Agentic AI pilot to help Virginia cut, update state regulations

Virginia will pilot using agentic and generative artificial intelligence tools to reduce and update state regulations that may be stifling innovation, following an executive order Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed Friday.

The initiative, which will make Virginia one of the first states to use both agentic and generative AI to streamline regulatory processes, follows another order Youngkin signed, in 2022, creating the state’s Office of Regulatory Management to streamline regulations and increase transparency to reduce regulatory burden on the public. The 2022 order set a goal of achieving a 25% cut in regulations, and Youngkin’s administration said it passed that goal this month.

Virginia’s agentic AI will scan the state’s documented regulations and guidance, and identify ways it can be streamlined, a news release said. It will also flag contradictions in statute, identify redundancies and suggest updates to language.

The pilot program intends to allow state agencies to continue using AI in the future to help review their regulations and guidance documents. Some agencies have struggled to hit the 2022 order’s 25% reduction goal, but, the release said, the program will “supercharge the process.”

“We have made tremendous strides towards streamlining regulations and the regulatory process in the Commonwealth,” Youngkin said in the news release. “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.”

Reeve Bull, director of Virginia’s Office of Regulatory Management, said his state will lead the nation.

“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,” Bull said in the release.