Laura Dunwoody,
Director of Resident Engagement,
City and County of Denver, CO
At the Winter Gov IT Congress, one keynote cut through the noise around AI in government and grounded the conversation in real, measurable outcomes.
Laura Dunwoody, Director of Resident Engagement for the City and County of Denver, took the stage to share how Denver 311 used chatbot technology to modernize city services—cutting costs, improving resident satisfaction, and setting a new standard for digital government engagement.
As Laura explained, resident expectations have changed. People no longer want to wait on hold or navigate dense government websites filled with acronyms. They expect fast, clear, digital-first service—similar to what they experience in the private sector.
Denver 311’s mission was clear: create a centralized, accessible, multi-channel way for residents to ask questions, access services, and share concerns—without increasing staff or complexity.
Denver launched “Sunny,” a chatbot integrated directly into denvergov.org and text messaging. But the keynote made one thing clear: this wasn’t about “sprinkling AI pixie dust.”
Success required deep foundational work—cleaning and simplifying content, archiving nearly 2,000 outdated pages, reducing the city website by 45%, and ensuring information was written at a sixth-grade reading level.
The result? A digital experience residents could actually use.
The outcomes shared during the session resonated strongly with Gov IT leaders in the room:
90% resident satisfaction with Sunny
40% of all 311 interactions handled digitally in 2025, up from 17% the year prior
42% reduction in 311 labor costs year over year
72 languages supported, dramatically improving accessibility
Increased employee engagement among 311 agents as repetitive tasks were automated
This wasn’t innovation for innovation’s sake, it was operational transformation.
Denver’s story reinforced a key takeaway echoed throughout the Winter Gov IT Congress: modernizing government services requires equal parts technology, data discipline, and leadership alignment. AI works best when it’s purpose-built, transparent, and tied directly to resident outcomes, not when it’s bolted onto broken systems.
If this overview of a keynote sparked ideas, or raised questions about how your organization can responsibly scale digital services—you won’t want to miss the Summer Gov IT Congress.
