Picture a city where traffic flows fluidly, emergency alerts reach every resident instantly, and a permit is issued in minutes, not weeks. Imagine a morning briefing where city officials view dashboard visuals of key metrics backed by real-time data instead of poring over day-old spreadsheets.
Sound crazy? It’s not. Cities around the world are making things like this happen every day.
Real-World AI in Action
In New York City, more than 3,000 municipal vehicles (from buses and cars to sanitation trucks) were outfitted with devices that communicate with smart traffic signals. When a vehicle nears an intersection with a red light, the system sends an instant alert to the dashboard. During pilot testing, red-light violations fell by 41%.
Over in Boston, the city partnered with Project Green Light, Google’s AI traffic analysis initiative, to analyze neighborhood traffic patterns and recommend signal adjustments for improvement. The project began in 2024, and so far, over 100 intersections have been retimed or coordinated across 20 neighborhoods. The mayor announced plans this summer for expanding the program to improve other congested areas in the city.
The west coast is also getting in on the action. San Francisco, for example, is tackling safety head-on. Its network of automated speed cameras now issues citations ($50 to $500 depending on the severity) for drivers exceeding the speed limit by 11 mph or more. In school zones and other high-risk areas, speeding has plummeted by up to 63%.
Smaller cities, like Cary, North Carolina, are showing big innovation, too. The city’s simulated smart city program, for example, has experimented with IoT—from trash cans that signal when they’re full, to streetlights that dim when not needed. Since 2016, the city has been a leading advocate of using data and technology to improve life for its citizens, and has many more initiatives in the pipeline.
San Jose’s mayor, Matt Mahan, has made AI a living reality for his team. He encourages government workers to use tools like ChatGPT for mundane tasks (speechwriting, grant drafting, budget summaries) freeing them to serve residents more effectively. In one case, AI helped the city secure a $12 million grant for electric vehicle chargers.
What all of this proves is that smart city transformation is possible, but it requires imagination, leadership, and manageable steps forward.
Start by Proving Your Use Case
Cities everywhere are exploring how artificial intelligence can improve services, save money, and enhance residents’ lives. But moving from “big idea” to a concrete, fundable project is often where momentum stalls. That’s where the ePlus Secure GenAI Accelerator can make the difference.
This is a focused, 30-day engagement designed to help you test whether generative AI can deliver measurable value using your own data, without the risk, time, and expense of a full system overhaul.
Instead of connecting directly to live operational systems, the workshop uses secure data exports in a private, sandboxed environment. A small, cross-functional team combining IT, business stakeholders, and sometimes C-suite leaders test targeted use cases, often through AI-powered chatbots or analytics tools.
For some municipal leaders, AI pilots can feel daunting: data is messy, regulations are strict, and funding is limited. The Gen AI Accelerator approach bypasses many early barriers by:
- Rapid Prototyping – Proving a concept in weeks instead of years.
- Risk Reduction – Isolating tests from core systems to avoid data leakage or compliance breaches.
- Funding Justification – Producing measurable results that strengthen budget proposals.
- Use Case Validation – Demonstrating that a specific dataset and AI application truly work before committing to large-scale implementation.
Launching a GenAI Accelerator engagement typically follows three steps:
- Identify Priority Outcomes – Decide whether your goal is to increase revenue, reduce costs, lower risk, or improve citizen satisfaction.
- Assemble Stakeholders – Bring together the people who own the workflows, data, and budget decisions.
- Run the Workshop – In a 30-day sprint, test selected AI use cases in a secure environment, measure the results, and define next steps for scaling.
By starting small and proving value quickly, cities can turn AI from an abstract concept into a practical, fundable solution that benefits residents.
For more information, go to ePlus Secure GenAI Accelerator.