New York Taps Eleonore Fournier-Tombs to Govern AI at Scale

New York State has appointed Eleonore Fournier-Tombs as Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer within the New York State Office of Information Technology Services (ITS), positioning her to shape AI strategy for the state’s technology operations. The announcement, made by ITS last month, describes the role as central to planning and coordinating AI use across ITS, partner agencies, and New York State government.

Fournier-Tombs will support ongoing statewide AI initiatives under Governor Kathy Hochul, including the Empire AI program launched in 2024 to advance research, innovation, and practical applications of AI for public good.

She brings more than 15 years of experience in AI policy, digital transformation, and data governance to the position. ITS said she will focus on expanding AI education for state employees, refining statewide AI policy, and optimizing AI applications while managing risk and maintaining ethical oversight.

Turning Global AI Policy Into State Practice

Fournier-Tombs’s career spans international policy and research. Before her New York State appointment she served as Head of Anticipatory Action and Innovation and Senior Researcher at the United Nations University, where she founded and led the institution’s first AI policy research lab and directed governance of predictive analytics and AI systems.

That background aligns directly with the challenges state governments face as they expand AI capabilities: ensuring systems are both innovative and accountable. ITS’s official press announcement lists her priorities as promoting responsible AI adoption, encouraging human oversight, improving service delivery, and enhancing efficiency across government operations.

ITS also highlighted her role in refining and improving the statewide “Acceptable Use of Artificial Intelligence Technologies” policy, first issued in 2024 to encourage responsible and risk-aware adoption of AI across state agencies. The policy outlines how state entities can harness AI while protecting privacy, managing risk, and promoting accountability, safety and equity.

In announcing Fournier-Tombs’s appointment, ITS Chief Information Officer Dru Rai said she will help accelerate innovative yet responsible AI use benefiting agencies and residents alike.

The role positions New York alongside a small but growing number of states that are formalizing centralized oversight for AI strategy and governance. That trend reflects a broader recognition in U.S. state governments that agile, coordinated AI policy and implementation are essential as agencies adopt generative AI and other advanced technologies.

New York’s Blueprint for Government AI

New York’s AI strategy combines central governance, research infrastructure, and adoption guidance in a coordinated framework.

Empire AI, a statewide research consortium supported by Hochul’s administration, aims to democratize access to AI research capabilities and professional development. Under Empire AI, partnerships between SUNY campuses now extend compute resources and educational opportunities statewide, with an emphasis on ethical, public-oriented research and workforce development.

That initiative complements the ITS role by building technical and human capital capacity outside traditional agency siloes, while ITS focuses on operational policy and internal use of AI tools. Empire AI’s partnerships will offer additional training and research opportunities for students and faculty, widening the skilled labor pool for government and private sector applications.

The “Acceptable Use of AI Technologies” policy, which Fournier-Tombs will help evolve, already provides a foundation for managing AI deployments across state entities. It encourages responsible adoption aimed at driving innovation and operational efficiency while safeguarding privacy and reducing risk.

In practice, such policies seek to balance two priorities states commonly define for AI: scaling useful AI systems and maintaining rigorous oversight where citizens’ rights, equity and transparency could be affected. Reports on state government use of AI note that jurisdictions are experimenting with generative AI for internal knowledge retrieval, document drafting, and administrative efficiency while protecting public trust through governance frameworks.

That combination of coordinated governance and practical tools places New York within an emerging cohort of states aligning policy, research, and technology capabilities for government AI. For example, Massachusetts’s AI task force and collaborative AI Hub have also pursued integrated state-level planning and resource sharing to support research and implementation across agencies.

New York’s structured approach aims to leverage the benefits of AI for government operations, such as data-driven decision support and improved service delivery, while maintaining accountability and human oversight through established policy frameworks. Fournier-Tombs’s appointment is the latest step in the state’s effort to integrate AI into public sector strategy, governance, and operations.