How AI Is Helping Government Companies in Buffalo Cut Costs and Improve Efficiency

Buffalo is rapidly becoming a public-AI hub because the University at Buffalo now houses Empire AI - a statewide consortium backed by more than $500M in public and private funds - and just received a $40 million boost to launch “Empire AI Beta,” an upgrade that promises equipment roughly 11× more powerful than the original system and a permanent supercomputing home on UB's North Campus, enabling shared high-performance compute for civic research like medical imaging, mental-health tools, and assistive technologies (Empire AI $40M award at the University at Buffalo).

That pooled infrastructure lowers barriers and procurement costs for municipalities and public agencies, while practical upskilling - such as Nucamp's 15-week AI Essentials for Work bootcamp - gives staff the prompt-writing and tool-use skills needed to turn shared compute into measurable efficiency gains (Empire AI consortium official site, Nucamp AI Essentials for Work bootcamp registration).

Attribute	Information
Description	Gain practical AI skills for any workplace; learn tools, prompts, and applied use cases
Length	15 Weeks
Cost	$3,582 (early bird); $3,942 afterwards; paid in 18 monthly payments, first payment due at registration
Syllabus / Register	AI Essentials for Work syllabus | Register for AI Essentials for Work

“New York is writing the next chapter of human history with our historic Empire AI initiative - putting innovation, research and technology at the forefront of our investments.”

Buffalo sits at the center of a statewide AI network: the Empire AI consortium - housed at the University at Buffalo and backed by more than $500 million in public and private funding - now includes ten member universities, expanded SUNY access across campuses, and a $40 million award to launch “Empire AI Beta,” an 11× more powerful supercomputing phase that makes shared high-performance compute affordable for regional researchers and public agencies (University at Buffalo $40M Empire AI Beta award details, Empire AI consortium official website and program information).

That pooled infrastructure already supports cross-campus projects - like UAlbany and Rochester collaborations on neuromuscular-disease research - and fuels workforce pipelines through new UB AI-specialized degrees and SUNY training initiatives that aim to graduate hundreds of AI-literate professionals for civic tech and health services (UB and SUNY AI-specialized degrees announcement and program overview).

The result: lower procurement and compute costs for municipalities, faster pilot-to-scale cycles for city services, and local talent ready to operate responsibly governed AI systems.

Metric	Detail
Empire AI Beta funding	$40 million (UB award)
Total public/private backing	More than $500 million
Consortium membership	10 universities and research institutions
Regional research examples	UAlbany–Rochester neuromuscular AI projects; biomedical and public-good applications

“With Empire AI, New York is leading in emerging technology and ensuring the power of AI is harnessed for public good and developed right here in this great state. The launch of Beta will supercharge our efforts to advance responsible AI development by some of our brightest minds at research institutions focused on purpose, not profit.”

Concrete AI and digital tools already cutting costs in Buffalo city services include a virtualized 311 contact center, a self-service portal, and chatbot assistants that triage routine requests: when City Hall closed in March 2020 Buffalo duplicated its 311 operations using a Cisco Webex contact-center solution so operators could work from home, redeploying the system in just two days to preserve continuity (StateTech case study: Buffalo virtual 311 call center deployment, GovTech report: Buffalo moves 311 call center home amid pandemic); the city's BUFFALO311 self-service portal lets residents check request status and reduces live-call volume (BUFFALO311 Self-Service Portal: resident request-status and self-service).

Statewide experience shows chatbots handle high-frequency tasks - nearly 75% of states used them during COVID - to lower staff load and speed access, though generative systems require guardrails to avoid incorrect guidance.

Combined, these tools cut facility and staffing costs by shifting common inquiries to automated or remote channels while preserving escalation paths to human agents.

Use Case	Concrete Benefit / Evidence
Virtual 311 contact center	Redeployed in 2 days; enabled remote operators and uninterrupted service (Cisco Webex)
BUFFALO311 self-service portal	Resident self-service and request-status checks reduce call volumes
AI chatbots	Widespread state use (~75% during COVID) to triage routine tasks; requires oversight for accuracy

“Chatbots really have become a cornerstone of making sure that somebody, when they're accessing government services, can understand or be able to ask a question in their own way to get to what they need.”

Shared public compute through the Empire AI consortium turns Buffalo's University at Buffalo-hosted supercomputer into a civic utility that local governments and startups can tap without buying costly on-prem hardware: the consortium - seeded by a major Simons Foundation contribution to kickstart capacity and governed by a nonprofit board - gives researchers and public-interest teams statewide access to high-performance computing, democratizing resources that are otherwise concentrated in big tech and lowering procurement barriers for municipal pilots and cross-agency projects (Governor Hochul announces Empire AI launch and Simons Foundation support, Empire AI official site for public-good AI research).

Concrete early demand - like UAlbany and Rochester projects using computer vision and AI to study neuromuscular diseases - illustrates how shared compute converts one-off pilots into scalable services that city IT teams can operate with far smaller capital outlays.

Attribute	Detail
Host	University at Buffalo (Empire AI computing center)
Consortium members	Public & private universities (e.g., SUNY, CUNY, Columbia, Cornell, NYU, Rochester)
Funding	Backed by public/private investments (reported at $400M–$500M+); Simons Foundation initial compute donation
Early use cases	UAlbany–Rochester neuromuscular AI research; public-good pilots for climate, health, and municipal services

“New York is writing the next chapter of human history with our historic Empire AI initiative - putting innovation, research and technology at the forefront of our investments.”

Modernizing New York's civil service for Buffalo means pairing statewide upskilling with stronger governance: the Governor's 2025 State of the State commits ITS to roll out AI upskilling and a controlled generative-AI toolset for ITS-supported employees, and funds workforce programs such as AI Prep to place trained technicians into public-sector roles - concrete channels Buffalo agencies can tap to retrain eligibility processors, licensing examiners, and case managers (Governor Hochul's State of the State 2025).

That matters because the April 2025 DiNapoli audit found agencies often train staff only on AI “use” but not on risks, bias mitigation, or inventorying systems, leaving legal and equity exposure that targeted ITS training would reduce; leveraging Empire AI compute plus formal training shortens pilot timelines and cuts outsourcing costs by enabling in‑house teams to operate and audit models responsibly (Comptroller DiNapoli audit).

The payoff for Buffalo is practical: a trained local workforce that can run and vet pilots on shared supercomputing resources instead of buying one-off vendor solutions.

Program / Finding	Lead	Relevance to Buffalo
ITS AI upskilling & generative-AI toolset	Office of Information Technology Services (ITS)	Provides standardized training and tools state employees can use in Buffalo agencies
AI Prep workforce program	ESD & regional partners	Creates trained talent pipelines for civic tech and municipal roles
DiNapoli audit: training gaps & no statewide AI inventory	NY State Comptroller	Identifies risk; motivates centralized training and governance Buffalo can adopt

“New York state agencies are using AI to monitor prisoners' phone calls, catch fraudulent driver's license applications, assist older adults, ...”

Buffalo agencies can cut procurement friction and de-risk AI pilots by pairing statewide procurement reforms with strict vendor obligations and a pilot-first operating model: adopt Governor Hochul AI procurement proposals to expand pre‑qualified vendor lists and raise MWBE discretionary purchase thresholds to $1.5M to speed awards and widen small‑business access (Governor Hochul AI procurement proposals for improved government efficiency), require vendor transparency, explainability, fairness, privacy and cybersecurity safeguards as New York guidance recommends, and route early trials to shared Empire AI compute so pilots scale without large capital buys (New York AI procurement and governance overview, Empire AI consortium shared compute platform).

The so‑what: expanding pre‑qual lists plus clear procurement standards turns months of vendor negotiation into weeks of safe, auditable pilots that municipalities can operate internally instead of outsourcing long term.

Procurement Lever	Detail
MWBE discretionary threshold	Proposal to increase to $1.5M to align with NYC/MTA and boost small‑business access
Pre‑qualified vendor lists	Expand authority to streamline awards and reduce bid delays
Vendor expectations	Performance, transparency, explainability, fairness, privacy, cybersecurity, and readiness for security reviews
Governance requirements	Public disclosure of ADMS, human review, and approval processes under NY oversight frameworks

“Government should deliver, and deliver efficiently and effectively because that is what your hard earned money pays for.”

Concrete, measurable benchmarks from other public‑sector pilots help Buffalo set realistic targets: global experience shows AI can cut service costs dramatically - Brazil's AI‑driven waste routing reduced collection costs by 45.4%, and predictive policing work in Los Angeles produced a 7.4% reduction in crime that translated to about $9 million in annual savings - data worth using as planning anchors for municipal pilots (Virtasant AI in Government Services Efficiency case studies and global government AI benchmarks).

Paired with local upskilling and tool‑use guides, Buffalo teams can design small, auditable pilots that measure cost per transaction, time‑to‑resolution, and vendor vs.

in‑house TCO before scaling; for practical prompts, procurement checks, and training pathways, consult local resources on AI use cases and workforce programs tailored to Buffalo agencies (Complete Guide to Using AI in Buffalo (2025) - AI use cases and workforce programs for Buffalo government agencies).

The so‑what: use these external benchmarks to build short pilots that produce hard KPIs - percent cost reduction, response‑time gains, and vendor‑cost avoidance - that fund the next phase of citywide rollout.

Benchmark	Result / Metric	Source
Brazil: AI waste collection	45.4% reduction in collection cost	Virtasant AI in Government Services Efficiency case study: Brazil waste collection
Los Angeles: predictive policing	7.4% crime reduction → ~$9M annual savings	Virtasant AI in Government Services Efficiency case study: Los Angeles predictive policing
Government spending context	~40% of national GDP spent on government services (planning baseline)	Virtasant and OECD government spending summary

Start small with a tightly scoped, measurable pilot - ideally a neighborhood or single service line - by tapping local research partners and seed grants rather than buying large vendor systems: partner with University at Buffalo teams and community organizations to design an auditable proof‑of‑concept (for example, a $50K cross‑disciplinary pilot or East Side neighborhood project) that uses Empire AI shared compute and clear KPIs (cost per transaction, time‑to‑resolution, error rate) to prove value before scaling; leverage UB's AI‑health seed funding and interdisciplinary calls to recruit early‑career researchers and students (UB AI-integrated health seed funding), connect pilots to community‑engaged research centers funded to tackle inequities (UB $3.6M NIH health inequities grant), and use SUNY's new Departments of AI & Society for ethics, governance, and workforce links to keep pilots responsible and hireable (Governor Hochul $5M Departments of AI & Society).

The so‑what: a $50K, community‑led pilot on shared compute can generate KPIs that justify in‑house scaling and avoid costly long‑term vendor lock‑in.

Program / Resource	Key Detail
UB AI seed funding	$200,000 total; 4 projects; $50,000 award per project
UB NIH health inequities grant	$3.6 million over five years to train early‑career faculty in community‑engaged research
NY State AI & Society funding	$5 million to create Departments of AI & Society across eight SUNY campuses

“This award underscores UB's unwavering dedication to enhancing the health of the Buffalo community.”

Responsible AI in Buffalo requires hard guardrails, not just pilots: New York's Department of Financial Services has made clear that existing cybersecurity rules (23 NYCRR Part 500) apply to AI and expect regular risk assessments, vendor oversight, access controls, monitoring, and AI-specific incident plans - measures local agencies must document to show “reasonable effort” if an AI‑enabled breach occurs (NY DFS AI Cybersecurity Guidance (23 NYCRR Part 500)).

At the federal level, new OMB memos layer procurement and high‑impact governance requirements - pre‑deployment testing, impact assessments, human review and appeal rights, and IP/data terms that prevent vendor lock‑in - that Buffalo should fold into RFPs and pilot checklists to protect civil rights and public trust (Summary of OMB AI Use and Procurement Memos).

The so‑what: agencies that embed these controls and keep clear, auditable records turn pilots from liability magnets into defensible, scalable services that save money while protecting vulnerable residents.

Oversight Area	Action for Buffalo Agencies
Risk assessment	Document AI risk reviews and mitigation plans
Incident response	Include AI scenarios and reporting procedures
Third‑party/vendor management	Contractual security, IP/data restrictions, notification clauses
Training & monitoring	Regular staff AI/cyber training and continuous performance checks
Data governance	Minimize NPI use, inventory AI systems, classify sensitive data

“Government should deliver, and deliver efficiently and effectively because that is what your hard earned money pays for.”

Buffalo's future as a cost‑conscious, efficient adopter of public AI now rests on two practical levers: shared, high‑performance compute and local workforce readiness - Empire AI's $40M award to launch “Beta” (an ~11× power upgrade at UB) turns supercomputing into a municipal utility that lets city teams run auditable pilots without buying costly on‑prem hardware (UBNow article on the Empire AI $40M supercomputing award), while the Empire AI consortium's public‑interest mandate and shared access model speed pilot‑to‑scale transitions (Empire AI consortium official website).

Paired with practical training pathways - staff who complete focused courses like Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work can learn prompt engineering and tool governance - Buffalo agencies can run community‑level pilots (even a $50K shared‑compute proof‑of‑concept) that produce KPIs to justify in‑house scaling, reduce vendor lock‑in, and cut procurement surprises; the so‑what: faster, auditable savings on operating budgets and clearer paths to reinvesting efficiency gains into frontline services (Nucamp AI Essentials for Work registration).

Attribute	Information
Bootcamp	AI Essentials for Work
Description	Practical AI skills for any workplace; prompts, tool use, applied cases
Length	15 Weeks
Cost	$3,582 (early bird); $3,942 afterwards; paid in 18 monthly payments
Register / Syllabus	AI Essentials for Work registration | AI Essentials for Work syllabus

“New York is writing the next chapter of human history with our historic Empire AI initiative - putting innovation, research and technology at the forefront of our investments.”