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

Virginia's Executive Order 51 launched a first-in-the-nation, agentic AI pilot to scan the Commonwealth's regulations and guidance documents - flagging statutory contradictions, identifying redundancies, and suggesting streamlined language that local governments like Chesapeake can use to cut administrative costs and speed services; statewide efforts already report 26.8% of regulatory requirements streamlined and 47.9% fewer words in guidance documents, evidence that AI-assisted review can materially reduce compliance burden and free staff time for core services (Virginia Executive Order 51 agentic AI pilot press release, Virginia Mercury coverage of the agentic AI pilot); for Chesapeake leaders and managers looking to build in-house skills, practical training such as the AI Essentials for Work bootcamp syllabus and course overview teaches prompt design and workplace AI applications that translate pilot recommendations into operational savings.

Bootcamp	Length	Early-bird Cost	Registration
AI Essentials for Work	15 Weeks	$3,582	Register for AI Essentials for Work (Nucamp)

“We have made tremendous strides towards streamlining regulations and the regulatory process in the Commonwealth. Using emergent artificial intelligence tools, we will push this effort further in order to continue our mission of unleashing Virginia's economy in a way that benefits all of its citizens.”

Virginia's Executive Order 51 isn't just a headline - state leaders turned it into an agentic AI regulatory reduction pilot that the Commonwealth's Office of Regulatory Management is charged to implement as part of its regulatory modernization and AI priorities, creating a repeatable review workflow Chesapeake can adopt to spot contradictory rules, collapse redundant guidance, and produce streamlined template language for local use (Virginia Office of Regulatory Management AI priorities; AI Reporter coverage of Executive Order 51 (August 2025)).

For Chesapeake managers the so-what is concrete: using the pilot's flagged edits and ORM-aligned templates means less time rewriting guidance and fewer back-and-forths with counsel, returning staff hours to frontline services; pairing that practice with a clear local governance plan - such as the responsible AI governance framework for Chesapeake government - helps ensure the city scales savings while preserving transparency and legal compliance.

Chesapeake leaders can use Virginia's new workforce tools to rapidly reskill municipal staff: the VirginiaHasJobs AI Career Launch Pad, created by Virginia Works with Grow with Google, bundles no-cost and low-cost AI courses and career certificates while VirginiaWorks disburses scholarships - Google is offering training for up to 10,000 Virginians at any given time - so city HR and IT teams can fast-track certification for customer-service, permitting, and inspections staff (VirginiaHasJobs AI Career Launch Pad press release).

Pairing that supply of short, job-focused training with K–20 and workforce initiatives overseen by the Department of Education - Executive Order 30's directive for AI tools, teacher training, and PD - helps build a local pipeline so Chesapeake can hire or promote employees already familiar with practical AI literacy and classroom-to-career pathways (VDOE AI education and workforce initiatives).

The measurable upside is clear: program data show ~31,000 AI-related job listings statewide and that 86% of AI Essentials graduates expect improved on-the-job productivity, a concrete lever for reducing overtime and contracting costs.

Metric	Value
Virginia AI-related job listings	~31,000
Google training capacity	Up to 10,000 Virginians at a time
AI Essentials grads reporting productivity gains	86%
Career-certificate positive career impact	70% within six months

“AI is increasingly part of every aspect of work, and we're excited to launch this opportunity for Virginians to take part in this future.”

Chesapeake procurement offices can use AI to shorten timelines and reduce costs by automating market research, drafting baseline RFP language, and generating proposal outlines that remove hours of manual work; Deltek's new GovWin IQ features - Ask DelA Opportunity Chat and AI-generated proposal outlines - give capture and proposal teams instant, analyst-backed leads qualification and annotated response frameworks, so a small procurement shop can qualify opportunities faster and start writing with a unified strategy (Deltek GovWin IQ AI proposal tools press release).

Practical pilots show the payoff: process automation and clearer solicitations have reduced procurement cycles dramatically in other states (from roughly 360 days to 120 days in one North Carolina example), and StateTech recommends starting with tight use cases - RFP language, compliance matrices, vendor performance analysis - to prove value before scaling (StateTech article on AI in government procurement use cases), while embedding transparency and access controls so award decisions remain auditable and defensible.

Use Case	Benefit for Chesapeake
AI RFP language & templates	Faster, clearer solicitations; fewer vendor questions
Proposal outlines & annotated drafts	Hours saved in proposal development; aligned team work
Vendor performance & risk analytics	Better shortlist decisions and contract monitoring

“You have to be able to show how that decision was made.” - Zachary Christensen, Deputy Chief Cooperative Procurement Officer, NASPO

Chesapeake can improve resident access and cut front-line workload by adopting an AI-powered municipal chatbot that's purpose-built for local government: the CivicPlus Chatbot convincingly simulates human customer-service interactions, crawls a CivicEngage website and linked databases to build an always-updated knowledgebase, and requires no developer to configure so small IT teams can implement automation without custom code (CivicPlus Chatbot for local government).

Its analytics surface content gaps and high‑volume questions - insight that lets communications staff publish missing pages or FAQs, reducing repeat calls and emails and returning staff hours to higher‑value work such as complex permitting or field inspections; James City County's rollout shows growing resident use of integrated chat functionality as digital self-service expands (James City County CivicPlus chatbot case study).

For procurement and governance teams, the vendor fact sheet also notes the chatbot is powered by Frase and offers reporting to track performance and accessibility outcomes (CivicPlus Chatbot fact sheet and accessibility reporting).

Feature	Benefit for Chesapeake
No-code setup	Deploy without developer resources
Answers from multiple sources	Continually updated resident knowledgebase
Automated resident service	Fewer routine calls/emails; more staff time for complex work
Insightful analytics	Identify content gaps and reduce repeat inquiries
Designed for public sector	Conversation flows and responses tailored to government-resident interactions

Chesapeake public-works teams can cut emergency repairs and extend pipe life by pairing AI-driven computer vision on CCTV with predictive analytics that flag emerging defects and prioritize work, turning mountains of video into GIS-ready, actionable plans; vendors like PipeAid map a precise digital twin and have shown up to 50% faster sewer inspections in pilot projects (PipeAid sewer inspection case studies), while GraniteNet/CUES deployments in Hampton, VA used AI to reduce consultant costs by 40% and found 40% of inspected pipelines required no immediate activity - concrete savings that can be reallocated to preventive lining or crew capacity (CUES GraniteNet Hampton case study).

Integrating sensor and inspection data into a predictive-maintenance workflow also improves scheduling and resource allocation, a strategy public-works consultants recommend for minimizing downtime and life-cycle costs (predictive maintenance for public works), so Chesapeake can move from reactive fixes to data-driven, budget-stretching repairs.

Metric	Result
Faster inspections (Newburgh)	~50% faster
Consultant expense reduction (Hampton)	40% lower
Pipelines needing no immediate action (Hampton)	40%

"In an age where gimmicks rule the world of wastewater solutions, PipeAid and the digital twin are game changers."

Chesapeake agencies are adopting Microsoft 365 Copilot and companion collaboration tools to automate routine drafting, summarize meetings, and surface actionable insights from email and documents - moves that drive measurable productivity: Forrester-modeled returns span 112%–457%, Vodafone users reported saving about Vodafone Microsoft 365 Copilot case study showing ~3 hours/week saved, and smaller teams (Newman's Own) reclaimed roughly 70 hours per month when Copilot handled news briefs and drafts; combined with monitoring tools like the Copilot Dashboard and Viva Insights, IT leaders can track adoption and tune training to protect productivity gains.

To avoid shadow-IT and agent sprawl, follow governance and integration guidance that balances experimentation with controls so Copilot agents serve permitted data sources and reduce compliance risk (Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption guide for IT from ShareGate).

The practical payoff for Chesapeake is concrete: even a 3-hour-per-week productivity lift per employee equates to roughly a dozen extra staff-hours per month that can be redirected from paperwork to inspections, permitting, or resident-facing services.

Metric	Result
Projected ROI (Forrester, cited)	112%–457%
Vodafone average time saved	~3 hours/week per employee
Newman's Own marketing team	~70 hours/month saved
Nonprofit operational gains (TechSoup)	Up to 25% efficiency improvement

“at least 15 hours”

Chesapeake agencies can make compliance continuous rather than episodic by operationalizing the Virginia AI Act's developer/deployer obligations - completing and retaining AI impact assessments for three years, adopting a recognized AI risk management framework (for example NIST AI RMF), and embedding high‑risk AI compliance clauses into procurement and vendor contracts so obligations follow the system through procurement, deployment, and updates (Virginia AI Act overview from Mayer Brown; SB1214 procurement compliance clause text (Virginia)).

Pairing those legal guardrails with ERP-fed monitoring and automated reporting creates auditable logs and exception alerts that reduce manual audit work and help IT and legal teams remediate model drift or data-quality issues before they trigger enforcement - practical automation that turns a potential penalty exposure into a predictable operations task (ERP automation for unified compliance - Smart Cities Dive).

The so‑what: a three‑year retention policy plus contract clauses and automated dashboards can cut the time spent on post‑deployment reviews and dispute response, freeing staff to focus on resident services while keeping risk visible to leadership.

Requirement	Key Detail
AI impact assessment	Retain for 3 years
Risk management	Adopt NIST AI RMF or equivalent
Procurement	Include high‑risk AI compliance clause (SB1214)
Enforcement & penalties	AG enforcement; civil penalties up to $1,000 (up to $10,000 for willful violations)
Effective timeline (if signed)	July 1, 2026

“We're just hoping that we can also add Virginia to the list of states that are being responsible and making sure we are responding to this growing technology in a way that is thoughtful, intentional and offers clarity and transparency for how people will be affected.”

Chesapeake must treat AI-driven services as both a productivity opportunity and a cyber‑physical risk: federal grants now make that practical, with the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program earmarking $91.75M for FY2025 to help jurisdictions plan, hire experts, and harden systems that support water, wastewater, and energy operations - areas where converged OT/IT risk is rising and could drive systemic losses (FEMA State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP) details: FEMA SLCGP program overview and FY2025 funding; CISA/FEMA FY2025 cybersecurity grants announcement: CISA and FEMA announce FY2025 cybersecurity grants).

Practical steps for Chesapeake: partner with Virginia's SAA to access SLCGP subawards, prioritize multifactor authentication, enhanced logging, and reliable backups for AI services tied to critical infrastructure, and use state-level guidance and VITA resources to align procurement and grant compliance (Virginia IT Agency cybersecurity grants guidance: Virginia IT Agency cybersecurity grants and resources).

The so‑what: even a modest SLCGP subaward can fund a dedicated cybersecurity contractor or OT hardening pilot that prevents a single disruptive outage and avoids cascading service and repair costs.

Program	FY2025 Amount	Primary Eligible Uses
SLCGP (State & Local Cybersecurity Grant Program)	$91.75M	Planning, hiring experts, improving services
TCGP (Tribal Cybersecurity Grant Program)	$12.1M	Similar tribal cybersecurity uses

“This grant funding ensures communities and our partners across the nation have the crucial resources needed to strengthen their cyber defense capabilities and mitigate risk,” - Madhu Gottumukkala, CISA Acting Director.

AI is reshaping Virginia's economy in ways Chesapeake can use to both cut costs and spur local opportunity: Governor Youngkin's Executive Order 51–driven review has already helped the Commonwealth streamline 26.8% of regulatory requirements and cut 47.9% of words from guidance documents, reducing red tape that ties up municipal staff (Virginia Executive Order 51 agentic AI pilot review); at the same time a statewide talent and investment ecosystem - from Northern Virginia's dense data‑center infrastructure to a record uptick in AI startups across biotech, cybersecurity, and enterprise SaaS - creates demand and services Chesapeake can tap for public‑sector modernization (Virginia AI startup trends and investment boom (Virginia Business)).

Workforce channels and training matter: the new VirginiaHasJobs AI Career Launch Pad lists ~31,000 AI‑related job openings in the Commonwealth and packages scholarships and short courses so local governments can recruit or upskill residents into roles that support cost‑saving AI operations (VirginiaHasJobs AI Career Launch Pad job listings and training).

The so‑what: streamlined regulations plus an accessible training pipeline turn AI from a budgetary risk into a measurable local growth lever for Chesapeake.

Metric	Value
Regulatory streamlining	26.8% of requirements; 47.9% fewer words in guidance
Virginia AI-related job listings	~31,000
Small business AI adoption (national)	68% already using AI

“We have made tremendous strides towards streamlining regulations and the regulatory process in the Commonwealth. Using emergent artificial intelligence tools, we will push this effort further in order to continue our mission of unleashing Virginia's economy in a way that benefits all of its citizens.”

Begin with a narrow, auditable sequence: adopt a responsible AI governance framework to set roles, transparency requirements, and record‑keeping (see the Nucamp AI Essentials for Work bootcamp syllabus for governance fundamentals), then run a single, focused pilot - for example, education contract benchmarking to speed school‑project bids and expose redundant clauses - so teams can measure drafting and review time saved (Nucamp AI Essentials for Work bootcamp syllabus, Nucamp AI Essentials for Work bootcamp syllabus); use task‑automation risk indicators to prioritize which job families need reskilling versus augmentation, then map security, data‑handling, and retention controls to an existing risk framework - Department of Defense Active Guidance Documents provide practical RMF-style templates agencies can adapt for records and vendor controls (Department of Defense Active Guidance Documents (RMF templates)).

The so‑what: this three‑step path - governance, one measurable pilot, and risk‑aligned controls - turns abstract AI promises into an auditable rollout that reveals immediate drafting inefficiencies to reclaim staff hours and informs targeted training investments.

Step	Source
Adopt responsible AI governance	Nucamp AI Essentials for Work bootcamp syllabus
Run a focused pilot (contract benchmarking)	Nucamp AI Essentials for Work bootcamp syllabus: AI prompts and government use cases
Prioritize risk & security mapping	Department of Defense Active Guidance Documents (RMF templates)

Chesapeake's next move should be pragmatic: combine the real efficiencies from Executive Order 51's agentic review (26.8% of requirements streamlined; 47.9% fewer words in guidance) with the compliance playbook the Commonwealth is building so local pilots scale without regulatory surprise - complete and retain AI impact assessments for three years, adopt a recognized risk‑management framework, and bake high‑risk AI clauses into procurement so obligations travel with systems; these are the same operational steps laid out in the Virginia AI Act overview (Virginia AI Act overview from Mayer Brown) and the procurement compliance language under discussion in Richmond (SB1214 procurement compliance clause text).

Pair that legal baseline with targeted reskilling - short, practical courses like the AI Essentials for Work bootcamp - and Chesapeake converts compliance into routine operations, reclaims staff hours for inspections and resident services, and reduces exposure to enforcement while unlocking measurable savings.

Item	Detail
Executive Order 51 pilot	26.8% requirements streamlined; 47.9% fewer words
AI impact assessment retention	3 years
Virginia AI Act effective (if signed)	July 1, 2026
SB1214 status	Failed (2025 Regular Session)

“We're just hoping that we can also add Virginia to the list of states that are being responsible and making sure we are responding to this growing technology in a way that is thoughtful, intentional and offers clarity and transparency for how people will be affected.”