TABC Wants to Add a Business Intelligence Office

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission(TABC) is tasked with keeping up with the fourth-largest market in the U.S. while administering the state’s alcoholic beverage code.

Digital transformation has been a priority in recent years, taking the agency’s largely paper-based processes to the cloud, resulting in reduced licensing turnaround and faster services to a wide-ranging customer base.

Now, TABC would like to enhance operations with a $1.9 million Business Intelligence Office, including four new full-time positions, data management and analytic tools and additional professional services, according to its 2026-27 legislative appropriations request. This is the top exceptional items request.

The last decade’s growth of alcohol business types, according to the LAR:

• Breweries, 103 percent; wineries, 186 percent; distilleries, 390 percent
• Distributors, 39 percent; wholesalers, 47 percent
• Off-premises consumption, 18 percent; on premises, 27 percent

An intelligence office would help TABC better understand this growing constituency and also how to better enforce regulations. Benefits listed include:

• Capturing market trends and enforcement trends
• Complying with the state mandate for a data management officer
• Data organization and quality control
• Data literacy and easier access
• Potential public-facing visualization tools

Down the request list, ranked at No. 4, is $3 million to hire five Innovation and Technology Division employees. Their responsibilities would include:

• Oversee software solutions
• Provide network support
• Provide end-user support
• Develop code, integrate AI tools and provide data analytics

Finally, the agency asks for $2.2 million for licensing and support for its Alcohol Industry Management System. AIMS was stood up in 2021 and continues to be built out. The 2025-29 Strategic Plan outlines details on how AIMS supports agency functions.

As to the state’s alcoholic beverage industry, Texas is a mixed bag. Some cities and counties allow for limited sales such as wine and beer “only for take away” and others allow all types of alcohol for sale in restaurants and stores.

The patchwork of local regulations has become less so over 30 years, with only five completely dry counties — those disallowing all alcohol sales — reported in Texas in 2020 compared to 53 counties in 1994.