AI in government moved faster in the last eighteen months than in the previous decade. Some of it is real. A lot of it is noise. This session sorts one from the other.
It starts with a straight look at where AI in the public sector actually is. Not the vendor hype version. What agencies across the country are doing today, where the wins are showing up, where projects are stalling, and the shift that matters most right now: AI is moving from tools people ask questions to, to agents that take action on their own. Meanwhile, most of the AI in your agency never came through procurement. It showed up as a feature inside software you already own, or an employee just started using it.

The perspective comes from someone who has sat in the seat: a former Texas municipal CIO who now works with state and local agencies across the country on AI adoption and governance.
Attendees will leave with:

• A clear-eyed read on the state of AI in government: what's real, what's hype, and where agencies are actually seeing results
• The shift that matters most right now: from chatbots that answer questions to agentic AI that takes action, and what that changes for IT leaders
• Why most of the AI in your agency never came through procurement, and how to get visibility into embedded and shadow AI
• Five simple governance habits that keep pace with AI without a big program or new budget, including where TRAIGA and the NIST AI RMF fit
• What to watch over the next 12 months: the trends, legislation, and capabilities heading toward Texas agencies