Whatever city leaders are thinking about artificial intelligence, they “aren’t thinking big enough,” Jonathan Reichental, founder of consulting firm Human Future, said during an AI in Action panel Nov. 20 at the National League of Cities City Summit 2025 in Salt Lake City.
With the rise of AI, U.S. cities are about to enter into a “cognitive Industrial Revolution,” Reichental said, and it’s vital that leaders tune in.
"If you're sort of thinking, 'Oh, I can cruise through this. This is something I can maybe sit out and do the minimal,' I think you're terribly wrong about that,” he said.
A recent survey found 82% of state chief information officers reported employees were using AI in their daily work.
"One of the things that strikes me as someone that's been in the tech industry for 30 years is the speed of adoption across industries and including government,” Reichental said. “Usually, there's a bit of a ramp up. It takes a few years. This has happened quick. It's happened suddenly, and it will continue to be like that. That's why it feels uncomfortable.”
Philadelphia CIO Melissa Scott said the city launched an AI tool to help customer service representatives provide accurate information to business owners.
"What we really need to understand is that AI provides us the opportunity to do more with less,” Scott said during the panel. "This particular tool will enhance the customer service reps; it won't replace them."
Customer service has been one of the most impactful uses of AI so far, Reichental said.
“We've seen a lot of cities now put chatbots on their websites. You should do that. That should be like a basic thing,” Reichental said. "It used to be that nobody wanted to use those because they were no good. Today, they're really good.”
Ongoing improvement, inherent risks
AI can also help cities with content creation and data analytics, Reichental said.
"It's wonderful to see … how data went from being sort of an afterthought, or nice to have, to being at the center of the action,” he said. “After all, data is the most important aspect of every organization, aside from people.”
The efficiency gains in local government have been significant, he said. A Granicus study found 80% of public employees surveyed believed AI would help with repetitive tasks and 75% said it would save time.
Micah Gaudet, deputy city mayor of Maricopa, Arizona, compared AI adoption to transportation — an ongoing improvement process with inherent risks.
Gaudet said using AI to write a business case is a great way to get started with the technology.
“We don’t need every single program to build a robot,” he said. “Maybe it’s just a matter of using ChatGPT to write grants.”
Scott said developing a culture of AI in local government is a matter of establishing “trust, transparency and shared values.”
Toward that end, Scott said cities should foster an environment that “promotes failing forward,” such as testing ideas to learn what works and incorporating those lessons to make policies; empower staff with AI training; breaking down silos so innovation does not “die in isolation;” use data to guide decisions; and keep residents at the center of what the city builds and how it’s developed.
AI is already impacting “back office” in local government, Reichental said, and will eventually impact energy, transportation, economics and the labor force “in very big, profound ways.”
“Experiment, pilot,” Reichental encouraged city leaders, “more than you’ve ever done before.”
