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

As Kansas cities like Topeka look to trim costs and boost service delivery, practical AI is shifting from buzzword to toolbox: local firms already run fast pilots that plug into existing systems and even offer instant ROI via an AI automation analysis for Topeka, while the state has set guardrails with a statewide Kansas generative AI policy to protect data and require human review of outputs.

Evidence from broader studies - like Deloitte research on AI in federal government - shows automation can free up huge blocks of admin time so staff focus on higher‑value work; for Topeka agencies that means cleaner permitting, faster citizen responses, and measurable savings that start in small, low‑risk pilots and scale responsibly.

“It is essential that we be proactive in finding the best way to use any technology that can pose risks to Kansans' data and privacy.” - Governor Laura Kelly

Kansas has moved from AI curiosity to cautious action with a statewide generative AI policy that gives Topeka agencies clear, practical guardrails: treat AI as an assistant, not an official source; have knowledgeable humans review outputs for accuracy, appropriateness, privacy and security before use; never feed State or Restricted Use Information into models; require vendors to disclose AI use and maintain “positive control” over data; and annotate and risk‑test any AI‑generated code before deployment - as summarized in the Kansas governor's announcement of the statewide generative AI policy Kansas governor's announcement of the statewide generative AI policy.

Reporters and officials note the policy is deliberately flexible and frequently updated so agencies can experiment safely while protecting citizens, with vivid reminders of why that matters - like a demo where AI still recommended a barbecue joint that had closed years earlier - showing why human review and contractual data controls are non‑negotiable, not optional (read the StateScoop explainer on Kansas generative AI policy guardrails StateScoop explainer on Kansas generative AI policy guardrails).

“They cannot use it as a sole source of truth. They need to edit and review whatever is generated in the policy. If they're doing software development with it, they have to analyze the code in it before they put it into a production system. Make sure there's no bugs in it.” - Jeff Maxon

Modernizing Kansas's infrastructure is the practical foundation that lets AI actually deliver savings for Topeka agencies: consolidating data into a cloud-backed single source of truth cuts data proliferation and makes automation outputs more reliable, while shared‑services models lower per‑agency costs and speed updates.

The State's move to a hybrid, consumption‑based cloud platform - partnering with Unisys and major providers like AWS and Microsoft Azure - was designed to reduce operating costs, centralize security and give smaller jurisdictions access to experienced support, and even academic partners have shown the lift: K‑State moved more than 800 websites to the cloud as part of a cloud‑first push.

These steps, outlined in a roadmap for a future‑ready technology foundation, let Topeka run tight pilots that integrate AI into casework, permitting, and back‑office finance without rebuilding everything, so projects start small, reuse shared infrastructure, and scale with measurable ROI (Kansas future-ready technology foundation roadmap, State of Kansas selects Unisys IT transformation announcement, K‑State successful cloud migration case study).

“The State of Kansas is focused on the security of citizen information, operational efficiency and the flexibility to accommodate the unique needs of our agencies as well as the ever-changing demands of modern technology. We look forward to seeing how Unisys will guide the state through this transition process and into a new operational reality.” - Lee Allen

Public safety in Topeka is already seeing tangible payoff from practical AI: the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office moved on June 23 to expand its Axon contract to the “Axon AI Era” plan - an $881,682 annual program paid from existing budgets to consolidate contracts and drive savings - bringing features like easier translation, an on‑demand policy chat and a video detector that pinpoints people of interest, while Draft One, which generates incident reports in seconds, saved roughly 12 hours in the first month for a trial group of about 20 officers (systems expected to be usable by year's end); read the WIBW coverage of Shawnee County's Axon AI Era plan for details.

Those gains pair with a broader camera and analytics backbone: the county's Real Time Crime Center links more than 1,400 traffic and agency cameras to speed investigations and “clear a call” without pulling officers off the street, and the county's camera integration work explains how CORE Elite AI devices and conditional camera sharing can turn existing feeds into a real‑time force multiplier for smaller teams (see the Real Time Crime Center report and Connect Shawnee County camera integration details).

“When I was in homicide for PD we would spend days if not weeks at times, knocking on doors, driving areas looking for video camera feeds,” - Sheriff Brian Hill

Kansas is investing in people as well as pipes: the Digital Opportunities to Connect Kansans (DOCK) grants are funding statewide digital skills and workforce‑readiness programs that directly help Topeka residents and county partners get the training needed to use AI and other modern tools on the job.

Recent awards and announcements - from the Kansas Department of Commerce's DOCK program page to local coverage of the $2.3 million round - show targeted projects that upskill thousands, including a KU Center for Digital Inclusion effort to train 1,000 justice‑impacted women and a Learning Tree Institute plan to reach 15,000 seniors; smaller local investments like Shawnee County's LevelUp work mean city staff, jobseekers and small businesses in Topeka can tap practical classes in cybersecurity, online job applications, and AI‑assisted tools.

These grants (and follow‑on rounds) make it easier for municipalities to run pilots that pair modest tech investments with measurable workforce outcomes - so a farmer, library patron, or municipal clerk can go from basic browsing to using data and automation to save hours each week.

“Community organizations across Kansas will use this funding to create immediate opportunities for those aiming to increase digital skills and knowledge. The DOCK program reinforces my administration's commitment to empowering Kansans and meeting the evolving needs of today's workforce.” - Governor Laura Kelly

Kansas agencies are already finding that AI pays for itself in everyday operations: automating routine tasks such as data entry and application processing reduces human error and frees staff for higher‑value work, while AI chatbots can eliminate resident wait times and deliver personalized answers on demand (CivicPlus guide to AI in local government chatbots and service automation).

Practical analytics and forecasting - think budget scenario models that surface revenue risks and staffing needs - help city finance teams plan more resiliently and run

what‑if

scenarios without weeks of manual number‑crunching (local models and prompts for budget forecasting illustrate this approach).

Even procurement benefits: state leaders report AI can dramatically shorten buying cycles, turning processes that once took months or years into manageable timelines, when combined with clear strategy and data hygiene.

For agencies, the

so what?

is simple: fewer repetitive tasks, faster constituent responses, and clearer financial foresight that together shrink costs and speed service delivery.

Read a deeper look at state and local AI adoption and best practices in Government Technology Insider analysis of state and local AI adoption for guidance on implementation.

Topeka agencies should fold practical guardrails into every AI effort - start with the “12 essential considerations” in NASCIO's AI blueprint to align projects with strategy, stand up governance, inventory existing AI and data assets, and bake privacy and cybersecurity into procurement from day one (NASCIO AI Blueprint: 12 key considerations for state AI roadmaps).

The 2024 State CIO Survey reinforces that consolidation and central oversight speed safe adoption, so favor small, well‑measured pilots that reuse shared infrastructure rather than island experiments (NASCIO 2024 State CIO Survey on AI adoption and consolidation).

Invest early in data quality, clear acquisition rules, and routine measurement of outcomes so savings are real and repeatable; neglecting a data inventory is the quickest way a promising pilot becomes a costly cleanup project.

Pair technical rollout with workforce plans - training, re‑skilling and augmentative AI policies - to protect employees and sustain benefits, and use local prompts and model examples to tighten use cases before scaling (Topeka government AI prompts and use cases).

“As AI becomes increasingly integrated into the technology infrastructure of government agencies, an AI roadmap will emerge as an indispensable tool for states in the months and years ahead.” - NASCIO

For Topeka and other Kansas agencies the most practical path is to measure AI the way finance leaders expect: tie gains to P&L levers, establish baseline metrics up front, and treat ROI as a living dashboard rather than a one‑time trophy - with checkpoints at 3, 6 and 12 months to catch model drift and hidden data costs early.

Track efficiency gains (redeployed labor hours and cycle‑time acceleration), accuracy improvements (fewer forecast and compliance errors), and direct cost reductions (lower per‑transaction and outsourcing spend), while also logging soft signals such as faster decision cycles and improved resident satisfaction; the playbook in

Measuring AI: ROI Metrics That Matter

lays out these lifecycle categories and cautions about ongoing retraining and data‑quality expense.

For local governments, practical how‑tos for converting time saved into dollarized benefits appear in guides like

The ROI of AI: How to Calculate the Savings

and a growing academic toolkit - including an AI‑assisted cost‑benefit ROI model developed for U.S. public sector use cases - can help Topeka quantify, rank and scale pilots so small wins become citywide savings rather than isolated experiments.

Next steps for Topeka should follow a clear, accountable path: use the Kansas Generative AI Policy (official state guidance) as the baseline for contracts and data controls while adopting federal best practices - like the GSA AI Guide for Government - to structure teams, tooling, and governance so AI sits inside mission teams rather than in disconnected pilots (Kansas Generative AI Policy (official guidance), GSA AI Guide for Government (practical guide)).

Designate an “AI operator” role to steward models, data privacy and security across Integrated Product Teams and a Central AI Technical Resource, leverage lessons from federal pilots (USCIS/HSI/FEMA) and the DHS AI Corps on safe experimentation, and require NIST-aligned risk assessments when vendors or open models are used so procurement and oversight move in lockstep (Best Practices to Scale AI and Improve Agency Service Delivery, AI Operator Concept for Government AI Programs).

Start with tightly scoped, measurable pilots tied to finance or permitting, publish clear ROI checkpoints, and invest in local training so small wins - like faster investigative summaries or draft hazard plans - become repeatable, citywide efficiencies rather than one-off experiments.

“AI has tremendous potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal government, in addition to the potential positive impacts on the private sector. However, it would be naïve to ignore the risks that accompany this emerging technology, including risks related to data privacy and challenges verifying AI-generated data.” - U.S. Senator Jerry Moran

The future of AI for Topeka and Kansas will look less like a leap and more like a ladder: use the statewide generative AI policy as a safety rail while scaling tightly scoped pilots that reuse cloud‑consolidated data and deliver measurable time and cost savings; the policy's rules on human review, prohibition of State/RUI in queries, and annotated AI‑generated code make experimentation accountable and repeatable (Kansas Generative AI Policy (Governor's Office)).

Pair those guardrails with practical playbooks - start with value‑focused use cases, clear baselines and 3/6/12‑month ROI checkpoints - and invest in workforce readiness so employees can oversee and improve automations rather than be displaced (State and Local AI Guidance - Government Technology Insider).

Local training pipelines matter: accessible programs like Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work bootcamp - practical AI skills for the workplace (registration) teach prompt craft, verification and on‑the‑job application so small wins - faster permits, clearer budgets, quicker resident responses - compound into citywide efficiency without sacrificing privacy or trust.

“It is essential that we be proactive in finding the best way to use any technology that can pose risks to Kansans' data and privacy.” - Governor Laura Kelly