Four new investments at the departments of State, Agriculture and Transportation aim to speed up permitting and integrate artificial intelligence into the agency’s tech portfolio.

Farmer would replace the Trump administration’s former top IT official, Greg Barbaccia, who left the office in August.

The Technology Modernization Fund Board decides which government modernization projects will receive funding and monitors their progress.

CIO Carter Farmer said the agency is prioritizing low-stakes AI use for much of its workforce, while making sure only subject matter experts are handling high-stakes work.

Tackling the White House’s executive order to topple data silos comes as agency tech teams work to address quick technical fixes gone wrong.

Carter Farmer, who took over as the agency’s CIO in May, said organizations need to be better at “asking the right questions first” before immediately pursuing potential…