Beyond the Pilot: Is Your Agency Ready to Scale AI?

Like their industry counterparts, government organizations, military services, and federal agencies are launching artificial intelligence (AI) pilots, testing generative AI, and exploring new ways to advance mission delivery. Yet moving from isolated experiments to enterprise-wide adoption requires far more than promising technology. It demands strong governance, trusted data, a prepared workforce, an adaptable infrastructure, effective risk management, clear measures of value, and aligned resource management.

Drawing on deep policy and defense expertise from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) alongside technical leaders from the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Software Engineering Institute (SEI), the panel will examine what it takes for services and federal agencies to progress from experimentation to the sustainable implementation of AI.

Attendees will learn how to manage the security and trust risks that accompany the deployment of AI platforms using structured, enterprise-level governance. The discussion will explore how government organizations can assess their current level of readiness, identify gaps that may limit adoption, and align AI investments with mission outcomes, oversight expectations, and public trust.

The panelists will explore actionable strategies to overcome legacy challenges, safely scale emerging technologies, and manage security, trust, and operational risk across critical public and defense sector mission environments. Participants will gain practical insights into the capabilities that distinguish mature AI adoption, the challenges government organizations are encountering, and the steps leaders can take now to build a foundation for intentional scale.

Attendees will learn how to

• move beyond AI-washing by replacing vague, "AI everywhere" mindsets with clearly defined strategies
• drive AI enterprise gains with end-to-end workflows
• assess infrastructure costs and resource allocation to prioritize AI investment