Is this a government program?

No. The Task Force is a privately convened, community rooted table. City Council and city departments are welcome, but we are not waiting on government authority or funding to begin the conversation.

Do I have to pay to participate?

Residents, council offices, and community partners participate at no cost. Local companies and civic funders can choose to sponsor a seat to help cover the cost of convening.

What happens after I fill out the form?

Coach Kay will follow up within two business days to schedule a short conversation. There is no pitch. The goal is to understand which seat fits you and how you want to be involved.

Will my name or organization be made public?

Only with your explicit permission. By default, conversations and involvement are kept private. If you want to be listed publicly as a partner or sponsor, we confirm that in writing first.

Is this trying to stop AI or data center growth?

No. Growth is already happening. The question is whether the people who live here can see the tradeoffs and ask good questions about them. This table is for understanding, not opposition.

I am not technical. Can I still contribute?

Yes. The Task Force is built for residents, small business owners, parents, workers, and leaders who care about Columbus but do not live in tech. Your questions are the point.

How is this different from the diagnostic on this site?

The diagnostic is a 20-question organizational readiness tool. The Task Force is the local table where those insights turn into action, policy conversations, and workforce support for Columbus.

Cbus AI Task Force, Columbus, Ohio

Columbus can decide together how AI shows up in this city.

The Cbus AI Task Force is a privately convened, community rooted table where residents, small business owners, city leaders, and local employers work through AI decisions in the same room. Right now those decisions are happening in separate rooms, and most of us are not in any of them. This is an open invitation to change that.

Convened by Coach Kay, Chair. Columbus, Ohio.

See where your organization stands

Or book a 15 minute conversation

Why now, in plain numbers

Three local facts, each from a named public source. No projections, no scare language.

Columbus-area data centers used approximately 1.2 billion gallons of city water in a 12-month period, per records obtained through a public records request.
Maria DeVito, Columbus Dispatch, updated July 6, 2026.
At least 130 data centers are operating in the Columbus metro area, with more proposed and a water-intensive semiconductor plant under construction.
Jason Plautz and Christa Marshall, E&E News and POLITICO, March 19, 2026.
Columbus Water and Power is raising water rates 18 percent and sewer rates 8 percent this year to fund capital projects.
Spectrum News 1, June 9, 2026.

Good work is already happening

Columbus Water and Power is developing a non-potable water reuse master plan with CDM Smith, studying treated wastewater effluent as a cooling source for data centers. That is a real step, and it deserves credit. What is still missing is a shared, public place where residents, small businesses, and council can see the tradeoffs together and talk about them out loud. That is the part we are here to build.

WaterWorld, Columbus explores water reuse to support data center growth, January 22, 2026.

Where Columbus stands in Ohio

City	AI governance status	Water and infrastructure accountability
Cincinnati	AI Catalyst, community-led AI blueprint underway	No dedicated body identified
Cleveland	Urban AI, in-government department leading enterprise AI strategy	No dedicated body identified
Columbus	No formal task force, policy, or lead as of July 2026	Utility-level planning underway, no public accountability layer

Cincinnati and Cleveland already have something. Columbus gets to build ours the way we want it, with community at the table from day one instead of added later.

Four ways to take a seat

One table, four seats. Pick the one that sounds like you. Every seat starts the same way, with a conversation.

01
Help fund the table
Local companies and civic funders
Make the room possible, and sit in it.
Sponsors cover the cost of convening so the table stays independent and free for the people who need it most. Your company gets a named seat, a direct line into what Columbus employers are seeing, and the chance to shape this work while it is still being built.
What this looks like: One conversation about fit, then a simple sponsor agreement and your seat at the first convening.
02
Lend your name
City Council, city departments, and council staff
An easy yes with real public value.
You do not need to fund anything or hand over authority. Lending your name, showing up when you can, and pointing us to data that is already public makes this conversation more useful for the residents you serve. Our briefs are free research your office can cite.
What this looks like: A short intro call, an invitation to the convening, and briefs sent to your office as they publish.
03
Follow the numbers with us
Residents, ratepayers, and local press
Everyone should be able to see the tradeoffs.
We track data center water and energy use against what residents pay, and we publish what we find in plain language. This is not opposition to growth. It is making sure the people who live here can see the full picture and ask good questions about it.
What this looks like: A public dashboard built from records that are already public, plus briefs anyone can read.
04
Bring the work to your people
Small businesses, workforce programs, and community partners
Training for the people the AI economy keeps skipping.
Certified AI readiness training for Columbus small businesses, corporate learning teams, and workforce partners. The goal is simple: the folks most likely to be left out are the ones getting trained first.
What this looks like: A conversation about your group, then a session built around what they actually do all day.
96 percent of small businesses plan to adopt AI. 63 percent cite the skills gap as the top barrier. Only 14 percent report AI fully embedded in core operations.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce 2025, World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025, Goldman Sachs 2026 Small Business Survey.

We are ready

The Task Force is convened and the framework is in place. The first convening is being finalized, and we are inviting the right people to the table now. All four seats are open. If one of them sounds like you, the next step is a conversation.

Why I convened this

I am a life coach who uses AI tools, raising my daughter and working full time in this city. I kept watching decisions about AI get made in rooms none of my people were in. So I built a table and started inviting folks to it. If you care about how this goes for Columbus, you belong here.

Where Focus Goes, Energy Flows.

Take a seat at the table

Pick the seat that sounds like you and tell me what you want to work on. I read every note myself and reply with a next step, usually within two business days.

If you lead an agency or a department, the diagnostic is the fastest way to see where your own AI governance stands before the conversation.

See the government brief

Common questions

If you are wondering whether this is for you, start here.

Certified Consultant, Artificial Intelligence

International Association of Artificial Intelligence Consultants