Talking to Your Workers: Trust Before Technology

Before an agency chooses a tool, vendor, or rollout timeline, it needs to have an honest conversation with the people who will actually use the technology. This opening workshop focuses on how public sector managers can approach those conversations — not as a one-time announcement, but as an ongoing dialogue that builds trust rather than anxiety. Speakers from government and organized labor will share what it looks like to talk openly with workers about what AI adoption means for their jobs, their expertise, and their rights, and why starting with trust — rather than a finished plan — leads to better outcomes for everyone involved.