The State Department says it will equip its diplomats with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and improve its data infrastructure under its newly released 2026 AI plan.
“The Department of State recognizes the profound opportunity to harness data and AI to redefine diplomacy,” said Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Michael Rigas. “With the launch of our combined Enterprise Data and AI Strategy, we are poised to unlock a new era of diplomatic innovation.”
Released Sept. 30, the State Department’s two-goal plan laid out priorities for “cutting-edge statecraft for 21st century challenges” and “technological adoption through strategic enablement.”
Among efforts laid out under those goals is the State Department’s plan to provide diplomats with AI tools and platforms, such as AI. State – a repository of AI resources and tools – and StateChat, the department’s first generative AI chatbot. It will also expand access to mission-critical data and roll out agentic AI systems that can handle administrative workflows, crisis response, and foreign assistance oversight.
Diplomats will also eventually have access to dynamic analytics platforms that will “optimize foreign assistance by improving performance and promoting accountability, and sophisticated research tools that uncover actionable intelligence from massive datasets, revealing insights previously hidden from view.”
“By providing our diplomats the tools and expertise to operate at the speed of today’s opportunities and threats, we will pioneer cutting-edge statecraft that achieves our foreign policy goals and maintains America’s technological edge,” the department said in the plan.
To support that push, the department said it is scaling up its digital infrastructure with multi–cloud platforms, zero –trust security, and classified AI deployments, while giving staff low-code tools to build their own solutions on demand.
A new implementation dashboard will track progress in real time, offering live metrics and milestone updates across the global workforce.
The plan also zeroes in on workforce development, with AI training integrated into diplomat education, hands-on workshops, and GenAI simulations of real-world scenarios. Collaboration across agencies will be deepened through platforms like Data.State, which the department said already centralizes more than 1,400 data assets for sharing.
Other efforts include using an AI investment management group to coordinate spending to avoid duplication. New risk management protocols – including an AI risk registry and automated evaluations – aim to balance innovation with security.
“The success of this Strategy hinges on the collective embrace of data and AI’s transformative power by every individual within the Department,” the plan says.
The plan follows directives from the White House’s AI Action Plan and other executive orders to bolster AI efforts and initiatives throughout the government, the department said.