I Made GovTech's AI 50 List
So, big news. I've been named one of Government Technology's Top 50 Influencers in Public Sector AI. The AI 50. The inaugural list. The Mount Rushmore of bureaucratic optimism. Up until now, I've only been an AI bro. But now. Now I'm a recognized voice in government AI innovation.
And I know what you're thinking:
"Wow. That must come with a large check. Or a jacket. Or at least a duffel bag with AI logos on it."
No. No swag. Not even a sticker. Just a word doc and the warm feeling of knowing somewhere, in a fluorescent-lit office in Sacramento, someone typed my name into a spreadsheet.
Until now, I've just been your average AI hobbyist—tinkering in the shadows, whispering sweet nothings to chatbots while pretending to care about team retros. But now? Now I am a recognized voice in the thrilling, action-packed universe of... municipal innovation policy frameworks. Watch out, world. Papa's got a badge-shaped JPEG and absolutely zero benefits.
What This Means for Me
This is huge. Finally, all my late nights fiddling with AI tools while ignoring my family have paid off. I've been elevated to the pantheon of people who know enough about AI to make everyone else uncomfortable in meetings.
It means that all those nights I spent ignoring my family to hang out with a large language model were worth it. Dad didn't make it to bedtime stories, but he did make it onto a PDF press release no one will read. So who's laughing now?
(Literally no one. No one is laughing. My son looked at the award and asked if it came with Roblox credits. It did not.)
This award proves I've transcended from "weird guy who brings up ChatGPT too much" to "weird guy who brings up ChatGPT too much, but now he's on a list."
It's a dream come true. A dream where you don't wake up rich. You just wake up with more LinkedIn messages that say "can I pick your brain?"
What This Means for Society
Nothing. It means nothing.
There are 50 of us. That's not an award. That's a group text that no one wants to be in but no one can leave because what if someone says something useful?
And yet, somewhere out there, there's a 23-year-old AI founder who just closed a $90 million seed round to build an app that tells you if your boss is mad at you based on email tone, and he didn't make the list. But I did.
I think about that every morning. I wake up smiling.
But Seriously… I Deserve This
I've built training that let government staff actually use AI. Not in a "five-year strategic plan" kind of way. In a "we used this on Tuesday to solve a real problem and didn't have to hire a consultant named Geoff" kind of way.
I've built HR policy GPTs. Budget analysis tools. I'm helping public servants work smarter, not just "email an AI vendor to schedule a discovery call" smarter.
I didn't "strategize adoption." I opened ChatGPT and typed: Build me something cool so I can get on a list, but not like a bad list.
But Also… Let's Not Pretend This Changes Anything
I am still a local government employee. My inbox is still 85% "Can you approve this invoice?" and 15% "Do we need a permit for alpacas?"
I'm still required to attend a zoning meeting where someone insists their HOA should have missile defense.
Being on this list won't save me. It won't lift me above the crushing weight of the shared governance calendar. It won't get me a Tesla. It gets me a weird moment at a city council meeting where someone says,
"Aren't you that AI guy? Can you help me reset my Gmail password?"
This Is the Most Government Thing Ever
Let's break this down:
- We made a list of AI people.
- We gave it a title with a number: AI 50. (Lists feel like progress.)
- It's run by GovTech, which is owned by e.Republic, and they run the Center for Public Sector AI, which I had no idea was even a thing until this list came out.
This is what government does. We institutionalize hope. We give you a list instead of a budget. A banner instead of headcount.
So… Am I Grateful?
Yes. And no.
I'm grateful in the way you're grateful when someone gives you a free T-shirt at a conference—but it's an XL, you're a medium, and it has "SMART CITIES 2022" on it. You say thank you. You smile. You shove it in a drawer.
This is that drawer moment for me. I love the work. I love public service. But I also know this is performative validation designed to make us feel seen while still fighting to get budget approval for replacing Windows 7 machines.
But also? I know what this is. It's a badge. A symbol. A list that will be forgotten by Wednesday.
Final Thoughts Before I Get Kicked Out of the AI Club
If you're reading this and you're also on the list: congratulations. We did it. Let's meet in a bunker and talk about use cases until one of us cries.
If you're not on the list: don't worry. This means nothing. And also everything. Because like all things in government, it's about the relationships, the effort, and the long game. And also how well you can explain generative AI to someone who still faxes things.
So yes. I made the list.
Will it change my life? No.
Will I bring it up every time my child tries to tell me about their soccer trophy? Absolutely. Because they will never be recognized for public sector AI influence. And that's a burden I will carry forever.
No, I don't know what all of this means. But I do know that this entire post has been wildly sarcastic and satirical. I appreciate the recognition, and hope that reading this brought a little levity to your day.