State Technology Leaders Address Emerging Threats from Quantum Computing and Autonomous AI Systems

State chief information officers gathered to discuss emerging technology challenges including quantum computing threats and agentic AI deployment across government services. Most states are not yet actively preparing for quantum threats despite concerns about bad actors harvesting encrypted data for future decryption, while autonomous AI agents are already appearing in government call centers, raising questions about data access and system authentication. State technology leaders are weighing how to prepare for quantum risks and manage the implications of AI agents interacting with citizens.

State technology officials are grappling with two distinct technological challenges with different timelines. Quantum computing represents a future threat that most states have not yet begun addressing—only 14 percent have active initiatives—yet the risk is immediate in nature: adversaries may already be collecting encrypted data today to decrypt once quantum tools become available. This "harvesting" strategy means the vulnerability window extends backward in time.

Autonomous AI systems, by contrast, are already deployed in government operations. AI agents are appearing in state call centers and potentially interacting directly with citizens, creating immediate questions about system design and security. State officials must now establish protocols for identifying when an AI agent rather than a human is engaging with callers, and determine what data access and authentication rules should apply to these non-human actors.