North Carolina launches AI council, accelerator, and agency oversight under new executive order
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein signed an executive order on Sept. 2 to stand up an AI leadership council, an AI accelerator, oversight teams inside every state agency, and statewide training for AI literacy and fraud prevention. The intent is clear: improve government services, prepare the workforce, and support the state's technology sector.
What the order creates
- AI Leadership Council: 25 members drawn from government, academia, and the private sector. Appointed to two-year terms, with reappointments allowed.
- AI Accelerator: Overseen by the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) to help agencies test, adopt, and scale practical AI uses.
- Agency Oversight Teams: Each state agency will stand up an internal team to govern AI projects, risks, and outcomes.
- Training Programs: Statewide AI literacy and fraud prevention training, developed with input from NCDIT and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and made accessible to the public.
The council will recommend program design, implementation guidance, and workforce development strategies to NCDIT, the Department of Commerce, and other agencies.
Who's leading and how it's structured
The council is co-chaired by NCDIT Secretary Teena Piccione and Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley. Members will meet in person every quarter and deliver an annual progress report to the governor. The first meeting is pending.
Stan Ahalt, dean of UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Data Science and Society, noted the council's range of expertise across state agencies, the General Assembly, industry, and academia, saying this mix positions the group to advise on a broad set of state needs. Tommy Sowers, deputy director of Duke's Initiative for Science and Society, emphasized close collaboration with civil servants so ideas originate both inside and outside government.
Why this matters for NC agencies
The announcement follows major private-sector interest in the state, including a $10 billion data center slated for Richmond County, and mirrors moves by states such as Rhode Island and Virginia to create AI task forces. Ahalt also highlighted North Carolina's natural resources that support semiconductor supply chains, such as quartz used in chipmaking.
What agency leaders should do now
- Designate an agency AI lead and form your oversight team with IT, legal, procurement, privacy, security, HR, and program operations.
- Inventory current and proposed AI use cases. Prioritize low-risk pilots that reduce backlog, improve response times, or enhance fraud detection.
- Adopt an AI risk management approach aligned to the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, including impact assessments, human review, and incident reporting.
- Set data governance rules for training and inference: data quality, privacy, retention, de-identification, and public records compliance.
- Update procurement to require model transparency, evaluation results, security controls, and accessibility compliance in AI solutions.
- Establish testing and monitoring: accuracy, bias, drift, security, and performance baselines with regular revalidation.
- Launch role-based training for staff, with dedicated paths for program managers, analysts, and front-line workers.
- Create a measurement plan: start with 2-3 plain metrics per pilot (e.g., time saved per case, error rate, fraud dollars prevented).
Guardrails and workforce impact
Concerns about job loss were addressed directly by council members. The priority is to reduce repetitive work, support understaffed areas, and improve service delivery. As Ahalt put it, increasing efficiency while improving day-to-day work for public servants is a core goal.
Sowers underscored that this will be a partnership with career staff who are already experimenting with AI tools. Expect co-created pilots, not top-down mandates.
Timeline and reporting
The council will meet quarterly and file an annual report to the governor covering progress, challenges, and next steps. Responsibilities include recommendations to the Department of Commerce, a statewide AI literacy strategy, and guidance to protect infrastructure from AI-related risks.
Resources
- North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT)
- NIST AI Risk Management Framework
- Role-based AI training options (Complete AI Training)
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