Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order on July 11 launching a pilot program that uses agentic artificial intelligence to help reduce regulatory burdens and keep state guidance documents up to date.
The AI tool will scan all of the state’s regulations and guidance documents to identify ways to streamline them, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
“We have made tremendous strides towards streamlining regulations and the regulatory process in the Commonwealth. Using emergent artificial intelligence tools, we will push this effort further in order to continue our mission of unleashing Virginia’s economy in a way that benefits all of its citizens,” said Gov. Youngkin.
The initiative marks the first time that a state-level government has used agentic, generative AI to streamline the regulatory process.
The governor’s office said the AI tool that will be used in the pilot will flag “any areas in which the regulation contradicts the statute, identify redundancies, and highlight areas in which the regulatory language can be streamlined.”
The state said the pilot will also help to empower state agencies to continue using AI to review their regulations and guidance documents going forward.
“The ‘Virginia model’ for regulatory modernization has become the gold standard across the U.S., with other states and federal agencies looking to replicate our reforms. With this newest initiative, Virginia will continue to lead the nation, becoming the first state to launch an agentic AI tool to power the regulatory reduction process,” said Office of Regulatory Management Director Reeve Bull.
“The Office of Transformation continues to look for ways to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our state government. We look forward to working with our Office of Regulatory Management to apply the power of AI to our regulatory environment,” added Chief Transformation Officer Rob Ward.
