Together with the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST), SVLG’s Institute for California AI Policy (ICAP) recently brought together leaders from across industry, state government, and the broader innovation ecosystem for the “AI in Action Showcase” in Sacramento, part of CCST’s annual Science & Technology Week. At a time when artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping business, public services, and daily life, the showcase created a timely forum to connect industry-led technical expertise with public-sector decision-making and strengthen California’s broader AI policy conversation.
The event was part of the Institute for California AI Policy’s AI Academy initiative — a new effort to advance AI policy education and bring policymakers, industry, and other key stakeholders into direct conversation as AI moves quickly from concept to deployment. ICAP is serving as the bridge for different perspectives by building the trusted forum needed for decision-makers to better understand the technology, its practical applications, and the policy questions shaping its future.
Several themes emerged throughout the showcase:
- Thoughtful implementation. Speakers emphasized that as AI systems become more integrated into daily operations and public life, questions of trust, accountability, and practical implementation must remain central.
- Bridging technical expertise and the AI knowledge gap. A recurring takeaway was the importance of equipping decision-makers with a stronger working understanding of AI, while also creating more opportunities for technical experts, companies, and policymakers to engage directly.
- Policy that keeps pace with innovation. Participants underscored the need for policy frameworks that are informed by real-world use cases and flexible enough to evolve alongside rapidly advancing technologies.
These conversations were strengthened by the participation of organizations from across California’s research and innovation ecosystem, including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UC Santa Cruz, SAP, Intuitive Surgical, and Adobe, whose perspectives grounded the discussion in real-world applications of AI across scientific research, healthcare, enterprise software, digital creativity, and beyond.
SVLG members helped bring these themes to life through concrete examples:
- SAP demonstrated how AI is being deployed in utilities and logistics to support warehouse operations, improve efficiency, and strengthen long-term planning.
- Intuitive Surgical shared how machine learning informs both the design and utilization of surgical robotics, highlighting the transformative potential of AI in healthcare.
- UC Santa Cruz showcased cutting-edge generative AI research spanning natural language processing, computer vision, and robotics, alongside applications in healthcare, climate sustainability, education, and more.
The event underscored that California’s continued global leadership in AI will depend not only on technical excellence, but also on strong cross-sector collaboration and sustained public trust-building. It also reinforced the importance of bringing industry insight into policy conversations early, especially in a field as fast-moving and transformative as AI.
We are proud to partner with CCST in advancing this work and look forward to building on the momentum from the showcase through the next phases of ICAP’s AI Academy. Together, we aim to continue creating opportunities for policymakers, industry leaders, and researchers to engage directly and help shape a more informed, pragmatic, and forward-looking AI policy environment in California.
