Artificial intelligence is transforming the way organizations operate, bringing new opportunities and challenges to IT leaders. In a new video interview, Mark Fournier, CIO of the United States Senate Federal Credit Union (USSFCU), shares his insights on the evolving role of AI and how his organization is adapting to this technological shift.
While AI and machine learning can be used in many ways, the credit union is particularly excited about the potential of large language models. “We have a few ideas in the pipeline that could be very interesting in the short term for our internal users and hopefully good use cases in the long term to serve our members directly,” Fournier says.
One area in particular involves managing AI workloads, the security and cost implications, and the importance of data protection. “Security is certainly a top priority for us,” he says, explaining that managing data in-house allows for more precise control and quick adjustments. With members that include Senate staff and other government employees, protecting sensitive personal financial information is crucial to USSFCU.
Fournier also discusses the challenge of managing IT resources and the need to leverage the expertise of technology vendors.
“We can’t pretend to have the resources of big banks in terms of staff or big government agencies,” he says. To address this, the credit union partnered with Broadcom to leverage VMware Cloud Foundation and private AI initiatives. This collaboration helps USSFCU optimize infrastructure without hiring a lot of new employees, allowing the team to focus on innovation rather than technical hurdles.
Looking ahead, Fournier says in the interview that he is focused on upskilling current staff. “We want to stay focused on the short term right now and be flexible,” he says. The goal is to invest in the existing talent pool, upskilling them to build a solid foundation for future AI applications.
Learn more about how government technology leaders see the innovation potential of AI and the infrastructure platforms they need to secure their data.
This video roundtable was produced by Scoop News Group for FedScoop and underwritten by Broadcom.
