State CIO, Google GenAI Pilot Yield National Honors
The State of Arizona’s implementation of Google Gemini, a generative AI tool, and the state’s chief information officer have both received national recognition from StateScoop.
Every year, the StateScoop 50 Awards feature nominated leaders and projects promoting the work of state governments to advance enterprise information technology. Once nominations are selected, StateScoop enables the public to vote for these leaders and projects.
State Chief Information Officer J.R. Sloan and the pilot program on GenAI use with Google’s Gemini for Workspace have been recognized as 2025 StateScoop 50 Award winners for GoldenGov: State Executive of the Year and State IT Innovation of the Year, respectively.
“This recognition underscores the innovative programs and national leadership of our IT strategies and initiatives in the State of Arizona,” said Arizona Department of Administration Director Elizabeth Alvarado-Thorson. “The promise of Generative AI is not lost on the state as we explore it with a balanced sense of caution and optimism. Likewise, J.R. Sloan’s contributions to the state as an IT leader are unprecedented. It’s professionals like him who truly demonstrate the value of the people who chose public service careers.”
Sloan is the chief information officer for the State of Arizona. He joined the state in 2013 after working in the technology industry for more than 20 years in operational and executive-level roles in private and public organizations. As CIO, Sloan oversees technology innovation, IT governance, policies and standards, and the delivery and operations of enterprise IT services and programs.
In September 2024, the Arizona Department of Administration conducted a four-week pilot program on Gemini for Google Workspace with the participation of more than 200 users and nine agencies. The state explored ways to automate routine tasks and improve efficiencies to enable public servants to enhance service delivery to Arizonans. The results and data collected from the pilot program suggest that by utilizing Gemini, employees could increase their productivity by 2.5 hours per week, helping staff summarize information, automate charts and graphics, take notes, format, write code and much more.
Learn more about the 2025 StateScoop 50 Awards winners in the StateScoop article.
Contact: Timothy Tait, ADOA
602-826-5406