{"id":73764,"date":"2025-11-24T11:22:44","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T16:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/?p=73764"},"modified":"2025-11-24T11:22:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T16:22:47","slug":"oklahoma-names-states-first-ai-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/statescoop.com\/oklahoma-names-states-first-ai-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma names state’s first AI chief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Oklahoma\u2019s information technology division on Friday announced that Tai Phan, the state\u2019s chief technology officer, has taken on new responsibilities in leading the state\u2019s artificial intelligence efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the state\u2019s first chief AI and technology officer, Phan has been appointed to a role recommended by an AI task force run out of the governor\u2019s office. In a report to Gov. Kevin Stitt last year, the group issued its final report<\/a>, recommending, among other things, that the state create a new role that would oversee all AI systems throughout the state, lead the state\u2019s AI strategy and chair its AI oversight committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a press release, Phan noted that AI technologies \u201ccarry both extraordinary promise and perils.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a remarkable opportunity to rethink how government operates by bringing forward innovation with trust by design to strengthen our mission, improve services and deliver meaningful, measurable impact for the people of Oklahoma,\u201d he said in the release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the release, his responsibilities will also include setting ethical standards and \u201cbest practices\u201d for \u201cfor AI and enterprise technology modernization, transformation delivery and cost-efficient use.\u201d The release also notes the importance of privacy, transparency, fairness and accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The task force report calls the pace of AI\u2019s development \u201crelentless\u201d and recommends, therefore, adjustments to the state\u2019s 12-18 month budgetary cycles that would allow more rapid access to funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phan was recruited as state CTO in March after a career in the private sector that included IT leadership roles at Foot Locker, Wallgreens, CVS Health and the consulting firm Saxony Partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the addition of AI to his title, Phan joins a small but growing list of states with roles dedicated explicitly to AI governance. Several other states, including Georgia<\/a>, Montana, New York<\/a>, Texas<\/a> and Vermont<\/a>, have created similar roles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tai Phan, Oklahoma’s chief technology officer, has joined the small but growing cohort of state officials whose responsibilities center around AI technologies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":205,"featured_media":69606,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_grayscale_images":true,"grayscale_contrast":0,"sponsored_content":false,"display_author_bio":true,"story_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4677],"tags":[5272,5437,13110,14818,25131,25400,26016],"people":[],"special-report":[],"authors":[4696],"class_list":["post-73764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state","tag-artificial-intelligence-ai","tag-kevin-stitt","tag-government-technology","tag-ai","tag-technology-news","tag-state-news","tag-tai-phan","author-colin-wood"],"yoast_head":"\nOklahoma 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