Inside Palm Beach's AI Strategy: How 'Ask Poli' is Modernizing Local Government Operations
What if your customer service team could cut voicemails by 90%, support residents in more than 70 languages, and deliver instant answers at 3 a.m.- all while reducing operational costs?
This isn’t a futuristic Silicon Valley prototype. It’s happening today in the Town of Palm Beach.
When Palm Beach launched its AI-powered chatbot, Ask Poli, in May 2025, it showcased something powerful: AI in government can strengthen civic engagement, improve transparency, and generate measurable efficiencies. The lessons extend far beyond the public sector and offer a roadmap for any organization seeking to scale support without expanding staff.
Transparency and Innovation: The Dual Mandate
Palm Beach’s AI strategy is rooted in what Administrative and Communications Manager Jess Savidge describes as the town’s “ongoing commitment to transparency and innovation.” This dual focus shaped the simultaneous rollout of Ask Poli and a redesigned Public Meetings Portal which are two interconnected tools designed to improve information access and streamline civic participation.
The launch followed a deliberate year-long development cycle.“Planning, configuration, and testing of the new platform began a year ago, with the project team holding its first meeting last September,” Savidge said. “The team embraced this opportunity to optimize the internal public meeting agenda process and address some of the reported pain points of the previous platform.”
To bring the system to life, the town partnered with Polimorphic, a govtech company backed by $18.6 million in Series A funding led by General Catalyst. Ask Poli uses content from the town’s website to deliver accurate, real-time answers in more than 70 languages and handling inquiries from parking permits to bridge openings with 24/7 availability.
Direct Benefits for Residents: Reimagining Civic Engagement
Ask Poli and the new Public Meetings Portal create an immediate impact for Palm Beach residents:
24/7, On-Demand Access
The chatbot removes the limitations of traditional business hours. Residents can access municipal information anytime—weeknights, weekends, or holidays. This flexibility is particularly helpful for working professionals, tourists, and individuals with mobility challenges.
Multilingual Support
With assistance available in 70+ languages, Palm Beach is investing in a more inclusive digital experience. In a recent social media post, Parth Shah, Polimorphic CEO and founder, noted that “Implementing AI features like the chatbot makes public information more accessible to everyone and contributes to a more inclusive and connected community.”
Easier Civic Participation
The upgraded Public Meetings Portal creates multiple pathways for engagement. “Members of the public can now submit written comments or register to speak virtually directly from the agenda itself,” Savidge explained.
Standardized agendas, centralized comment coordination, digital meeting packets, and email updates contribute to unprecedented transparency and consistency across government operations.
Smarter Use of Staff Time
Ask Poli handles routine questions instantly and directs more complex inquiries to the appropriate staff member. “The chatbot provides appropriate contact information if an inquiry requires human assistance, ensuring seamless handoffs to Town staff,” according to the town’s announcement.
Implementation Lessons for Corporate Adoption
Palm Beach’s timeline offers a clear blueprint for private-sector deployments: start with rigorous testing, refine content, and validate accuracy before going live.
The town maintained “a consistent testing percentage above 90 percent” during its summer validation period. This process uncovered a critical insight:
“Clear and current website content is essential,” Savidge emphasized. “During our testing, we discovered that sometimes you can discover conflicting, unclear or outdated and incomplete content.”
For businesses, this underscores a key point: AI does not fix content problems—AI exposes them. Successful deployments require well-organized, up-to-date information.
Quantifiable Returns: The Corporate Business Case
AI-powered customer service tools consistently deliver measurable ROI across industries:
Up to 90% fewer voicemails
75% reduction in walk-in requests
More than 55,000 combined staff hours saved across deployments
$3.50 return for every $1 invested in AI customer service technologies
Palm Beach is realizing similar internal gains. “Internally, the system supports more efficient workflows, saving time and cost,” Savidge said. “Tasks requiring multiple steps are now streamlined… and the platform offers significantly improved reporting, tracking, and search functionality.”
Corporate Applications Across Industries
AI chatbot technologies offer practical solutions across multiple sectors:
Financial Services | With 43% industry adoption, chatbots manage account inquiries, hours, and product details. Banks report higher customer satisfaction and faster response times.
Healthcare | Projected to reach $543.65 million by 2026, healthcare chatbots streamline appointment requests and prescription refills. One notable example comes from NIB Health Insurance who saved $22 million, cutting service costs by 60%.
Retail & E-commerce | Retailers using AI assistants for product availability and return policies see up to 30% higher conversion rates and 25% lower customer service costs.
Utilities | Electric, water, and telecommunications providers use AI to triage routine inquiries while escalating urgent issues to humans for faster resolution.
Across all sectors, multilingual capabilities are a game-changer—eliminating the need for multilingual support staff across all shifts while expanding accessibility.
Strategic Integration: Augmentation Over Replacement
Palm Beach’s AI ecosystem demonstrates that successful deployment isn’t about replacing traditional systems—it’s about enhancing them.
Ask Poli builds on an AI-enhanced search tool introduced in 2024, offering residents multiple ways to find the information they need. “While our previous system did offer a degree of public transparency, we believe the new platform is notably more user-friendly and accessible,” Savidge said.
For businesses, the lesson is clear: integrate AI in phases, refine its scope over time, and ensure users can choose the interaction method that works best for them.
The Broader Investment Thesis: AI in Governance
Palm Beach’s success illustrates why AI adoption is accelerating in the public sector. With over $90 billion spent annually on government IT in the U.S., but only 20% directed toward modernization, the opportunity for efficiency gains is massive, according to a July 2025 press release.
Venture investors agree.
“Government inefficiency creates billions of dollars in waste, a problem Polimorphic’s solutions are built to solve,” said Latif Peracha, General Partner at M13. “By digitizing how residents and cities interact, they are removing that wasted time and money from the system.”
General Catalyst Partner Sreyas Misra added: “AI is the jet fuel that accelerates this adoption,” highlighting the role intelligent automation plays in scaling services without increasing headcount.
Savidge echoed the power of public-private collaboration: “Polimorphic exemplifies what a true partnership should be: personable, professional, and deeply invested in shared success… their team has exceeded every standard through innovation, responsiveness, and a commitment to excellence.”
Conclusion
Palm Beach’s forward-thinking AI strategy demonstrates what’s possible when public sector teams embrace innovation with discipline and purpose. Its lessons apply universally: test rigorously, improve content continuously, use AI to augment human capabilities, and scale support without scaling staff
As the town continues to refine Ask Poli and expand its digital ecosystem, it offers a real-world model for any organization navigating digital transformation—and proof that modernizing service delivery is not only possible but profoundly impactful.
