U.S. States Test AI Agents to Speed Up Government Services

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers, or NASCIO, said several U.S. state governments are moving beyond generative AI to agentic AI, which can make and execute decisions with greater autonomy. Such tools can search government websites on residents’ behalf, guide them through service applications and help public agencies handle repetitive processes, making them important to public-service efficiency and the quality of digital governance.

NASCIO’s latest report shows that multiple states have begun testing AI agents in hopes of reducing the time residents need to find information and complete government procedures. The projects must still address data governance, cybersecurity risks, accountability and integration with legacy systems. Publicly available information has not identified the participating states, testing dates, funding amounts or specific data on staff hours saved.