Washington State CIO advances digital equity and government efficiency with AI, GIS

The state of Washington’s government agencies have historically operated in technology silos, but the state’s CIO and his team are working toward centralizing digital services to improve both employee efficiency and the customer experience for residents. InformationWeek recently caught up with Bill Kehoe, state CIO and director of Washington Technology Solutions since 2021, at the Public Sector CIO Summit held by geographic information system (GIS) software company Esri. Kehoe has been a public-sector CIO for 25 years and currently leads the technology service team  that provides digital services and programs to state agencies in Washington. According to Kehoe, the IT team’s efforts to digitally “integrate [services] across agencies” are part of a broader initiative: Washington’s IT Strategic Plan for 2025-2028. The plan includes four goals that reflect a fresh approach to using IT and advanced technology to make a meaningful community impact. Kehoe stressed that the plan isn’t about deploying new technology for technology’s sake. Rather, it’s about using technology to achieve business outcomes and improve experiences for both state employees and residents. “If you look at those goals, they’re very customer- and business-focused goals versus real techie IT goals,” Kehoe said. The first goal in the strategic plan is to ensure that “a trusted digital government experience” is available to all residents and businesses, regardless of where they are or live. Kehoe’s team is developing a resident portal where community members can access digital resources and personalize their experience within the dashboard. The portal will act as “a front door for our residents to receive state services, versus today, where they have to go to multiple places sometimes and duplicate the data that they’re entering,” Kehoe said. In addition, the portal will eventually include an AI-supported chatbot to “better direct residents when they come to the portal.” The IT team is also working toward breaking down silos across public agencies — every agency had its own portal and so the team is working on centralizing these, Kehoe said.

Goal No. 2: ‘From insight to impact: Improving lives through data’

This goal is designed to provide data-driven insights that can be used to inform improvements to public services and provide more transparency on government services for the community. “What we’re trying to do with data in the state is to gain insights into how our services are being consumed and how well they are serving residents,” Kehoe said. “Those insights are so valuable because we should be able to make adjustments to improve the service.” One way the state is focusing on improving data management and visibility is through investment into GIS  software. “The GIS community has done a fantastic job of data management. They’ve really been a model for how to manage and utilize data associated with the GIS layers, and we can learn a lot from that and improve as an enterprise,” Kehoe said. For example, state agencies can use GIS software that incorporates data from light detection and ranging technology  to analyze the landscape and take a more proactive approach to mitigating potential landslide hazard areas before they become a problem. GIS is also used to manage statewide parcel data, support emergency services assessments and assist the Department of Social and Health Services in identifying healthcare deserts. “In case of a flood, our emergency operations center can pinpoint, using GIS, where the floods are occurring, where the roads are closing and where resources are needed,” Kehoe said.

Goal No. 3: ‘Relentlessly pursue relevant technology to improve services’

Another objective for Kehoe’s team is prioritizing the identification of innovative and emerging technology — such as AI and GIS — to address statewide issues like housing and homelessness. In addition to these tools, Kehoe’s team utilizes multiple cloud platforms, including Databricks, AWS and Azure. Washington’s IT team has used AI to improve customer experience and employee efficiency, as well as to modernize its agencies, Kehoe said. One AI deployment that supports employee efficiency involves reading COBOL on mainframes and relaying the “business logic or eligibility rules in plain English … there are all kinds of printed code documents to interpret,” Kehoe said.

Goal No. 4: ‘Transform how we work to enable strategic modernization’

The Washington State IT team is also focused on identifying and retaining top talent to support a “modern, responsive government.” Investing in up-to-date technology is key to supporting the state’s employees, Kehoe said. “Agentic AI [for example] is so exciting. If we can show new talent that, ‘hey, this is what you’re going to be working on, and you’re going to be helping your communities in the process,’ then that can draw them in … and create a culture that’s very innovative within government,” Kehoe said. Kehoe explained that having a strong cybersecurity strategy is also critical across state agencies. Government employees are required to take security awareness training, and preventing threats from AI, ransomware and phishing is top of mind for Kehoe. His team also recently established the state’s first AI policy, setting guardrails for the secure use of AI. One of the biggest challenges to achieving the state’s IT Strategic Plan goals is the budget — specifically, balancing budget cuts with keeping IT initiatives moving forward, Kehoe said. But he said he views AI as an avenue to improve efficiencies while adopting advanced technologies. “I’m really looking three to five years down the road. Where will we be with AI and agentic AI, and how much more advanced will the technology be?” he said. “It’s an exciting time for me to be a state CIO.”