S2E4 - Micah Gaudet - How AI Is Actually Used Inside Local Government

In this episode of the GovAI Podcast, Noam Maital and Dustin Haisler are joined by Micah Gaudet, Deputy Chief Manager and Chief Public Safety Officer for the City of Maricopa, Arizona and a leading voice on practical AI adoption inside government.Micah brings a hands-on perspective from inside city operations, where AI is no longer experimental, it’s embedded into day-to-day work. From using tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity to inform decisions in real time, he shares what it actually looks like to integrate AI into leadership, workflows, and service delivery.They explore how agencies should approach experimentation, how to evaluate new tools, and why banning AI often leads to more risk through shadow usage. The conversation also dives into governance, trust, and what it takes to scale AI responsibly across an organization.They also look ahead to what’s next, from agentic systems to citizen-driven AI, and how expectations for government are already shifting as residents begin interacting with public services through AI.This podcast is brought to you by Darwin AI, a platform built for state and local government to help agencies adopt and manage AI responsibly.