After spending years testing chatbots and exploring generative AI capabilities, federal agencies are beginning to deploy AI agents.<\/p>\n
Cameron Groves, director of rapid innovation and specialist engineering at Google Public Sector<\/a>, said agencies are increasingly focused on using these AI agents to complete tasks and automate workflows.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been unbelievable what\u2019s unfolded the last couple of years \u2014 where we\u2019ve seen a lot of federal entities move from this notion of pilots or testing out chatbot experiences, to last year looking at agents and exploring how agents can ultimately help them be able to do certain tasks. Now, what we\u2019re seeing is enterprise-ready AI using full end-to-end agents,\u201d Groves said during Federal News Network\u2019s Cloud Exchange 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n Leading federal agentic AI initiatives<\/p>\n The Defense Department is leading the federal adoption of AI tools and has partnered with Google on its GenAI.mil initiative<\/a>. Groves said that DoD, using Google\u2019s Gemini for Government platform, has built over 100,000 AI agents within a short period of time.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing there is well over a million users using that front door,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Federal agencies are also beginning to use AI agents to tackle complex mission critical processes. At the Food and Drug Administration, drug approval reviews can take years, and scientists often must analyze lengthy submissions from pharmaceutical companies.<\/p>\n FDA is using AI to speed up that review process, which improves productivity and gives researchers more time to do impactful work.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat that allows them to do is refocus the scientists to do more scientific research types of tasks related to being able to enhance the clinical trial process,\u201d Groves said.<\/p>\n The Transportation Department is embedding AI capabilities into its workplace productivity tools. Groves said the department\u2019s workforce of about 50,000 employees is using Google Workspace, which includes its Gemini platform, to be able to review and automate tasks.<\/p>\n Preparing for AI expansion<\/p>\n As agencies face budget and workforce reductions, Groves said AI enables them to do more with less. But, he stressed, these tools shouldn\u2019t be viewed as a replacement for the workforce.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not about replacing humans in terms of individuals, with regard to the use of AI. It\u2019s augmentation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Upskilling employees to work with AI tools is critical to moving forward with adoption. Groves said agencies should help their employees understand both the capabilities and limitations of these tools.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a really important point, in terms of being able to be aware of the power of these tools,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of fear out there, in terms of the unknowns, fear regarding job replacement and so forth.\u201d<\/p>\n Security and compliance remain foundational<\/p>\n The rise of AI is also changing cybersecurity. Threat actors can now use AI to identify software vulnerabilities at machine speed, forcing defenders to adopt similar capabilities.<\/p>\n \u201cAI itself has upset the paradigm shift in terms of security,\u201d Groves said. \u201cWe have to be able to move at that machine speed and move beyond the human in terms of being able to review it but also be able to then remediate it.\u201d<\/p>\n