An AI series: DC Water adds agents to its roster

Time-consuming.

Tedious.

Repetitive.

Those are the words that DC Water employees use to describe their work before AI agents.

Amber Jackson, chief people officer and executive vice president, recalled when her team used to pull Excel documents with lists of names of people who needed to be contacted, manually keep tabs on that outreach, and follow up as needed.

“Now the agent is doing that from start to finish,” she told AWWA in a video that first aired at the Annual Conference and Exposition in June.

DC Water reports nearly 70% of employees are now using AI tools, including agents, to handle repetitive administrative or summary tasks. Some employees even name agents for their own purposes: Felicia Forms, for locating forms in an instant, and Shirley Chism, “the powerhouse legislative bangin’ bold woman that she is,” Barbara Mitchell, associate general counsel and director of government affairs, said in a new video from AWWA.

“We get information from multiple sources, multiple entities, multiple people,” Mitchell said, and the agents help with synthesizing that information into clear, actionable summaries.

“It cuts down on the administrative tasks, and it allows me to think,” she said.

Jackson added, “Our response time is quicker when we don’t have to spend hours reviewing a 100-page document.”

AI has helped the DC Water team with legal, governance, and board reporting; and it has come from the team’s embracing the tools, learning together, and teaching each other along the way.

“It’s not going to take your job; it’s going to enhance your job,” said Cheryl Jackson, director of IT customer engagement.  “It’s going to make your job easier, and it’s going to allow you to grow in another ways.”

For anyone nervous about new technology, Jackson said, “Jump in. Get started small, but get started because it’s here.”

For more on DC Water, see this video. Stay tuned to AWWA Connections for more video profiles like this one.