The Complete Guide to Using AI in the Government Industry in Topeka in 2025

Topeka matters for government AI in 2025 because it's where practical pilots, workforce funding, and civic oversight meet: Topeka Public Schools is already using AI to generate lesson plans and “accommodate classes to the needs of individual students,” state DOCK grants are funding digital skills from neighborhoods to farms, and local firms run human‑in‑the‑loop automation pilots for city and county workflows - showing low‑risk ways to speed services without losing human judgment.

That mix - classrooms testing personalized prompts for 25 students and IT leaders convening at the Kansas Digital Government Summit - makes Topeka a real-world proving ground for responsible, accountable AI in government.

Read more from Topeka Public Schools and the Kansas Digital Government Summit for next-step ideas.

“You can't sit with all 25 students at the same time and work with them individually…This lets us do that.” - Gail Ramirez, TPS Technology Integration Specialist

For Topeka government beginners, think of AI as a set of practical helpers - from tools that draft and summarize meeting minutes to systems that search years of PDFs or translate notices for non‑English speakers - not as a mysterious black box; simple, concrete uses like drafting agendas, rewording legal language into plain English, and automating repetitive tasks are the quickest wins, and many are already described in guides for small local governments.

Project Topeka's research shows how automated essay scoring and feedback can act as a “teaching partner” or a grading assistant in classrooms, illuminating both benefits and caution points for civics and education pilots, while federal plain‑language guidance reminds officials to make AI‑generated content clear and usable for residents (see plain language resources on Digital.gov).

Local leaders should start by matching small, low‑risk tools to clear tasks, test outputs with staff and community members, and lean on practical playbooks like Project Topeka and Munibit's guidance for small governments to avoid jargon and deliver services that actually work for people.

“You can't sit with all 25 students at the same time and work with them individually…This lets us do that.” - Gail Ramirez, TPS Technology Integration Specialist

Federal AI regulation in 2025 is centered on two OMB memoranda - M‑25‑21 and M‑25‑22, released April 3, 2025 - that together reshape how agencies buy and use AI and will ripple down to places like Kansas and Topeka; the memos push a forward‑leaning, pro‑innovation stance while keeping guardrails such as identifying

high‑impact AI

, stronger domestic procurement preferences, and new governance steps like naming Chief AI Officers and posting agency AI strategies within set timelines (e.g., strategies in 180 days, generative‑AI policies in 270 days).

For the full text of the OMB memoranda and related guidance, see the OMB memorandum archive at OMB memorandum archive and guidance.

Practically, this means federal partners and grants that touch city and county projects may come with expectations about IP protections, data ownership, vendor lock‑in avoidance, and even sharing custom federal code across agencies - all designed to favor American‑made AI and increase transparency, testing, and monitoring before deployment.

For Topeka leaders the takeaway is simple: expect more federal playbooks and procurement guardrails (and opportunities) and plan for contract clauses on data use, portability, and documentation; for a plain‑language summary of the new requirements and their procurement implications, see this practitioner analysis of the OMB memoranda at practitioner analysis and procurement implications.

Picture a city clerk given 180 days to publish an AI plan - small teams that start testing low‑risk tools now will be far better prepared when federal rules and money arrive.

Yes - federal action and everyday agency projects are already shaping AI in ways that matter to Topeka: lawmakers in Washington have pushed for clear rules (see reporting on bipartisan bills requiring agencies to use the NIST Risk Management Framework) while state leaders in Kansas have translated that caution into practice with a statewide generative AI policy requiring human review and contractor disclosure that requires human review of outputs, forbids feeding restricted‑use information into models, and forces contractor disclosure and positive control over data; those guardrails help Topeka officials who want to use AI for things like legacy code conversion, public‑facing FAQs, or streamlined permitting without risking privacy or accuracy.

Local IT teams should watch both the federal conversation about standards and the Kansas policy rollout - Government Technology Insider coverage on state and local AI adoption highlights how state and local agencies are folding AI into IT modernization while wrestling with workforce and privacy tradeoffs - and remember why the rules exist: in a demo Kansas ran, a generative model recommended a barbecue joint in Topeka that had been closed six years, a vivid reminder that outputs must be checked before they reach residents.

For the state policy and the governor's announcement, review Kansas' generative AI policy and the Kelly administration's release for practical requirements Topeka must follow.

“One of the things we made pretty clear is how fast the technology is advancing,” - Jeff Maxon, Interim CIO and CISO, Kansas Office of Information and Technology Services

State-level activity offers a clear playbook for Kansas and Topeka: start by cataloging where AI is used, tighten procurement rules, and treat pilot projects as both experiments and accountability tools.

“when, how, and why”

Federal and civil‑society guidance makes the case - AI use‑case inventories, now a federal requirement and championed as a transparency best practice, let residents and auditors see when, how, and why algorithms touch permitting, benefits, or public safety.

Governors and legal teams are already central to this work: the NGA recommends executive orders, state AI leads, and cross‑agency task forces to balance innovation with legal, privacy, and civil‑rights risks, which is precisely the governance Kansas leaders can emulate.

On procurement, Georgia's GS‑25‑002 guidance offers practical clauses Topeka should borrow - require algorithmic impact assessments, demand explainability and open standards to avoid vendor lock‑in, build workforce training into contracts, and insist on pilot phases with real‑world monitoring before full rollout (Georgia procurement GS‑25‑002 guidance).

The payoff is simple and tangible: an annually maintained inventory plus procurement rules that mandate pilots and monitoring turns vague promises into visible safeguards - imagine a searchable public list showing which city services use AI and the safeguards in place, so a resident can check whether a chatbot handled their permit or a human signed off.

That mix of transparency, procurement discipline, and staged pilots will keep innovation moving while protecting Kansans' rights and trust; see the National Governors Association legal guidance on state AI governance and Georgia's procurement playbook for concrete next steps.

Expect 2025 to feel like a turning point for Topeka: AI will move from pilots into everyday city hall workflows as businesses and citizens lean in - 77% of companies are already using or exploring AI and U.S. adults are becoming routine users (roughly 61% used AI in the past six months, with about one in five relying on it daily), so local demand and vendor offerings will both intensify; at the same time major federal shifts - like America's AI Action Plan - signal big incentives for states that ease rules and invest in infrastructure and workforce training, meaning Topeka should prepare to compete for new funding and facilities while guarding local priorities.

2025 will bring practical wins (automated document search, meeting‑note copilots, faster permitting) and wrenching transitions - one industry estimate shows AI may eliminate 85 million jobs while creating 97 million new ones worldwide - so city leaders must pair pilots with retraining, clear procurement standards, and technical capacity building.

Watch state readiness maps and playbooks from civic tech groups to prioritize low‑risk, high‑impact projects that build public trust and measurable productivity gains for residents and staff; see the Code for America landscape assessment on AI in state and local government and a plain-language summary of the White House America's AI Action Plan for next steps.

“This analysis demonstrates what many of us know to be true: states are leading the way when it comes to adopting AI to make government more efficient and effective.” - Jenn Thom, Code for America's Senior Director of Data Science

Start small, plan clearly, and protect data: Topeka agencies should begin by cataloging where sensitive records live and publishing a living AI use‑case inventory so residents can see “when, how, and why” systems are used (follow the CDT playbook for inventories), then pick one low‑risk pilot - automating meeting minutes, improving public‑facing FAQs, or a searchable document copilot - and run it as a timed pilot with human review, measurement, and a rollback plan.

Make procurement do the heavy lifting: follow Kansas's generative AI policy requirements that contractors disclose any generative‑AI integrations, prevent State RUI from being used in model queries, demonstrate positive control over inputs, and annotate any AI‑generated code before implementation so audits and security reviews are straightforward; combine that with workforce upskilling and change management so staff see AI as an assist, not a threat.

Pair vendor partnerships with open standards and staged rollouts, publish pilot results, and use public feedback to refine projects - these concrete steps turn abstract opportunity into accountable, service‑improving action for Topeka leaders and residents.

“The full potential of generative AI has yet to be seen,” said Interim Chief Information Technology Officer and Chief Information Security Officer Jeff Maxon.

Ethics, privacy, and risk management should be treated as operational requirements - not optional extras - when Topeka agencies adopt AI: Kansas' statewide generative AI policy already insists that generated responses be reviewed for accuracy, appropriateness, privacy, and security, forbids feeding State Restricted Use Information into models, and requires contractors to disclose AI use and show “positive control” over inputs, so city procurements and contracts must mirror those clauses (Kansas statewide generative AI policy: review and compliance requirements).

Pair those rules with professional obligations highlighted in the ABA's Formal Opinion 512 - competence, confidentiality, and candor to the tribunal - and the practical result is simple: staff training to understand model limits, explicit vendor contract clauses about data rights and portability, signed informed‑consent language where applicable, and documented human review and audit trails for every pilot (ABA Formal Opinion 512 on generative AI and professional responsibilities).

Put another way, don't let convenience erase accountability - imagine a clerk unknowingly entering restricted records into a public chatbot and triggering a reportable leak; that risk is preventable by policy, testing, and clear oversight.

Topeka leaders should require AI use‑case inventories, regular testing and version documentation, explainability measures, and staged rollouts with rollback plans so services improve without sacrificing residents' privacy or legal safeguards.

“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

Concrete, low‑risk pilots and smart funding paths can give Topeka immediate wins: look to nearby state examples for blueprints - Ohio's proposed Medicaid demonstration (a pilot slated Oct.

2025–Sept. 2030 that would have tested 48‑month continuous eligibility for certain children) shows how narrow, time‑bound experiments can change outcomes, even as the recent federal pause on some new projects underscores the need to pair pilots with secure funding and contingency plans (Ohio federal pause on Medicaid pilots).

For workforce and procurement, Ohio's Benefit Bridge Employer Pilot Program demonstrates one funding model Topeka could emulate - grants to employers (up to $5,000 per employee) that tie training to wage increases and replace public benefits, a practical way to fund reskilling for data and automation roles (Benefit Bridge Employer Pilot Program grant details).

Quick technical wins include cloud modernization, shared services, and targeted upskilling - pair short timed pilots (searchable document copilots, meeting‑note assistants) with vendor clauses and training tracks such as SQL/Python basics so staff move from fear to fluency (SQL and Python basics for data-focused government positions in Topeka).

Together, these case studies show how Topeka can win quickly: finance training through employer or state grants, run short pilots tied to measurable service improvements, and design procurement to survive federal funding shifts.

“This waiver offered the potential to help alleviate existing gaps in care access for young children in Ohio, which can improve health and prevent illness later in life.” - Brian O'Rourke, Health Policy Institute of Ohio

Topeka's pathway forward is simple and actionable: treat AI as a set of targeted tools, train people, and run time‑bound pilots that protect residents while proving value - building on what local schools and researchers are already doing.

Topeka Public Schools' early classroom use (teachers using AI to create lesson plans and “accommodate classes to the needs of individual students”) and University of Kansas Professor James Basham's human‑centered framework for AI in education show two immediate priorities: scale AI literacy for staff and students, and codify oversight so pilots remain reversible and auditable; see KU's new framework for classroom AI and TPS's classroom implementation for practical examples.

City and county leaders should publish a living AI use‑case inventory, require staged pilots with human review, and fund workforce reskilling - short, practical programs like the AI Essentials for Work bootcamp syllabus can help public servants learn prompt design, tool selection, and evaluation in 15 weeks: AI Essentials for Work bootcamp syllabus (AI at Work: Foundations, Writing AI Prompts, Job Based Practical AI Skills).

Start with the concrete: one searchable document copilot or meeting‑notes assistant, rigorous human review, public reporting, and a commitment to training so Topeka's residents see faster services without sacrificing accuracy or trust.

“We have to focus on AI literacy. As a whole, we have to focus on information literacy; we need to embed those things together.” - James Basham