As AI becomes more powerful and more embedded in daily life, states need clear strategies for how AI is deployed and adopted, and deliberate coordination across sectors to ensure those strategies translate to real impact.
Heartland Forward had the opportunity to join the inaugural AI Tennessee Summit, held March 25–26 at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. Hosted by the University of Tennessee Knoxville alongside Vanderbilt University, the University of Memphis, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Tennessee Board of Regents, the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education and the Tennessee AI Advisory Council, the summit brought together leaders from government, industry and academia to explore what coordinated AI leadership looks like in practice, and how AI deployment can expand economic opportunity and community benefit rather than deepen concerns about displacement and disruption for Tennesseans.
Discussions at the summit reinforced a theme central to Heartland Forward’s Harnessing AI in the Heartland work: the states that lead in the AI economy will not simply be those with the most advanced tools, but those that build clear, strategic plans for AI deployment across industries and sectors, and align institutions and actors to ensure those plans are effectively executed.
During the Tennessee AI Summit opening keynote, Dr. Lynne Parker, former Principal Deputy Director at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy offered a useful reframing of the AI “race.” She emphasized that success will not be determined solely by infrastructure or technical capacity, but by the ability to build trust, align stakeholders and drive adoption at scale. Speakers throughout the event returned to and commended this idea of “radical collaboration” contrasting it with the more common pattern of fragmented, siloed investments. AI leadership, in this framing, is less about acquiring tools and more about redefining how institutions work together to deploy them effectively.
Tennessee has begun to operationalize this approach by building the structures needed to coordinate AI adoption across sectors. Central to that effort is the Tennessee AI Advisory Council, which was established to align government, education and industry around shared priorities and guide the state’s strategy for AI deployment. In parallel, the state is developing an AI innovation lab to evaluate use cases across agencies and strengthening coordination between higher education and industry to better connect training with workforce needs.
These efforts are backed by targeted public investments, including $50 million for AI-related infrastructure in Governor Lee’s proposed 2026–2027 budget, alongside state investments in quantum networking and expanded nuclear capacity. At the same time, state agencies are piloting AI tools to improve internal operations, including contract drafting and emergency response analytics, while working to standardize data across agencies so AI tools can be used more consistently and effectively.
In addition to these specific use cases, panel discussions at the summit highlighted the proactive preparation required to meet the scale of infrastructure demand AI may bring, particularly around data centers and energy. Tennessee is positioning to meet this demand, in part due to its existing nuclear energy capacity and ongoing investments in advanced generation. The Tennessee Valley Authority, for example, is developing a strategic transmission expansion program to strengthen and extend the grid in anticipation of growing demand.
Alongside infrastructure considerations, the summit underscored AI readiness ultimately hinges on people. Effective AI readiness requires more than technical training—it requires embedding AI into education and workforce systems from the earliest stages while also ensuring it does not undermine critical thinking skills essential to both education and workforce strength. Just as important, speakers emphasized the need to align educational approaches with evolving industry needs, so that learners are prepared for real-world applications of AI. Across panels, leaders pointed to efforts already underway: universities launching new interdisciplinary AI programs and stackable credentials, community colleges expanding short-term training for working adults and K-12 systems beginning to integrate AI literacy into classrooms.
Dr. Vasileios Maroulas, Associate Vice Chancellor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Director of AI Tennessee, described the broader ambition of the summit, noting, “What we saw over the past two days is what happens when research, education and industry move in alignment. AI begins to translate into real economic impact. The next step is scaling that coordination—so we’re not just teaching tools, but building a workforce ready to deploy AI across critical sectors.”
The state is building a structure that connects policymakers on the AI Advisory Council with university systems, community colleges, K-12 education and industry partners. These partnerships are reinforced by convenings for stakeholders to align on shared priorities and coordinate implementation. Underlying this is a governing philosophy that treats AI adoption not simply as a technical issue, but as a leadership responsibility.
Learn more about Heartland Forward’s work Harnessing AI in the Heartland:
- Polling the Heartland on AI: Heartland Forward has conducted multiple rounds of polling on AI sentiment and readiness across heartland states. View our AI polling findings.
- Heartland Forward AI Convenings: These convenings bring together thought leaders to exchange insights and discuss how AI can advance economic growth across the heartland. Learn more about our recent AI convening in Chattanooga, TN.
- The Heartland AI Caucus: The Heartland AI Caucus is a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and executive leaders from Arkansas, Kansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee committed to shaping the future of artificial intelligence across the heartland. Learn more about the AI Caucus.