Episode Details

In this episode of the GovAI Podcast, Noam Maital and Dustin Haisler are joined by Tracy Gaynor, Director of Information Technology, and Sean Totten, Chief Security Officer for the City of Fishers, Indiana.

Fishers took a deliberate approach to AI adoption: instead of trying to shut down AI use, the city focused on understanding what employees were already using, putting governance around it, and giving staff a safe path to experiment. That approach has helped AI move from isolated experimentation into real use across the organization.

They explore how Fishers balances innovation and security, why visibility into AI use became the starting point for governance, and what the city learned when it discovered AI embedded across far more tools than expected. Tracy and Sean also share how training, approved tools, policies, and guardrails have helped the city enable employees without creating unnecessary risk.

The conversation also looks ahead to agentic AI, data readiness, and how AI is changing the role of government IT from a department known for saying “no” into a partner that can help departments solve problems faster.

This podcast is brought to you by Darwin AI, a platform built for state and local government to help agencies adopt and manage AI responsibly.