The AI-amplified future of work in public sector operations
AI adoption can offer possible cross-cutting benefits to public sector operations, which can help enhance accuracy, efficiency, and strategic workforce deployment
Kate Reilly
Lucy Melvin
Laura Bernstein
Sarah Smith
Government’s back-office operations form the backbone of nearly all its major mission-critical activities. Strengthening these operations can have a positive spillover effect on mission and service delivery. Artificial intelligence and generative AI can play a pivotal role in this transformation.
AI-driven automation can help streamline payroll processing by handling salary calculations and tax deductions with precision. AI can bring speed and accuracy to reporting and compliance activities, reducing administrative bottlenecks. Contact center agents, meanwhile, can benefit from AI-powered insights that provide real-time information and guidance, which can help improve customer service. Most importantly, AI has the potential to liberate workers from repetitive administrative tasks, allowing them to focus on more strategic, high-value work.
Government operations span a vast range of roles—from finance, payroll, and IT specialists to procurement, human resources, and legal professionals. While AI’s impact may vary by job function, several transformative benefits can apply across these roles.
How can AI change the government HR leader role?
Let’s take a closer look at how AI technologies can change operations roles though the example of a human resources leader. Click through the slides below or download the complete PDF.
What’s next?
As technology and workplace needs evolve, new roles are expected to emerge within the operations function that can bridge the gap between AI capabilities and mission execution. One such future role could be the mission rapid prototyper (MRP)—a specialist who would rapidly develop AI-powered tools to help address operational challenges. What might this brand-new job look like?
The mission rapid prototyper: A possible future role in government operations
- Mission: The MRP could quickly turn ideas into functional tools by using gen AI to create, test, and refine operational solutions tailored to mission needs. They could serve as bridges between mission and technology, immersed in their mission teams enough to identify needs where technology can help, and savvy enough with low-/no-code tools to be able to rapidly develop real software tools that can solve those mission problems.
- Key responsibilities will include:
- Collaborating with frontline teams to identify operational challenges that AI-powered tools can address.
- Using gen AI to develop and deploy proof-of-concept solutions rapidly.
- Working closely with IT teams to scale successful prototypes into enterprisewide applications.
- Continuously updating and refining AI-driven tools to adapt to evolving mission requirements.
- Advising mission teams on how they could use AI and gen AI on the job more broadly and the most effective ways to engage with the technology.
On-the-job impact
Eric recently created a compliance tool for his team of contract specialists. With new reporting requirements, his colleagues were wasting time compiling data. Eric proposed automating the process and developed a prototype for a low-code gen AI tool to periodically extract data, draft reports, and deliver them for approval. After review and approval, the tool submits reports to the agency’s compliance mailbox. Following multiple iterations and team feedback on desired features, the tool is live and ready for further customization if the need arises.
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Meet the industry leader
William D. Eggers
By
Kate Reilly
Lucy Melvin
Laura Bernstein
Sarah Smith
Cover image by: Jaime Austin; Getty Images
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