The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 sparked an “AI arms race” with trillions of dollars in investment and
profound implications for productivity and employment. For a discussion of how generative AI and
related technologies are reshaping public sector operations, workforce needs, and infrastructure
planning, Penn IUR and the Volcker Alliance convened a panel of government, academic, and industry
experts for “Special Briefing on AI in Government—More Efficiency but Fewer Workers” on November
20, 2025.
William Glasgall, Penn IUR Fellow and Volcker Alliance Public Finance Adviser, Susan Wachter, Co-
Director of Penn IUR and Wharton professor, and our expert panel discuss the state of America’s
infrastructure and how some states are developing strategies to better identify and fund needed
investments.
Panelists include:
• Jon Hartley, Policy Fellow, Hoover Institution
• Leigh Palmer, Vice President, Google Public Sector LLC
• Megan Kilgore, City Auditor, City of Columbus, Ohio
• Howard Neukrug, Executive Director, The Water Center at Penn and Professor of Practice,
Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania
• Thomas Sanchez, Professor, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M
University
NOTABLE QUOTES Hartley: “As of the end of September, about 37 percent of American workers claim to be using generative AI at work.”
Hartley: “I think it's still a TBD in terms of what the overall labor market impact is going to be, but I
think we're just in some of the early innings of what's a much longer baseball game.”
Palmer: “We're just at the tip of the iceberg on the potential for this technology.”
Kilgore: “We need more GOATs—not sheep. People who are curious, courageous, and willing to climb
into unfamiliar terrain as technology reshapes how we’re constantly working and ultimately serving
the public.”
Kilgore: “We need to view building human infrastructure as well as investing in forward-thinking AI
technology as on the same level of vitality as investing in that traditional form of hard infrastructure…
Equally as important, governments have to start investing in the skills necessary to allow our public
sector leaders and our workers here to really use those tools well: data literacy, ethical reasoning, and
creative problem solving. I do believe AI will absolutely redefine public service.”
Neukrug: “AI-powered digital twins can simulate entire water networks, helping planners test
technologies virtually before real-world deployment, saving time and resources.”
Hartley: “Conditional on using generative AI to complete a task, roughly two-thirds of the time that
would traditionally be dedicated to that task is saved."