Host Stephen Goldsmith sits down with Suma Nallapati, Chief AI and Information Officer for the City and County of Denver, to explore how Denver is using generative AI to collapse bureaucracy and make government fundamentally more responsive to residents. Nallapati discusses Denver's Sunny AI platform, why combining the CIO and AI officer roles eliminates unhealthy friction between innovation and caution, and why the real opportunity of GenAI lies in freeing public servants from repetitive tasks so they can focus on the human connection that drew them to public service in the first place. Nallapati emphasizes that AI is a tool in government's toolbox—one that succeeds only when paired with ethical frameworks, transparency, and a relentless focus on resident outcomes rather than technology for its own sake.

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Music credit: Summer-Man by Ketsa

About Data-Smart City Solutions

Data-Smart City Solutions, housed at the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University, is working to catalyze the adoption of data projects on the local government level by serving as a central resource for cities interested in this emerging field. We highlight best practices, top innovators, and promising case studies while also connecting leading industry, academic, and government officials. Our research focus is the intersection of government and data, ranging from open data and predictive analytics to civic engagement technology. We seek to promote the combination of integrated, cross-agency data with community data to better discover and preemptively address civic problems. To learn more visit us online and follow us on LinkedIn.