Tim Miller is field CTO at Dataminr, an artificial intelligence company specializing in real-time event, threat and risk intelligence.
For years, the conversation around AI in government has been dominated by one question: Can we trust it?
As state and local agencies face a new era of automated cyber warfare — from AI-driven ransomware to sophisticated network injections — the answer is being written in code. State leaders are deploying AI-powered defenses that don't just monitor traffic but provide the real-time intelligence needed to neutralize threats before they can compromise public trust.
This shift to AI is borne out by the data. According to the National Association of State Chief Information Officers’ 2026 State CIO Survey, 23 states already use AI to enhance cybersecurity operations, and 21 plan to use it within 12 months. With these investments comes a critical challenge for state and local governments: How can they use AI to enhance public safety and crisis response while deploying systems the public can trust?
Putting AI into action
State and local jurisdictions are harnessing AI in many ways, from AI detection of tax fraud to smart signals that adjust traffic lights to real-time traffic conditions. Cybersecurity has also become a focus. In fact, the 2025 NASCIO report found state CIOs are using AI for cybersecurity event analysis, helping to identify, investigate and interpret possible breaches.
In California, state cyber leaders are using AI-enabled tools to support its agencies (along with local, educational and special districts) with 24/7 monitoring, threat detection and incident response. California’s approach operationalizes AI-assisted cybersecurity for multiple jurisdictions, lowering barriers for smaller counties and cities to access advanced detection and response capabilities.
The New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell is using AI to create a comprehensive on-demand picture of its threat landscape. This includes using AI to condense lengthy technical reports into key facts and information, providing state cyber analysts with the context they need to make quick decisions.
Prioritizing real-time data analysis
In today’s threat landscape, risk can emerge from anywhere — digital, physical, cyber or operational. All domains are so interconnected that neglecting one puts the others at risk. Eliminating the blind spots created by this convergence is vital.
State and local governments are making a big leap forward in how they identify, interpret and respond to risk across every part of the government. By deploying an AI-powered, real-time information platform, state and local governments are seeing an advantage over possible attackers through event, threat and risk intelligence.
These three types of intelligence answer the “what, so what and now what” behind every security event by shifting the reliance on static security advisories to alerts that dynamically update based on new and developing information.
Beyond that, utilizing client-tailored intelligence that adapts to internal telemetry and specific agency requirements empowers state and local cyber teams to accelerate operations without requiring manual research cycles, additional tools or complex workflows.
These strategies help governments reevaluate trust relationships, reassess exposure levels and mitigate risk before damage occurs.
State and local governments are beginning to understand the risks associated with AI-powered tools and are making public trust a priority. For these governments to equip their public safety agencies with the tools needed to make decisions that could save lives, they're weighing risks of using AI-powered technology responsibly by leveraging high-impact, real-time alerts.
Ultimately, the goal of state and local cyber leaders is to build a digital fortress that doesn’t require a leap of faith. By trading static defenses for AI-powered, real-time intelligence, governments are proving they can outpace the adversary while keeping the public’s data — and their trust — secure.
