153 broader adoption. “They assign ‘power users’ who test applications for the new technologies, show how they can benefit employees and answer questions from colleagues,” he says. “This cross pollination of ideas is a key differentiator between agencies that successfully roll out AI at scale and those who make limited progress.” Embedding AI into existing workflows is equally important to driving adoption. “If employees have to move between multiple applications or manually copy and paste information, they’re less likely to use AI tools,” says Priest. “Integrating AI directly into the flow of work ensures it becomes a natural part of daily operations rather than an added burden.” If cities get the basics right, they will lay the groundwork for an even bigger shift in how they use AI in the years ahead. “AI has advanced considerably in the past 18-24 months,” says Priest. “The major shift is that we’re now using AI to do far more than just answer questions or find information quickly. We’re seeing the convergence of specialised AI agents actively helping people to coordinate work, complete tasks and make datadriven decisions in real time. The number of potential AI applications will keep growing as the technology continues to evolve and improve.” For Priest, perhaps the most significant impact of AI will be the speed at which cities can respond to the evolving needs of communities. “AI allows us to build, deploy and get feedback on technology investments faster than ever before,” he says. “Over time, this will enable cities to become more agile and responsive, allowing them to continually adapt services and make real incremental improvements towards their desired outcomes. That’s tremendously exciting.” The focus, however, should remain firmly on these outcomes rather than AI itself. “Ultimately, the success of AI projects won’t be measured by how many agents were deployed or how many employees used them, but by whether it helped public sector organisations to achieve their goals,” says Priest. “By keeping their desired goals as their ‘north star’, organisations will be able to identify where technology can make the greatest difference, build better solutions and drive real change.” Enabling intelligence-driven operations “Coretek helps public sector organisations break down data silos and modernise legacy environments by leveraging Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Fabric, AI Foundry and Microsoft 365 Copilot to create connected, intelligence-driven operating models. Through our AI Envisioning and AI Frontier Factory methodologies, we help agencies integrate critical systems, unify data sources and establish secure platforms that provide real-time visibility across operations. By combining cloud modernisation, data platform transformation and AIpowered analytics, organisations can accelerate decision-making, improve service delivery and respond more effectively to changing demands. The result is a more resilient public sector enterprise where leaders have access to trusted, actionable insights and employees can focus on delivering better outcomes for the communities they serve.” Brian Barnes Chief Technology Officer, Coretek
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=