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

Oklahoma is leaning on AI to make government buying less opaque and far faster: the Office of Management and Enterprise Services partnered with Celonis' process‑intelligence tools and an AI copilot to scan procurement records, flag anomalies and give agencies a single, searchable view of spending, a change that officials say turned years of manual auditing into 60 days of review with just six staffers.

State briefings and reporting show billions were uncovered - OMES cited $6.8 billion in confirmed purchasing errors while other reviews identified more than $8 billion in purchases as exempt from central oversight - and leaders tout faster audits, millions in identified savings, and the ability to correct vendor missteps in real time.

For a concise case study of the technology and its public‑sector impacts, see OMES' Celonis announcement and Route Fifty's coverage of the procurement review.

“It's provided a level of transparency that's never existed… truly complete transparency of what the procurement process is and where the buyers are spending dollars.” - Janet Morrow, OMES Risk, Assessment and Compliance Division

The Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) has been at the center of a years‑long scramble to tighten state purchasing after audits and a legislative review found widespread use of exemptions, no‑bid awards and weak oversight that left billions outside central review; the Legislative Office for Fiscal Transparency warned that agencies routinely declare purchases exempt and the gap between centrally reviewed buys ($538 million in FY2022) and those outside the Central Purchasing Division (more than $3 billion) is alarming, prompting calls to rethink exemptions and to investigate the so‑called “Rolling Solicitation” process.

State audit findings also flagged payments made before verifying work and urged legislative probes to prevent possible clawbacks of federal funds, while officials pushed executive orders and automated data reviews to restore control.

For deeper reading, see the Oklahoma Watch summary of the LOFT report on lax purchasing exemptions and the Oklahoma State Auditor FY2022 audit release, both of which set the backdrop for OMES's move to process‑mining and AI tools to regain visibility.

“In my opinion, Oklahoma is rapidly becoming a no-bid state. This is a grave disservice to every Oklahoman.” - Cindy Byrd, State Auditor and Inspector

Oklahoma's playbook for smarter government spending centers on Celonis' Process Intelligence and an AI Copilot that stitches together scattered ERP, P‑card and procurement data to give auditors and buyers a live, searchable view of transactions across 118 agencies - from procurement to accounts payable.

In practice that meant the platform delivered 100% visibility into 24,000+ purchase orders (about $4.68B) in under 12 weeks, reviewed billions of purchase‑order lines in record time and helped flag statutory exemptions and card anomalies so teams can correct errors before payments go out; officials say the work unlocked more than $10 million in value in year one and cut audit times dramatically while a small team did what used to require many more staff.

For the state's overview, see the Celonis press release on Oklahoma's results and the OMES case study describing how the Copilot supports faster, more transparent procurement.

“With Celonis, we instantly were able to stop wasteful spending by identifying how the spend occurred and where taxpayer dollars were going.” - Janet Morrow, Director, Risk, Assessment and Compliance, OMES

The impacts in Oklahoma are measurable and immediate: OMES and Celonis report more than $10 million unlocked in year one and complete visibility into 24,000+ purchase orders (about $4.68B) in under 12 weeks, while the platform reviewed $29.4 billion in purchase‑order lines to expose weak controls and waste.

Officials cite billions flagged - $8.48 billion in statutory‑exempt buys and hundreds of millions in questionable card activity - after finding more than $3 billion of purchases outside central oversight, and OMES says the tools helped spot $5.63 million in transactions needing better controls.

Audit work that once stretched for years is now up to 200x faster, trimming roughly 64 days from procurement cycles and allowing a small team to do what previously required dozens of contractors.

For full details, read the State of Oklahoma procurement announcement and the Celonis customer story on Oklahoma's procurement results.

“With Celonis, we instantly were able to stop wasteful spending by identifying how the spend occurred and where taxpayer dollars were going.” - Janet Morrow, Director, Risk, Assessment and Compliance, OMES

AI tools have moved Oklahoma's procurement, accounts‑payable and vendor‑payment work from reactive slog to proactive control: by using Celonis process mining with an AI copilot, OMES digitized procurement codes and scanned tens of thousands of purchase orders to spot statutory exemptions (more than $8 billion identified), flag suspicious P‑card activity (Route Fifty reported roughly $190 million flagged) and highlight duplicate invoices, late payments and timing bottlenecks so teams can stop errors before funds leave the state coffers; what used to take two to three years for a single agency now took 60 days for all agencies with six employees, freeing staff to negotiate statewide contracts and educate buyers rather than chase paperwork.

For a close read of the review see Route Fifty coverage of Oklahoma procurement AI and the Celonis Process Intelligence case study on Oklahoma procurement.

“It's provided a level of transparency that's never existed… truly complete transparency of what the procurement process is and where the buyers are spending dollars.” - Janet Morrow, OMES Risk, Assessment and Compliance Division

Oklahoma's approach to governance and ethics pairs big efficiency goals with explicit guardrails: the governor's AI task force urges creation of a chief artificial intelligence officer, an AI oversight committee spanning all three branches, and clear rules for data storage, human review and accountability so automated tools don't run unchecked; the public recommendations on Oklahoma AI Task Force recommendations on Oklahoma.gov spell out those safeguards while calls to automate routine work - including replacing some call‑center roles with “digital employees” - have raised concrete workforce questions analyzed in coverage like StateScoop analysis of Oklahoma AI workforce impacts.

That mix of oversight and transition planning means agencies can use AI to cut audit time and surface errors, while also investing in retraining and task redesign so employees move from repetitive processing to higher‑value work rather than simply being displaced.

“AI also has the potential to help us steward taxpayer dollars in a more responsible way by cutting redundant positions and replacing some positions with AI technology.” - Gov. Kevin Stitt

Oklahoma's implementation story reads like a playbook in speed and partnership: OMES teamed with Celonis (and leveraged procurement access through GSA channels via Carahsoft) to stand up Celonis Process Intelligence and an AI Copilot, becoming the first U.S. state to deploy the platform in 2023 and gaining 100% visibility into 24,000+ purchase orders in under 12 weeks; the program moved an auditing cadence that once handled eight agencies per year to a four‑month sweep of all 122 agencies, shrinking a multi‑year backlog into months and freeing staff who otherwise would have required dozens of contractors.

Key lessons - start small, connect PeopleSoft and card data early, and build clear governance - are echoed in the state's results and case study, which show actionable savings and a roadmap to scale Celonis from procure‑to‑pay into grants and IT service management (see the Celonis press release on Oklahoma implementation and the Celonis Oklahoma customer story with implementation details).

“As the first U.S. state to implement Celonis in 2023, Oklahoma has taken bold steps to modernize its operations and strengthen its stewardship ...” - Rick Rose, State COO and OMES Director

Voices from the top make clear why Oklahoma pushed fast on AI: Governor Kevin Stitt's task‑force cast it as a statewide mission - “Oklahoma is poised to lead the nation” in AI - with a promise to steward taxpayer dollars and shrink redundant work.

OMES leaders and outside reporters have grounded that vision in hard numbers and practical wins: Janet Morrow and audit teams describe a leap to “truly complete transparency,” and coverage highlights a striking detail - audits that once took two to three years for a single agency were completed across all agencies in just 60 days by a six‑person team.

Those perspectives balance bold ambition with caution, stressing that oversight, workforce planning and clear governance must travel with any efficiency gains as the state scales Celonis and AI copilots across procurement and payments (Oklahoma AI task-force final recommendations, Route Fifty article on Oklahoma's AI procurement and cost savings).

“It's provided a level of transparency that's never existed… truly complete transparency of what the procurement process is and where the buyers are spending dollars.” - Janet Morrow, OMES Risk, Assessment and Compliance Division

Oklahoma's procurement overhaul offers a clear playbook for other agencies: deploy process‑mining and AI copilots to get immediate visibility into spend and speed audits - turning work that once stretched over years into reviews completed in 60 days by six people - while simultaneously building the policy and talent scaffolding that keeps automation accountable.

That means pairing technical pilots with concrete governance (inventories, impact assessments and procurement guardrails called out by the NCSL), publishing accessible employee guidelines like cities across the U.S. have done, and planning workforce transitions so staff move into higher‑value roles rather than being sidelined; state forums such as the Oklahoma State Suppliers Expo already list “leverage AI tools to increase productivity” as a priority for agencies.

It also means factoring in infrastructure and community impacts as AI scales - local reporting flags real concerns about data‑center energy needs and potential rate effects for residents - so agencies must balance efficiency gains with ethical rules, human review, and practical constraints before replicating Oklahoma's model statewide (see Oklahoma Voice article on city AI guidelines, NCSL federal and state AI landscape, and the State Suppliers Expo overview).

“AI is generally useful... But it is a set of technologies that also carries unique risks that need to be considered. And I think that our employees are generally concerned about accuracy, privacy, security and intellectual property.” - Santiago Garces, Boston Chief Innovation Officer

For agencies just getting started, focus on three practical moves: first, get vendor and procurement basics in order - register on the City's vendor portal and BidNet so suppliers and internal teams use the same sourcing channels (How to do business with the City of Oklahoma City vendor portal); second, run a small, data‑first pilot using process mining to map real workflows and event logs (process mining reveals the “breadcrumb trail” of actions across systems and is the fastest way to spot bottlenecks and nonconforming purchasing paths - remember, Oklahoma's rollout made 24,000+ POs visible in under 12 weeks) so decisions are driven by evidence, not anecdotes (Process mining for government transformation: primer); and third, staff a cross‑functional “bridge” team that combines IT, procurement and operations to manage data, interpret findings and translate fixes into new policy and training - expect initial work to pay off as audits shrink from years to weeks and routine errors get stopped before payments are made.

Oklahoma's next steps are practical and people‑centered: scale the Celonis process‑mining wins while investing in fast, accessible training so the workforce can run, audit and govern AI tools responsibly - starting with the state's free Google AI Essentials training for Oklahoma residents that lets residents earn a certificate in under 10 hours (Google AI Essentials training for Oklahoma residents) and the state Learn AI hub for easy enrollment (Oklahoma Learn AI hub and enrollment).

Pairing those micro‑credentials with structured programs for employees - like the GSA's government AI training and ongoing AI Community of Practice - and longer, hands‑on upskilling (for example, Nucamp's 15‑week AI Essentials for Work bootcamp) will help agencies move from discovery pilots to governed, auditable production use: better procurement controls, clearer AI inventories, and a workforce that shifts from repetitive tasks to oversight and strategy.

The playbook is simple - train thousands quickly, require impact assessments, and use cross‑agency forums to share lessons - so efficiency gains become enduring improvements, not one‑off fixes.

“Our state is positioned to be a leader in implementing AI technology, and this partnership with Google furthers that momentum by educating thousands of Oklahomans in foundational skills for tomorrow's economy.” - Gov. J. Kevin Stitt