Special Briefing: AI in Government—More Efficiency but Fewer Workers?

From improving policing and trash collection to creating the documents of bureaucracy, Artificial Intelligence is slowly making its way into state and local governments. AI’s arrival heralds a new era of governmental efficiency while threatening the jobs of almost 18 million workers—11 percent of the US nonfarm labor force. 

Moderated by William Glasgall, Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser and Penn IUR Fellow, and Susan Wachter, Co-Director of the Penn Institute for Urban Research and Wharton Professor of Real Estate and Professor of Finance, this briefing is the sixty-third in a series of sixty-minute online conversations featuring experts from the national research networks of the Volcker Alliance and Penn IUR, along with other leading academics, economists, and federal, state, and local leaders. 

Special Briefings are made possible by funding from The Travelers Institute, the Volcker Alliance, and members of the Penn IUR Advisory Board. Recordings of the entire Special Briefings series are available on the Volcker Alliance or Penn IUR websites.

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Jon Hartley is an economist specializing in finance, labor economics, and macroeconomics. He is currently a Policy Fellow at the Hoover Institution, a Research Fellow at the UT-Austin Civitas Institute, a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP), a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and an Affiliated Scholar at the Mercatus Center. Jon also is the host of the Capitalism and Freedom in the 21st Century Podcast, an official podcast of the Hoover Institution, a member of the Canadian Group of Economists, and founding chair of the Economic Club of Miami.

Jon has previously worked at Goldman Sachs Asset Management as a Fixed Income Portfolio Construction and Risk Management Associate and as a Quantitative Investment Strategies Client Portfolio Management Senior Analyst and in various policy/governmental roles at the World Bank, IMF, Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Bank of Canada.

Jon is a graduate of the University of Chicago (B.A. in Economics and Mathematics with Honors), from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (M.B.A.), and the Harvard Kennedy School (M.P.P.), and an economics PhD Candidate at Stanford University.

Jon has also been a regular economics contributor for National Review Online, Forbes and The Huffington Post and has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Globe and Mail, National Post, and Toronto Star among other outlets. Jon has also appeared on CNBC, Fox Business, Fox News, Bloomberg, and NBC and was named to the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 Law & Policy list, the 2017 Wharton 40 Under 40 list and was previously a World Economic Forum Global Shaper.

Megan Kilgore is the elected City Auditor of Columbus, Ohio. She oversees seven divisions responsible for critical financial functions, including income tax collection ($1.3 billion annually), debt issuance and management (a $5 billion portfolio), investor relations, accounting and operations, payroll for more than 10,000 employees, and oversight of the City’s $2.8 billion investment portfolio. Her office also produces the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and other major financial disclosures.

Under her leadership, Columbus has maintained its AAA/Aaa/AAA credit ratings—making it the largest U.S. city to hold this distinction.

A recognized leader at the intersection of public finance and technology, Megan is known for driving modernization in public systems and using data and innovation to drive outcomes. She advises fintech and infrastructure initiatives, including Airys (www.airys.tech), a platform designed to help governments springboard resiliency projects.

She received the 2023 Freda Johnson Award and has been recognized by The Bond Buyer, Women in Public Finance, and others for her leadership.

Before taking office, Megan worked as a municipal advisor to governments and public agencies across the country, specializing in complex financings, public-private partnerships, and long-range capital planning.

She is also an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University’s John Glenn College, where she teaches public finance and mentors rising leaders in government, business, and finance.

Howard Neukrug is the former Commissioner and CEO of Philadelphia Water, where he was responsible for all aspects of utility operations, environmental compliance, engineering, financing, budgeting, capital and strategic planning, customer service, human resources, and legal and policy decisions for its drinking water/wastewater/stormwater system serving 2.3 million people. At Penn, he is the director of the Water Center and teaching courses on the water industry and the role of water in urban sustainability and resiliency. He is also a Principal with CASE Environmental, LLC, where he provides consulting services to cities and utilities in urban planning, systems design, sustainability, organizational development, strategic planning and trends and innovations in the global water industry.

Leigh Palmer joined Google in 2022 as Vice President of Technology Strategy & Delivery for Google’s fast-growing Google Public Sector business. In this role, she is responsible for deliveringmission critical technology to public sector customers. Leigh also is responsible for the global managed services of Google’s Distributed Cloud Hosted product.

Prior to joining Google Cloud, Leigh served in executive leadership roles at BAE Systems, CSRA and, most recently, at General Dynamics Information Technology. During her time in these roles, Leigh led teams delivering complex digital transformation programs for the Federal Government focusing on the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and Intelligence Community. 

Leigh has a passion for executing business objectives by building high performing teams. She was recognized in 2021 by WashingtonExec as one of the Top 25 DOD Execs to Watch and by Virginia Business’ Women in Leadership Awards. Leigh is on the Board of Directors for the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, and the AFCEA International Executive Committee. Leigh earned her undergraduate degree at Virginia Tech, and a Masters degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She resides in Dunn Loring, VA with her husband and two children. 

Thomas Sanchez, PhD, AICP, is a Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University. He earned his PhD in City Planning from Georgia Tech and a Master of City and Regional Planning from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. His research and teaching focus on planning methods, technology, and scholarly impact. His most recent books include Networks in the Knowledge Economy (with Denise Bedford) and Planning Knowledge and Research. His forthcoming book, AI for Urban Planning will be published by Routledge in 2025. Sanchez serves as the American Planning Association (APA) Education Committee Chair and as a member of APA’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Foresight Community.