June 12, 2026 — ALBANY, N.Y. – The New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) convened its third summit on the future of artificial intelligence (AI) in the state workforce on June 2, bringing together top officials in the state Office of Information Technology Services (OITS), legislators, union, academics and industry leaders at the Albany Hilton.
“AI must not come at the price of union jobs,” PEF President Wayne Spence told attendees. “We must lead the charge in making sure that we are speaking up for ourselves as this technology continues to feed into our lives. We must hold New York State accountable and ensure that they are responsible when implementing any sort of AI. It should augment the work of PEF members, not diminish or replace it.”
OITS Chief Information Officer Dru Rai also spoke at the summit, highlighting the fact that AI is already embedded in many of the State’s common applications. He pointed out that since New York is already using AI tools, governance of how they’re used is important.
A diverse group of stakeholders then participated in a panel discussion on cross-sector AI governance. Panelists included Rai, Scott Stalker, Deputy Chief AI Officer at OITS; Dr. Hany Elgala, Director, AI and Society College at UAlbany; Hina Siddiqui, Amazon Web Services; and PEF Vice President Randi DiAntonio. Other summit attendees included NYS Civil Service Commissioner Timothy R. Hoguesi, NYS Insurance Fund Chief Information Officer Charlotte Griffin, Colin Brady from the Office of the State Comptroller, State Senators Kristen Gonzalez, James Sanders, and Monica Martinez, and a representative from the office of Senator Jim Tedisco.
“The AI Summit is not just a presentation, it is an active opportunity for legislative, agency, labor, academic, and private industry leaders to come together to discuss, debate, and navigate a fast-changing technological force,” said PEF Statewide IT Committee Chair Radhakrishna Mohan, who organized the ‘PEF IT Summit on AI: Time for Action’ with Christopher Ford, who leads PEF Division 357, which represents OITS employees across New York, and PEF Region 8 Coordinator Danielle Bridger. “Our goal is to collaborate on building the bridges necessary to meet these workforce challenges safely and effectively in New York State.”
As AI grows at an exponential rate, the PEF Statewide IT Committee is coordinating with Division 357 to come up with steps that are needed to address the needs of the PEF workforce and raise awareness on issues that may adversely affect members. The focus is to come up with alternatives that are beneficial for both PEF members and to New York State in general without compromising the goals and vision of New York State.
Going forward, PEF will be proactive about initiating more meetings with legislators, industry experts, academics, and heads of different agencies to find a common solution and raise necessary guardrails for the safe implementation of AI in New York. PEF’s goal is to raise awareness and work on a solution that allows AI to be used efficiently for the common good while making sure human controls are in place to protect the workforce and New York citizens.