AI should be a tool for inclusive building. It’s time for government to claim it.
How our hackathon highlighted what inclusive AI looks like and why the window to get it right is short.
At our State Capacity hackathon last week, a team used NYC OpenData and AI to build a dashboard that maps every flood in New York City against every dollar the city has committed to flood resilience including a live replay of a real storm from May 20th, with sensors lighting up across the boroughs and subway lines going red as floodwaters hit the tracks. The dashboard informs where flooding is worst and where the money is not going. See it here.
It turns out one of our hackathon Judges built the underlying infrastructure to make this possible, and a similar dashboard. It took years. The hackathon team built their prototype in two hours.
In all, 80+ people split into 20 teams and built 20 real tools. Check out this clever video game that teaches New Yorkers how to use 311. Browse a website indexing NYC’s civic data. Fill out a sample benefits form simply by speaking. Use this tool for searching and reviewing city procurement records. And see here for more.
Our takeaway: AI offers a path to more inclusive building
AI has democratized the ability to produce. Anyone can now theorize, scope, and build something new in a matter of hours. AI is an imperfect tool and comes with real considerations about environmental impact, security, and responsible usage. It is not the right tool for every task, nor should it exist unregulated. But as those conversations continue, AI’s impact ripples through society.
On Wednesday, we saw the best of that. Our hackathon was not just about faster builds. AI put the ability to create new technology in the hands of public sector experts who previously did not have that power.
Technologists still built, but government workers informed, flagging when the tool didn’t match real workflows and pushing for features that would actually get used. Researchers identified key data sources and ran live evaluations. Advocates reviewed UX and ensured design accessibility. Feedback was live and specs changed with each iteration.
One of our practitioners said it best:
“AI meant for the first time we could weigh in on design and product decisions instead of beelining towards writing code.”
AI done right is a tool for access, equity, and self-governance
Consider the above. Now imagine an institutionalized version of “hackathons” that bring folks into the building process. Community engagement, perhaps at events physically situated in relevant communities, where practitioners build prototypes for their constituents and receive immediate feedback. This means real people contributing to end products they will actually use, and the ability for voters to literally see changes being made in minutes, not years.
Contrast this with the standard government technology approach that involves a long requirements document, an outsourced legacy vendor, a long waiting period, and a product that is only 70% right and locked in by contract.
Wednesday night showed how AI can take people previously outside the conversation and put them in the driver’s seat.
Government has a tendency to wait; it doesn’t have time
Government has always moved carefully, and for good reason. Delaying judgment on AI feels careful. But careful and slow are not the same thing, and right now slow is dangerous.
Our hackathon proved AI tools can now query live government data — 311 records, permit filings, property data, contract databases — and do something real with it.
Researchers at MIT are already building the infrastructure for these tools to discover each other, share data, and work together across systems. Project NANDA is an open-source effort to build what they call an internet of AI agents: a decentralized layer where software tools can find each other, verify credentials, and coordinate tasks. Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, AWS, and Cloudflare have already agreed on open protocols for these tools to communicate across platforms. NIST launched a formal standards initiative for this infrastructure in February 2026.
AI infrastructure is being built now and government data sits at the center of it. The question is whether government has a role in shaping how that goes or if it finds out after independent actors decide.
Government needs to give itself the right tools
Procurement in government is often built for risk avoidance, not outcomes. Vendors with less presence but better technology are sidelined in favor of ‘more feasible’ deployments. But reaping the benefits of emerging technology often requires embracing emerging vendors and meeting public servants where the work happens.
Wednesday made it clear that AI’s power to democratize creation relies on its most cutting-edge features and functionality. The biggest opportunity is not just giving government access to AI, but embedding it into workflows, systems, and partnerships.
Leading AI companies offer a differentiated set of tools compared to legacy vendors who have adapted to AI. The practitioners who showed up last week know the difference. They are not asking for a bolt-on that helps with email drafting and faster search. They are asking for the ability to build.
Government is already moving
California announced yesterday it is rolling out Anthropic to state agencies.
But inclusive AI requires more than access to the latest models. The transformation means new ways of piloting, shipping products, and evaluating success.
Pennsylvania has over 3,000 state employees using ChatGPT Enterprise, with thousands more in training. They rebuilt unemployment benefits chatbots to handle customer interactions and are using AI to flag document errors for benefits applicants, catching problems before they cause delays.
New Jersey became the first state in the nation to enshrine an innovation office into law, making it permanent across administrations. Their team built an AI assistant for state employees at $1 per user per month versus $20 for off-the-shelf commercial tools. Jennifer Pahlka, one of the most prominent voices on government reform, has publicly called New Jersey a model for responsible AI use in government.
Maryland, after building to more than 50 agencies actively using AI tools, recently launched an AI Innovation Lab to grow pilots into long-term products embedded in state infrastructure.
What these states did was not complicated: they hired teams, gave those teams real tools and real problems, and let them build. It just took vision and decisiveness.
We’re growing a community of practitioners who want to build
We’ll keep hosting events bringing together practitioners who want to help government increase its own capacity.
Large hackathons that show what this community is capable of
Targeted hackathons working directly with a single agency on a specific problem to drive real impact
Demo nights that help the output get in front of decision-maker
Speaker and salon-style discussion nights connecting real experience to desire for further action
Expanding the State Capacity Ecosystem Hub to make collaboration easier
Our NYC community is a model. Our tools and tactics are open source (or will be, in forthcoming posts). Inside NYC or out, if you want to get involved, reach out: we will help you build community wherever you are.
And look out for more soon.
Thank you
A hearty thank you to everyone who attended the hackathon. Thank you to our partners at Civic Roundtable and CUNY PIT Lab and to our judges Dan Steinberg, Josh Seiden, Steph Yim, and Ben Kallos for their participation. You were the ones who made this all possible.
If you, the reader, are seeking to get involved more directly, several job opportunities were highlighted at the event:
Dan Steinberg is recruiting technologists to work with him at the new NYS Office of Performance Management and Innovation (OPMI). Contact him for more information at daniel.steinberg@exec.ny.gov.
NYC Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI) has a number of job postings for product managers, engineers, and product designers. Apply here.
Civic Roundtable is hiring for a Chief of Staff and will have a few more roles opening soon for people excited to help public sector teams collaborate, share knowledge, and build capacity. See open roles here.
Please note that the views expressed in this article are not meant to represent the official position of any associated individual, organization, or employer.