New York navigating A-I boom through efficiencies, planning, legislation
New York navigating A-I boom through efficiencies, planning, legislation
Publish Date: 2026-01-26 23:09:00
Source Domain: cbs6albany.com
NYS Capital — As New York State was facing a $30 billion dollar budget gap in the next three years, and potential federal funding cuts, NYS Budget Director Blake Washington sent a letter to State agencies asking them to identify ‘obsolete’ regulations and keep funding requests the same.
As the FY2027 Executive Budget proposal was unveiled in January, they say that request resulted in $300 million in savings.
“It is having a direct dialog with the agencies on a daily basis, scrutinizing expenditures,” Washington said at the presentation. “We ask the agencies ‘Please…is that new hire absolutely essential to meet the mission that’s before the agency? If it’s not, please reconsider. Is this new expenditure that you want to take on board, while it sounds great on paper, is it the absolute most essential thing you need to do right now? If not, please reconsider.’ The governor charged the agencies. They took the test to heart. They ran with it.”
At the same time, the Governor added another layer to this move towards a more efficient government.
“Another area we’re excited about within our government expenses is incorporating artificial intelligence as a tool for us to examine internally…regulations, policies, procedures, Executive Orders and just kind of put them through the analysis. Are they obsolete? Are they unnecessarily causing costs for state or for our consumers? Are customers, people, taking advantage of programs? So that’s something now that I’ve been here by entering my fifth year, that some of the some of the policies that we launched a few years ago with certain expectations, I also know, are we meeting those expectations? And this is what I’m driving hard with our agencies. I’m not going to continue funding programs unless you prove to me it met the original mission and the objective.”
While they use AI to become more efficient, the AI industry is also playing a role in the State’s better-than-expected revenues, in large part thanks to Wall…
