Polco News & Knowledge

5 Ways Polco’s AI-Powered Tools are Revolutionizing Public Sector Operations

Written by Polco Product Team | May 13, 2025

In today’s fast-moving world of civic leadership, time is short, budgets are tight, and expectations are high. But what if you had intelligent tools that could analyze complex data, write grant proposals, surface community insights, and support strategic planning, all in seconds?

Enter Polco’s AI suite: Polly and Grace.

These aren’t just helpful bots. They’re AI agents purpose-built for public service, trained on the most comprehensive government performance data set in the country. They understand the nuance of local government, and they’re already transforming how communities operate.

Here are 5 ways Polco AI is helping public servants do more, with less effort and more impact:

1. Turning Data Overload into Instant Insight

Polly, Polco’s AI assistant, is connected to a vast library of public sector data via Polco’s Track module, powered by the GPAL dataset. This includes hundreds of performance indicators across domains like safety, economy, health, housing, and more.

Instead of spending hours combing through spreadsheets or reports, staff can ask Polly questions like:

  • How does our violent crime rate compare to peer cities?
  • What’s the trend in housing cost burden for renters?

In seconds, Polly surfaces answers with context, charts, benchmarks, and even plain-English summaries. It’s like having a data analyst on demand, only faster and always available.

2. Writing Better Grants - without Hiring More Staff

Grace, Polco’s AI grant-writing agent, assists communities in identifying and articulating funding needs with precision and clarity. She doesn’t just spit out generic copy. Grace leverages real Track data - like broadband access gaps, income disparities, or environmental resilience scores - to write tailored, high-quality narrative content for grant applications.

Whether it’s a small infrastructure grant or a multi-million dollar proposal, Grace can:

  • Analyze local conditions
  • Identify relevant challenges and metrics
  • Draft compelling justifications
  • Reuse and adapt content from previous applications

And she’s learning all the time. That means every grant cycle gets easier.

3. Bridging the Gap Between Elected Officials and Staff

One of the biggest challenges in local government? Everyone’s working hard, but not always from the same playbook. That’s where Polly’s strategic planning capabilities shine.

Need to prepare for a council retreat or policy session? Ask Polly for a livability snapshot, trend breakdowns, or performance highlights. She’ll generate briefing-ready content backed by resident survey data, federal stats, and national benchmarks.

Now, everyone’s looking at the same facts - and decisions can be made with confidence.

4. Democratizing Access to Powerful Technology

Polly and Grace don’t just serve large, well-resourced cities. Their insights are just as available to small towns, rural counties, and regional agencies. That’s by design.

Thanks to Polco’s structured data foundation and intuitive user interface, these AI tools can deliver powerful results without needing a data science team or extensive training. And because they’re built with public sector privacy and security in mind, governments can trust them with sensitive work.

The result? A more level playing field - and better outcomes for communities of all sizes.

5. Supercharging Everyday Government Workflows

Polly and Grace aren’t here to replace the human element of local government. They’re here to amplify it.

Whether it’s:

  • Supporting a grant coordinator’s workload
  • Helping a planner analyze neighborhood-level data
  • Equipping a city manager with a fast turnaround presentation
  • Or enabling a communications director to post data-driven content in minutes...

Polco’s AI agents are designed to embed into daily workflows and make high-quality civic work easier to deliver.

They’re not gimmicks. They’re co-pilots for a new era of smarter governance.

Ready to see Polly and Grace in action?

Try Polly today and discover how AI can amplify your community’s voice and vision.
Learn more about Polco AI >>