Federal CIO: ‘The Shackles are Off’ for AI Innovation in Government

Last month’s Presidential Management Agenda is a blueprint for using emerging technology more effectively for mission delivery, Federal CIO Gregory Barbaccia said Thursday.

“We’re focused very heavily in this administration on crossing that chasm from outcomes we see within the federal government to the outcomes we’re driving for taxpayers and citizens,” Barbaccia said during the Adobe Government Forum in Washington, D.C. on Thursday morning.

The PMA outlines ways federal technology offices can better leverage technology to deliver faster, more secure services by breaking down bureaucratic barriers, Barbaccia said. That includes putting more AI tools in the hands of federal employees and encouraging experimentation.

“The key takeaway for me, to my dear fellow civil servants, is you don’t need to ask permission anymore to move fast,” Barbaccia said. “Now is the time for experimentation. The shackles are off.”

Tech Makes Government Services Manageable

The PMA moves away from “sophisticated technical” solutions toward what former Federal CIO Suzette Kent Thursday called the “grandmother test,” asking “can my grandmother understand this?”

“I’m looking for [systems] designed to be based around the least technical user, not the most sophisticated technical user,” Barbaccia added. “That’s a big key priority.”

By using AI to automate the deployment of design guidelines, Barbaccia said that the design initiative creates a digital front door that feels like a single entity rather than a maze of 27,000 disconnected websites.

“It is not efficient for the taxpayers when all our agencies operate in silos and we’re not sharing best practices. What’s helping with this is when citizens interact with the government, now it feels like you’re interacting with the same thing,” Barbaccia said. “There’s the same voice, there’s the same design.”

The Engine of Efficiency

Barbaccia said the PMA treats AI as a tool for efficiency rather than a vehicle for compliance. The agenda specifically calls for reducing “wasteful processes through artificial intelligence” and eliminating data silos. The focus, he said, is on tangible outcomes for taxpayers. AI tools are already being piloted in internal sandboxes that allow federal employees to experiment with the backing of the White House.

“We are expecting you to move fast … We will block and tackle for you everywhere we can,” Barbaccia promised the audience of federal employees. “As far as the citizen services, if it’s safe, if it’s smart, if it’s largely transparent to the citizen, all the complex interactions that are going on behind the scenes, we’re probably looking at the right thing.”

AI Adoption Culture Over Compliance

Barbaccia added that, since he became federal CIO last year, he wants to shift away from “overprescriptive, compliance-based” regimes that prioritize paperwork over results.

“I came into the job thinking this would be much more of a technical undertaking about deep diving into technical systems and technical architecture,” Barbaccia said. “I’m understanding changing the culture and the way we think about tech and the government is a way more effective means of making change.”

The administration is empowering agency-level “service delivery leads” under the Government Service Delivery Improvement Act, Barbaccia said. These leaders are tasked with identifying one major improvement effort to drive within their respective agencies, ensuring that accountability is clear and focused on the “customer.”

He added that the administration is – through the PMA, AI-centric executive orders, the AI Action Plan and other guidance – clearing the path for digital-first services for citizen outcomes.

“We’re now coalescing that voice that we’re giving to the public,” Barbaccia said, referring to the unified digital experience the government is building. “The public is ready to feel a difference … Now is the time for true customer service delivery to come out of the United States government.”