Leading into Tomorrow

AI Pioneers: Four lessons in scaling AI in government, from AI-pioneering peers

In the final episode of AI Pioneers, EY Global Government and Infrastructure AI Co-leaders Sheena Thompson and Thomas Erwin share their highlights from across the miniseries.

They identify four recurring themes:

1. Successful AI programs begin by understanding the problem, not the tool.
2. Adoption, productivity, and ROI depend on training your people and bringing them with you.
3. Radical transparency and giving citizens control earn public trust.
4. Standardized governance, built for scale, doesn’t block innovation; it operationalizes it.

Sheena and Thomas also provide a taste of the insights their guests shared under each theme. For more detail, dive into the other episodes.

This is the eighth episode of AI Pioneers, a miniseries featuring speakers from pioneering government organizations identified in EY data and AI reports. Listen in for practical lessons from peers who have successfully moved from ambition to impact – scaling AI to transform their organizations and how they serve citizens.  22 mins

AI Pioneers: How upskilling the workforce can boost AI adoption in government

In this episode, EY Global Government and Infrastructure Leaders, Thomas Erwin and Josie Cluer, discuss a key theme in EY data and AI reports: workforce engagement and capability. Josie shares some findings from global EY research:

• Less than half of government employees are seeing productivity benefits from AI, compared with over three quarters of employees in financial services.
• Skills are twice as effective as tools or mindset in helping employees realize productivity benefits from AI.
• The more training people do, the bigger the gains.

The discussion also covers the importance of change management. Josie cautions that while government should be ambitious about AI’s potential, moving fast without addressing employee concerns risks leaving people behind.

This is the seventh episode of AI Pioneers, a miniseries featuring insights from pioneering government organizations identified in EY data and AI reports. Listen in for practical lessons from peers who have successfully moved from ambition to impact – scaling AI to transform their organizations and how they serve citizens. 18 mins

AI Pioneers: How empowerment plus common standards enabled Île-de-France to scale AI

From 10 use cases to almost 100 at the proof-of-concept stage or in production: the Île-de-France Region has scaled GenAI fast. Now, it’s accelerating its use of agentic AI to improve everything from employee productivity to the citizen experience.

In this episode, Chief Information and Technology Officer Achille Lerpenière tells Sheena Thompson, EY Government and Infrastructure AI Co-leader, how a hybrid operating model enabled this success. Encouraging employees to try out the technologies, rather than mandating their use, also built skills and trust. With Île-de-France now considering tools for governing and securing agentic AI, Achille highlights the need to prepare for what’s coming next – including new risks from quantum computing.

This is the sixth episode of AI Pioneers, a miniseries featuring speakers from pioneering government organizations identified in EY data and AI reports. Listen in for practical lessons from peers who have successfully moved from ambition to impact – scaling AI to transform their organizations and how they serve citizens.  14 mins

AI Pioneers: How trust-first design created a true community tool in Amarillo, Texas

When the City of Amarillo, Texas, needed to service a rapidly growing population that couldn’t afford higher taxes, it was the catalyst for exploring how AI and automation could help.

As Chief Information Officer Rich Gagnon tells Sheena Thompson, EY Government and Infrastructure AI Co-leader, a key solution was creating a GenAI concierge, Emma, to handle website requests. But with a large multilingual population, and low initial levels of digital literacy, trust had to come first. That’s why establishing a clear digital dignity, privacy and transparency agenda, and co-designing and testing the tool with residents, were foundational steps.

Today, Emma reflects the language needs and usage preferences of the community while handling around a third of all service requests and deferring around US$1.8m a year in call-center hiring.

This is the fifth episode of AI Pioneers, a miniseries featuring speakers from pioneering government organizations identified in EY data and AI reports. Listen in for practical lessons from peers who have successfully moved from ambition to impact – scaling AI to transform their organizations and how they serve citizens.  17 mins

AI Pioneers: How the UK government used AI to solve problems and gain trust

Governments should look for the best solution to a specific problem, not view AI as the answer to everything.  That’s one of the main lessons shared by Dr Laura Gilbert CBE, previously Director of the Incubator for AI at No 10 Downing Street. Laura tells Sheena Thompson, Government and Infrastructure AI Co-leader, how the Incubator built trust through “competency and intent”. That meant sharing code, evaluations and failures, along with use cases to show it was acting in citizens’ best interests.

The conversation also covers the ethical implications of LLMs that are trained on data informed by local cultural norms. And Laura shares her aim of using AI to make the experience of government more human.

This is the fourth episode of AI Pioneers, a miniseries featuring speakers from pioneering government organizations identified in EY’s data and AI reports. Listen in for practical lessons from peers who have successfully moved from ambition to impact – scaling AI to transform their organizations and how they serve citizens. 20 mins

AI Pioneers: Modernizing South Africa’s revenue services with customer-centric AI

At the South African Revenue Service (SARS), AI-powered fraud and risk detection have stopped 100 billion rand in impermissible refunds and recovered 20 billion rand in revenue by dismantling illicit schemes. SARS also uses third-party data to auto-assess almost six million personal income tax returns, with a 99% acceptance rate.

Carl Scholtz, Deputy Commissioner, Strategy Enablement and Modernisation at SARS, tells Thomas Erwin, EY Global Government and Infrastructure Co-leader, how his organization designs digital services so that “tax just happens”. It also combines experimentation with world-leading governance and an ethical-by-design approach – for example, testing AI bot responses for relevance rather than deterministic consistency. The North Star: making sure taxpayers and employees have a great experience.

This is the third episode of AI Pioneers, a miniseries featuring speakers from pioneering government organizations identified in EY’s data and AI reports. Listen in for practical lessons from peers who have successfully moved from ambition to impact – scaling AI to transform their organizations and how they serve citizens. 26 mins

AI Pioneers: Democratizing access and co-creating solutions to drive AI adoption

For Shen Hwee Chua, Chief Data Officer at the Energy Market Authority in Singapore, the biggest hurdle to implementing a GenAI productivity tool has been human resistance.

As she tells Thomas Erwin, EY Global Government and Infrastructure AI Co-leader, hosting the organization’s GenAI platform on a government-approved cloud was key, as was democratizing access and skills. Codesigning the tool with important stakeholders and continually gathering their feedback gained buy-in. And automating the process of making documents machine-readable saved many hours of manual effort.

In future, Shen Hwee believes AI technologies will not only make governments more efficient but also allow them to collaborate more dynamically – across departments, agencies and borders.

This is the second episode of AI Pioneers, a miniseries featuring speakers from pioneering government organizations identified in EY’s data and AI reports. Listen in for practical lessons from peers who have successfully moved from ambition to impact – scaling AI to transform their organizations and how they serve citizens. 16 mins

AI Pioneers: Normalizing Estonia's AI use through training, testing and transparency

Not only do over half of all Estonians use AI daily, but on average, government employees are more likely than private sector employees to do so (37% v 25%). 

In this episode, Ott Velsberg, Estonia’s Government Chief Data Officer, explains how mandatory training, role-specific competencies and positioning AI as a productivity tool have normalized its use across the public sector. He tells Thomas Erwin, EY Government and Infrastructure AI Co-leader, how the government has put real-world experimentation before drafting policy and reformed AI funding to support testing hypotheses, not delivering outcomes. And he sets out how being transparent about how data is used and algorithms work can help build citizen trust.

This is the first in a miniseries featuring speakers from pioneering government organizations.  22 mins

EY ‘Data and AI in Government’ report - audiobook format

To listen to EY Government and Infrastructure audio reports follow this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ey-government-and-infrastructure-audio-reports/id1789638494 

Government Risk Radar: Why transparency is the secret to building trust and social cohesion

In challenging economic times, preserving social cohesion isn’t only about supporting the vulnerable; it’s essential for maintaining peace and security. And as the final episode of our mini-series reveals, transparent leadership and inclusive policymaking play a vital role.

Joining host Tim Smith are Jessica Chamba, EY Global Human Services Leader, and Safia Rahemtulla, the EY Partner who leads Risk Consulting for Canada's Government and Public Sector practice. To build trust, they suggest governments involve citizens in decision-making, communicate progress clearly and think carefully about what they spend, and with whom, to deliver on their mandate.

Government Risk Radar is a mini-series that provides professional insights and practical strategies to help government and public sector leaders tackle an evolving risk landscape. It accompanies the EY report on the top 10 risks for the sector in 2025, which you can download as a PDF or listen to in audio format here. 24 mins

Government Risk Radar: Why governments need to act fast and collaborate to address climate risks

With climate change intensifying, bringing higher human and financial costs, governments must step up their efforts to both mitigate its risks and adapt to its impacts.

The challenges and opportunities this poses are the focus of this episode. Joining host Tim Smith are Dr. Matthew Bell, EY Global Leader of Climate Change and Sustainability Services, and Ruth Ahchow, EY Global Climate Change and Sustainability Services Leader for the Government and Public Sector.

Their discussion includes the benefits of closer working with the private sector, why government policies need to be long term and predictable, and the wide-reaching positive outcomes of decarbonizing fast for economies, communities and the environment. 

Government Risk Radar is a mini-series that provides expert insights and practical strategies to help government and public sector leaders tackle an evolving risk landscape. It accompanies the EY report on the top 10 risks for the sector in 2025, which you can download as a PDF or listen to in audio format here. 16 mins

 

Government Risk Radar: Mitigating digital risk in an ever-changing world

How can governments adopt digital technologies while regulating their use and supporting innovation?

That’s the question Permenthri Pillay, Partner, Business Consulting, EY Australia, and EY Regional Digital Government Leader, Oceania, and Thomas Erwin, EY EMEIA AI & Data Leader, address in this episode. They tell host Tim Smith about the complexities of digitalization for governments and the risks of falling behind. They also share positive examples of artificial intelligence (AI) governance and collaboration, and explain why, with budgets and workforces shrinking, investing in digital infrastructure is governments’ best bet.

Government Risk Radar is a mini-series that provides professional insights and practical strategies to help government and public sector leaders tackle an evolving risk landscape. It accompanies the EY report on the top 10 risks for the sector in 2025, which you can download as a PDF or listen to in audio format here. 22 mins

 

Government Risk Radar: How to mitigate the impact of demographic shifts on the workforce

Take aging populations, add low birth rates, and you have a shrinking workforce and skills gaps that risk hampering economic growth.

How governments can help address these impacts is the topic of discussion in this episode, hosted by Tim Smith. Rosalin Acosta, National Practice Leader for Labor and Workforce Development, Ernst & Young LLP, and Dr. Carlo Chiattelli PhD, EY People Consulting Leader for EU Institutions, share insights from their geographies. They also discuss how aligning education better with workforce opportunities, as well as with artificial intelligence (AI), could help governments close the gap between supply and demand for labor.

Government Risk Radar is a mini-series that provides expert insights and practical strategies to help government and public sector leaders tackle an evolving risk landscape. It accompanies the EY report on the top 10 risks for the sector in 2025, which you can download as a PDF or listen to in audio format here. 24 mins

 

Government Risk Radar: Why long-term planning is the best response to short-term volatility

In this episode, Oliver Jones, EY Global Geostrategy Leader, and Jan Kallmorgen, Senior Partner, EY Strategy and Transactions, explore how governments can manage geopolitical complexity with host Tim Smith.

They discuss the factors driving the current complexities and the unique role of governments as they both act in, and are affected by, that environment. They also suggest strategies for mitigating cyber and supply chain risk while encouraging future investment. And Oliver explains why, when it comes to sustainability, geopolitics could keep driving change for the better.

Government Risk Radar is a mini-series that provides expert insights and practical strategies to help government and public sector leaders tackle an evolving risk landscape. It accompanies the EY report on the top 10 risks for the sector in 2025, which you can download as a PDF or listen to in audio format here. 17 mins

Government Risk Radar: Why public value should be at the heart of public finance management

How can governments keep their finances sustainable in a world of high public debt, rising interest rates and persistent inflation? By shifting their focus from inputs (expenditure) to impacts (public value) — and by viewing themselves as drivers of growth and potential growth.

That’s the big message of this episode, in which Mark MacDonald, EY Global Public Finance Management Leader, and Gregory Daco, EY-Parthenon Chief Economist, Ernst & Young LLP, discuss all things public money with host Tim Smith. You’ll also learn the three supply-side factors governments should focus on, and when increasing spending could be more effective than making cuts.

Government Risk Radar is a mini-series that provides expert insights and practical strategies to help government and public sector leaders tackle an evolving risk landscape. It accompanies the EY report on the top 10 risks for the sector in 2025, which you can download as a PDF or listen to in audio format here. 17 mins 

AI in Government: Why thinking fast and slow is the best way to prepare for an AI future

In this episode, Dr Naveen Thomas PhD and Dr Harvey Lewis PhD, both Technology Consulting Partners at EY, discuss artificial intelligence (AI) past, present and future with host Tim Smith.

Their conversation covers everything from the first ever chatbot to why the future will be humans, AI and robots collaborating to solve society’s challenges. For governments, they recommend taking a “thinking fast and slow” approach. Fast: Get the basics right and experiment. And slow: Envision a future and plan how you’ll get there.

This is the first of three episodes in which Naveen and colleagues explore fast-changing AI technologies and how they could impact people in business and society. It’s part of the AI in Government mini-series, where government and public sector innovators dive into the transformative potential of AI in the public sector. Listen in to discover the possibilities AI offers for a better, more connected society. 20 mins

AI in Government: How governments, their agencies and people can effectively adopt AI

To effect real and wide-reaching change, government organizations need to get behind the big-ticket outcome of adopting artificial intelligence (AI): efficiency.

In this episode, EY Technology Consulting Partner Dr Naveen Thomas PhD and Alex Bennett, EY EMEIA Microsoft and AI Leader, tell host Tim Smith how people are currently using AI at work. They also discuss the role of muscle memory and the need for government organizations to build confidence and boost engagement through "disciplined freedom," hyperpersonalized communication and role modeling.

This is the second of three episodes in which Naveen and colleagues explore fast-changing AI technologies and how they could impact people in business and society. It’s part of the AI in Government mini-series, where government and public sector innovators dive into the transformative potential of AI in the public sector. Listen in to discover the possibilities AI offers for a better, more connected society. 19 mins

AI in Government: Why governments must address AI’s risks to realize its societal benefits

From raising literacy standards to eradicating diseases, artificial intelligence (AI) could transform society as we know it. But with these technologies evolving rapidly, it’s government’s job to continually test, measure and audit those they deploy. So they’re as accurate, fair and unbiased as possible.

That’s the main takeaway from this fascinating conversation between EY Technology Consulting Partner Dr Naveen Thomas PhD and Neil Bacon, EY Partner and Business Development Leader. In it, they share their insights, hopes and fears with host Tim Smith, and suggest action for governments to take.

This is the third of three episodes in which Naveen and colleagues explore fast-changing AI technologies and how they could impact people in business and society. It’s part of the AI in Government mini-series, where government and public sector innovators dive into the transformative potential of AI in the public sector. Listen in to discover the possibilities AI offers for a better, more connected society. 21 mins

AI in Government: How to build a vibrant AI ecosystem that creates value for everyone

How can governments help businesses realize the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) while gaining the maximum value from these game-changing technologies themselves? By creating a thriving AI ecosystem that works for government, business and citizens.

In this episode, Kiren Kumar, Deputy CEO of Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), shares three steps to building such an ecosystem. He also gives examples of how the IMDA implements these steps, including by pre-approving AI solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Manik Bhandari, EY Partner and AI and Data Leader for ASEAN, joins Kiren for this enlightening conversation. The big takeaway: Just get started and grasp the opportunities of AI. These technologies are going to be a huge augmentation to companies if they play it right. But if they don't start playing at all, they will be disrupted.

In the AI in Government mini-series, government and public sector innovators dive into the transformative potential of AI in the public sector. Listen in to discover the possibilities AI offers for a better, more connected society.  19 mins

AI in Government: How AI could transform learning, teaching and research in universities

How can universities balance their innovation culture with applying artificial intelligence (AI) in safe, compliant, ethical and effective ways? Our host Tim Smith speaks to Christine Burns, CIO at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, and Alison Cairns, EY Oceania Education Leader.  15 mins