What to Know:

• Shared cyber protection is the largest exceptional item.
• The AI and quantum request includes funding for AI model access, statewide AI system security and cryptographic discovery.
• The workforce item would add 120 full-time equivalent positions if fully funded.

Industry Insider — Texas will not publish a newsletter Monday in observance of the Labor Day holiday. The newsletter will resume Wednesday morning.

What to Know:

• An ordered 3 percent reduction in budgets is pushing agencies to rethink AI and modernization.
• Agency CIOs are grappling with token consumption costs post-deployment.
• Texas Cyber Command aims to strengthen and expand the state's RSOC program.

What to Know:

• The six-month pilot gives Texas water and wastewater utilities access to cybersecurity and AI resources at no cost.
• Federal partners include the Environmental Protection Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
• Microsoft, Reflection AI, Palo Alto Networks and Dragos are among the participating companies.

What to Know:

• San Antonio is weighing a multimillion-dollar transportation technology contract this week.
• El Paso transit officials are pursuing federal money tied to an existing paratransit software project.
• Houston’s technology committee returns later this month, with its agenda still pending.

As artificial intelligence became embedded across everyday workplace tools, CapMetro moved early to establish policy before expanding AI adoption. With Darwin AI, the agency gained real-time visibility into how AI was actually being used across departments, replacing assumptions with data.

Darwin AI Announces the Nation’s First Bulk Purchase Agreement for AI Governance Through the State of Texas

The biggest risk facing state and local governments is waiting too long to modernize. In a previous blog, I explored five trends shaping state and local government as AI, cloud and data change the way agencies fulfil their mission. Here, I explore one trend in greater depth: why the cost of delaying modernization now outweighs the cost of change.