Change Agents in the age of AI

  • 6 minutes

Historically, public sector organizations are slow in adopting cutting-edge technologies. But with the advancements in AI and its clear benefits to the public sector, leaders are keen to understand how they can integrate this technology. They’re looking to accelerate their cloud adoption so they can start using AI.

As public sector organizations adopt AI technology, Change Agents play a crucial role. They help colleagues embrace this change and ensure that the workforce is prepared and skilled—and will champion the ethical use of AI across the public sector.

Change Agents are AI champions for their organization. Change Agents don’t need to be AI experts, but they need to help their organization through the process by fostering a culture of innovation and experimentation with AI.

Why is being an AI champion important?

AI is one of the most powerful and disruptive technologies of our time. It’s helping public sector organizations improve productivity, efficiency, customer satisfaction, and much more.

While AI brings new opportunities, it also brings challenges that require organizational change and a growth mindset. To harness the full potential of AI, public sector leaders and employees need to embrace continuous learning and improvement and develop the skills and competencies needed to use AI effectively and responsibly. They also need to create and nurture communities of practice and collaboration where they can share their experiences, insights, and best practices with each other and external stakeholders. Change agents play a key role by acting as conduits for the change across the organization.

How to become an AI champion

Like a Change Agent, becoming an AI champion isn’t a one-time event but a continuous journey of learning and improvement. Following are some steps to work toward becoming an AI champion:

Learn the basics of AI

Learn the basics of AI, like what it is, how it works, and what the main types and applications are. There are many online resources, like Microsoft Learn, that help everyone build foundational knowledge and skills to use AI.

Explore the possibilities of AI

Explore the possibilities of AI by finding out how AI is being used in the public sector. There are communities, case studies, podcasts, blogs, and webinars that share real-world examples and best practices for AI.

Apply AI

Apply AI by identifying a problem or opportunity that AI could solve or enhance and experiment with different solutions and approaches. Applications like Microsoft Power Platform are useful for creating and deploying AI solutions without coding. Organizations can also use Microsoft Copilot (part of Bing and Microsoft 365 Copilot) which provides an AI assistant in the working world.

Share your AI journey

Change Agents should share their AI journey by documenting and presenting:

  • Learnings
  • Insights
  • Use cases
  • Outcomes

Sharing is key for the public sector as there are literally millions of potential use cases across the complex world of public services.

Keep learning and improving

Keep learning and improving by seeking feedback, reflecting on experiences, and updating goals and plans.

AI is a powerful technology that can transform the public sector by:

  • Improving citizen services
  • Increasing efficiency
  • Managing and analyzing data
  • Serving as a creative aid

Generative AI can help to create a more effective, inclusive, and responsive government.