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| Economic & Community Development
Newsletters
| Economic & Community Development, Featured, Housing, Workforce Development
- Newsletters
- | Economic & Community Development, Featured, Housing, Workforce Development
By Chanell Hasty, Senior Manager at Accelerator for America
Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a pivotal opportunity for local governments to fundamentally transform how they serve communities and strengthen local prosperity. When deployed strategically with appropriate guardrails, AI can enhance service delivery by increasing government efficiency and provide upskilling opportunities for both city staff and residents. Looking ahead, AI can be a catalyst for improved job quality, workforce transformation, and equitable economic opportunity.
The challenge facing local leaders is not whether to engage with AI but how quickly and thoughtfully they can harness its capabilities to deliver tangible benefits for all residents. Mayors are uniquely positioned to convene diverse stakeholders and lead critical conversations about deploying AI’s potential while transforming concerns into opportunities. Across the country, a growing cohort of “first mover” mayors and local government leaders are doing exactly that – making AI a strategic priority and positioning their cities at the forefront of AI adoption.
Below are condensed case stories of cities leading the way. For a deeper dive and more case stories, click the “Read More” button.
San José has emerged as a leader in harnessing AI to improve public service while establishing essential regulatory guardrails for this transformative technology. The city’s AI leadership is exemplified in its founding role in the GovAI Coalition. In 2023, 50 government agencies convened at the Coalition’s inaugural gathering to share best practices, tools, and lessons learned. The Coalition has grown into a nationwide network of more than 850 local, state, and federal agencies united in the mission to promote responsible and purposeful AI in the public sector.
San José launched the IT Training Academy for city employees in September 2024 in partnership with San José State University. The Academy demonstrates how strategic workforce development can transform both employee satisfaction and operational efficiency. San José plans to expand the program across 19 departments using a train-the-trainer model to reach over 1,000 staff in 2026. For City of San José employees, the voluntary program offers two distinct tracks:
The AI Upskilling Track: An introductory course primarily geared towards office workers and administrative staff, focusing on customized training for specific departmental projects and training staff on ChatGPT through ten asynchronous courses developed with the University.
The Data Upskilling Track: A course designed for more experienced data analysts that provides training in tools like Power BI, Tableau, SQL, Python, and GIS through a 10-week program where staff are encouraged to execute their own project ideas.
The two programs have produced notable results:
Under the leadership of Chief Information Officer Jerele Neeld, the City of Chattanooga jumped into action deploying a number of AI pilot use cases, including making Google’s AI Assistant Gemini available to all city employees for daily use, training Gemini to help city employees find answers in Chattanooga’s codes and ordinances, and expanding a smart traffic management system across the city.
“We worked hard to reframe AI as a productivity tool that makes our teams’ jobs easier. For me, the punchline is simple: it’s about getting to better solutions, faster,” Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly told Google.
The City of Chattanooga has put AI into action with the expansion of a smart traffic management system across 120 intersections – one of the largest LiDAR-enabled traffic projects in the country. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology uses sensors and edge-based AI-enabled processing, supported by centralized software platforms, to catalogue and timestamp everything happening at the intersections from lighting conditions to near-misses. This allows the city to determine why accidents or near misses occur at specific locations. This data, coupled with other information and analysis, gives the city a grounded basis for taking preventative action, enhancing safety for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians, and reducing congestion.
The system can assist public buses running behind schedule by extending green lights and manipulating traffic signals for emergency vehicles, like fire trucks, so they can move more safely and quickly through intersections during emergencies. Thirteen intersections have been equipped with this technology thus far.
In 2023, Chattanooga received a $2 million Stage One Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to expand this work further by integrating Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything or C-V2X technology in targeted corridors along the city. C-V2X solutions have been used to improve safety for vulnerable road users (e.g., cyclists and pedestrians).
As a member of the GovAI Coalition, Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government is building a robust AI governance framework that enshrines the human-in-the-loop principle. Part of the city’s AI policy is that employees must apply critical thinking skills in reading AI-generated results, asking “Did the AI tool get it right?” before taking formal action.
Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government announced a pilot in January 2026 with Govstream.ai to streamline and modernize the city’s permitting and land development process. City leaders recognize that the current processes can be unpredictable and cause delays, leading to frustration for those seeking to complete projects on time and on budget.
Using AI-powered smart assistants grounded in the city’s own codes, spatial data, and permit records, Govstream.ai will help Louisville Metro identify bottlenecks, speed up the process, and enhance transparency throughout the permitting lifecycle, from inquiries to applications, reviews, and approvals. AI will be harnessed to responsibly and transparently remove the friction, confusion, and wait times that can slow down the permitting process, which in turn negatively affects housing and business investment.
By focusing on real-world challenges like permitting, they will learn how to deploy AI that amplifies human expertise and keeps the city’s staff focused on the judgment-driven work only they can do.
One constant theme has emerged from local leaders across each first-mover city: Time is of the essence. AI is changing daily, evolving in its own reach and applicability and revolutionizing how we work and live. It is remaking how local leaders work with and engage their residents. Cities that move decisively to experiment, learn, and scale proven AI applications will be better positioned to meet community needs and drive inclusive economic growth; while those that delay risk widening the gap between what their residents demand and what their institutions can deliver.
It’s hard to predict where AI implementation will be even one year from now. AFA is on the journey with you – learning and experimenting with how AI can support and transform our work and the work of local government leaders. How are you using AI? Tell us your story!
