CivicLabs—a joint venture between CivicActions and Huntridge Labs—recently convened leaders from government and industry for a virtual roundtable examining how public-sector organizations can move from abstract principles to practical implementation of ethical AI.
Held January 22, 2026, the CivicLabs Roundtable Series: Defining Ethical AI brought together experts across policy, technology, and procurement to discuss how agencies can responsibly adopt AI systems while maintaining transparency, accessibility, and accountability.
The discussion featured:
- Owen Barton, CTO, CivicActions
- Bennett Gebken, CTO, Huntridge Labs
- Jaime Gracia, Director of Corporate Affairs, The Wolverine Group
- Ron Jones, CEO, G2X
- Danielle Mouw, FAR Practitioner Workstream Team, GSA
- Joel Natividad, Co-CEO and Co-founder, datHere
- Liz Tupper, Senior Director of Product, CivicActions (Moderator)
A central theme of the discussion was that ethical AI is not a property of technology itself—it is the responsibility of the people and institutions that design, deploy, procure, and govern it.
“AI cannot be ethical. It’s basically on us, the people who build it and deploy it, who need to be ethical. It’s up to us.” — Joel Natividad, Co-CEO and Co-founder, datHere
Panelists emphasized the importance of establishing practical guardrails for AI use in government, including transparent procurement processes, governance frameworks, and ongoing oversight as AI systems evolve.
“The real challenge is not about making the AI ethical—it’s about the people and putting the right guardrails in place.” — Liz Tupper, Senior Director of Product, CivicActions
Speakers also addressed the unique procurement challenges posed by AI systems, which often behave differently from traditional software.
“AI is less of a calculator and more like a weather forecast—it’s non-deterministic. When agencies procure AI, they need the right ‘harness’ around it to manage risk, transparency, and accountability.” — Ron Jones, CEO, G2X
Accessibility emerged as another critical component of responsible AI deployment in public-sector environments.
“It’s not just about people using assistive technologies to interact with AI systems. It’s about ensuring what AI produces is accessible and free from bias from the start.” — Liz Tupper, Senior Director of Product, CivicActions
