How the State Department Is Putting Generative AI to Work for America’s Foreign Service
Department of State
The TMF’s $18.2 million investment gave the State Department the infrastructure, governance, and training needed to roll out generative AI across its Foreign Service workforce responsibly, freeing diplomats from time-consuming writing and research tasks and redirecting their expertise toward the strategic work that advances American interests.
Background
Our diplomats spend a significant portion of their working day processing information from their contacts, embassies, and consulates around the world. Much of that work supports drafting diplomatic cables, the formal written reports diplomats use to share insights from their posts. In 2023 alone, State Department personnel produced an average of 6,300 cables daily, alongside media summaries, trade analyses, and structured reports from 270 embassies and consulates worldwide. Given the rising complexity of diplomatic work and competing priorities, that volume has high demands on the time of even the most experienced workforce.
Challenge
Deploying generative AI in a diplomatic environment carries security requirements beyond what standard commercial AI products available to the public are built to handle. Foreign Service work often involves sensitive information that falls short of classified but still requires careful protection, and the communications involved demand controls that public AI tools simply lack. Building and launching a secure government version of the technology for a workforce spread across the globe required purpose-built technology, oversight structures, and a training program that traditional agency budgets were not designed to fund quickly.
Solution
TMF invested $18.2 million to provide the State Department the resources to bring AI tools into the Department’s secure systems in a safe, secure, and responsible way. To reach and enable its teams, the Department has built responsible AI guidance, agency-wide training for personnel at all levels, and a set of rules and standards for how the tools can and cannot be used, all designed to set a standard for how federal agencies implement generative AI effectively. The investment team produced shareable guidance to help other federal agencies adopt AI tools responsibly, extending the value of this investment to the entire federal government.
Impact
The State Department’s investment in generative AI is enabling its teams to focus on more strategic work by more rapidly completing tasks that previously required hours of manual research and drafting. The AI-powered chat tool has reached 62,000 employees at 98% adoption across global posts in two years. Users have reported the upgraded tool saves them time, averaging 2 hours per week, and 96% would recommend it to a colleague. Across top use cases, the tool saves 20,000 hours every week. It is projected to save nearly 2 million hours of staff time in 2026, which can be valued at 94M. Department teams are now spending more time on analysis, building relationships, and advancing American interests abroad. The oversight standards and training developed through this investment have positioned the State Department as a model for responsible AI adoption across the federal government.
Role of TMF
Investments in emerging technology rarely fit neatly into a single agency’s budget cycle, particularly when the work involves building secure infrastructure, establishing rules for how the tools are used, and training a large, global workforce. TMF provided flexible, fast-moving funding that gave the State Department the resources to bring these tools to its entire workforce quickly and comprehensively. The $18.2 million investment is expected to pay off in time saved and productivity gains across a workforce of 80,000 people as the tools improve.