact

AI pilot projects are just the beginning; scaling them across your agency is where the real impact lies. What procurement, governance, and collaboration hurdles stand between your initial trial and full-scale AI integration? Our panel of experts will share cross-functional governance models, and change-management tactics to drive seamless, scalable AI deployments.

Moderator: Andrew Ngui, Chief Digital Officer, City of Kansas City, MO

Nichole Sterling, Mayor Pro Tem, Board of Trustees, Town of Nederland

Dr. Christopher Rodriguez, Assistant City Administrator, Washington, DC

Future-Proofing Job Roles for the AI Era (Pt. 1)

AI is reshaping job roles in technology, including software engineering. What can we expect from the next generation of graduates? We'll delve into how academic programs are integrating AI competencies, how hiring criteria are evolving, and the proactive strategies students and early career professionals use to differentiate themselves.

Katherine D. Harris, Professor of Literature & Digital Humanities, San Jose State University

Short break

Concurrent Sessions

AI Impact Assessments: Your First Line of AI Readiness (and Defense)

It has never been more critical to systematically evaluate AI’s potential risks, benefits, and downstream effects. In this session, we will explore the leading approaches to AI Impact Assessments. Participants will learn how to use these frameworks to identify benefits, anticipate harm, align with ethical principles, and help ensure more responsible deployment of AI. The session will include a comparison of scope, structure, and implementation challenges within broader governance strategies. This talk will offer actionable knowledge to support ethical and regulatory readiness.

Cari Miller, Co-Founder, AI Procurement Lab

AI Incident Tabletop: Planning Your Response

AI-powered chatbots can amplify issues overnight, from factual errors to offensive outputs. In this interactive tabletop exercise about an AI chatbot gone wrong, you'll learn to dissect a simulated AI incident, coordinate an effective recovery plan, and communicate across stakeholders. Teams will draft response playbooks and decision trees tailored to organizational needs.

Expanding AI Training for Public Sector Success (Pt 2)

Investing in new training is the fastest route to a resilient, future-ready public sector IT workforce. How can you expand training investments to close skills gaps and drive digital transformation? Panelists will examine how to assess needs, budget effectively for training programs, and choose the right mix of in-person, virtual and microlearning formats.

Moderator: Rich Oppenheim, Deputy Executive Director, Regional Government Services

Alice Marshall, Senior Training Specialist, City of North Las Vegas

Ben Palacio, Sr. Information Technology Analyst , ESSG-Enterprise Solutions Team, Information Technology Department, Placer County, California

Networking Break in Exhibit Area

Concurrent Sessions

Building a Secure Foundation: Pre-Launch Best Practices for Enterprise LLMs

As government agencies prepare to roll out enterprise AI assistants like Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini, getting your systems ready ahead of time is key. In this session, IT and security leads will show the rules and settings they used to control who can see and use data and, ensure the AI pulls in up-to-date information. Our speakers will share how they maintain logs of AI interactions for compliance and security along with the “wish-we’d-done-this-sooner” steps, like dry-run testing in a safe sandbox. We’ll discuss which teams need to be involved at each stage. You’ll learn a straightforward checklist to feel confident and prepared when you flip the switch on your own enterprise LLM.

Report from the Community Engagement Committee: Resources and Case Studies

The GovAI Coalition’s Community Engagement Committee has driven impactful stakeholder involvement through its matchmaking program and other successful initiatives. How can you adopt these proven techniques and resources? We'll discuss how to implement the Coalition’s resources, share results from the matchmaking program and how to get involved, and highlight successful case studies that may inform your next technology engagement effort.

Networking Reception in Expo Area

End of day

Registration / refreshments

Opening Remarks – Coalition

Jennifer Maguire, City Manager, City of San José

Inspirational Keynote

Thought Leadership Industry Keynote

Networking Break in Exhibit Area

Concurrent Sessions

Equity By Design: Accelerating AI GovTech Through Partnerships

Partnerships between private sector AI and the public sector are redefining how GovTech solutions are built for local governments. How can co-developing with public sector agencies accelerate product innovation and ensure solutions tackle real-world challenges? Attendees will learn the steps to forge equity-driven partnerships that slash development cycles and the best practices for collaborative AI design and governance. Learn to replicate this co-development model in your jurisdiction, driving better outcomes for your community.

Progress Lab: Real-World Lessons from Failure

Not every new project or pilot leads to full implementation and that's a good thing! How can we reframe failure as a strategic win? This session explores how public sector IT teams have used pilot findings to identify costly missteps before they escalate, sparing resources and guiding smart decisions. Speakers will share strategies for critically evaluating pilot outcomes, turning lessons learned into actionable next steps.

Ryan Kurtzman, Technology Partnerships Officer, City of Long Beach

Ethan Benatan, Chief Information Officer, Oregon TriMet

Cultivating Women's Leadership and Innovation

This all-female panel of public sector and tech pioneers is redefining how government embraces innovation and inclusion. How can we dismantle gender barriers to inspire the next generation of women leaders? In this session we'll look at strategies for inclusive leadership, reshaping technology's image for girls and young women while accelerating diversity driven initiatives across agencies.

Jaime Wascalus, Director & Chief Information Officer, Office of Technology and Communications, City of St. Paul

Saher Noor, Technology Services Leader, Department of Innovation and Technology, City of Detroit

Eleonor Austin Bounds, Senior Analyst, Data Privacy & Responsible AI, Information Technology Department, City of Seattle

Jane Gong, Director of Emerging Technologies, City & County of San Francisco

Lunch

Concurrent Sessions

The AI FactSheet: Everything You Need to Know

The AI FactSheet is one of the Coalition's key AI governance resources that promotes more transparency around AI systems. But how do you read an AI FactSheet, and how can you use it during the procurement process? This session will show attendees how to read an AI FactSheet, highlighting which factors are particularly important for evaluation. Attendees will also learn how to compare multiple AI FactSheets to each other for the same use case.

Yar Mityuk, Oregon TriMet

Short Break

Concurrent Sessions

Collaborative AI Procurement

Public sector IT teams often face a maze of AI offerings without a clear path to the right solution. This session shows how cooperative procurement lets agencies pool resources and expertise to negotiate contracts. You'll learn practical strategies for ensuring compliance and aligning industry partners that match your mission. Walk away with a step-by-step roadmap for delivering scalable, cost-effective, and responsible AI deployments.

Engage to Innovate: Crafting Your Community Engagement Plan

How can you craft and execute an engagement plan to ensure meaningful stakeholder participation and buy-in? Our expert facilitators will guide you through a step-by-step framework for creating a community engagement plan for AI initiatives at your agency. Attendees will leave the session with a draft engagement strategy for an upcoming AI initiative at their organization.

Elizabeth Buehler, Director of Innovation and Project Management, Salt Lake City

Unlocking Data Collaboration with Coalition Leadership

Data sharing doesn't have to be a bureaucratic hurdle. How can we dispel myths, assess risks, and drive seamless data exchange within and across agencies? In this session you'll learn to leverage Coalition’s data-sharing agreement template, navigate legal constraints with confidence, and jumpstart your agency's data collaboration strategy.

Networking Break

Closing General Session

Reception

End of Day

Public Sector Town Hall – full program coming soon

End of Day

Conference times, agenda, and speakers are subject to change.