Indianapolis advances phased Copilot pilot, posts generative AI policy and expands training

Indianapolis and Marion County officials on July 29 told the AI Commission they have launched a phased deployment of Microsoft Copilot across the city‑county enterprise, published a generative AI policy and are expanding staff training and data‑security testing ahead of broader rollouts.

Chief Digital Officer Kate Coaten, who leads the initiative inside the Information Services Agency, said an ISA pre‑pilot of Microsoft 365 (M365) Copilot is underway and slated to wrap on Aug. 1, with wider deployment to eligible enterprise users targeted for late August. Coaten said the city posted its generative AI policy after the IT board signed it earlier this month and that ISA is testing Microsoft Purview data‑loss‑prevention (DLP) tools in a multi‑week proof‑of‑concept with Microsoft.

The initiative matters because the city estimates roughly 7,700 Office 365 license holders could access Copilot chat and related features; officials said they expect enterprise use of generative tools to increase data storage and records‑management needs, with budgetary implications for long‑term data retention and audit logging.

Coaten said ISA has focused first on governance, training and a controlled pilot model rather than broad rollouts. "Microsoft Copilot doesn't use any data that's put in it to train its models, and it doesn't leave our tenant," Coaten said, summarizing a security point ISA has emphasized; she added the generative AI policy lays out recommended, not‑recommended and…