AI integration is being carefully implemented across the state
C Spire stands as a testament to what Mississippi companies can achieve with artificial intelligence (AI).
The telecommunications provider has integrated AI across customer service, network optimization, and operations, delivering substantial efficiency gains and cost savings.
What distinguishes C Spire’s success is its investment in workforce development and cultivation of an innovation-embracing culture, according to Dr. Kollin Napier, director of the Mississippi Artificial Intelligence Network (MAIN).
“What makes C Spire successful is its commitment to developing an AI-ready workforce and fostering a culture that embraces innovation,” Napier explained. “This people-first approach demonstrates how leadership, training, and trust in technology can work together to deliver measurable results.”
That people-first philosophy represents a crucial lesson as businesses across the Magnolia State and beyond grapple with AI implementation. While AI offers massive potential for efficiency, many companies struggle with how to implement it effectively. Challenges include high implementation costs, a lack of skilled talent, and understanding how to align AI initiatives with strategic goals.
Gerard Gibert, a radio host of SuperTalk Mississippi and business-appointed member of the Mississippi AI task force, emphasized that adoption patterns vary dramatically.
“It’s more of a case-by-case basis,” he said. “Some companies are deriving tremendous benefits from injecting the technology into their operations, and some companies are still trying to figure it out, so everybody’s at a different level of implementation.”
The fear of missing out (FOMO) drives considerable investment, Gibert noted, but determining where technology fits organizationally remains challenging. Costs factor into the equation, yet massive investments continue flowing into the sector, accompanied by widespread optimism about returns.
Walmart exemplifies the transformative potential. The retail giant reports tremendous productivity gains and cost reductions in supply chain and inventory management through AI implementation. Perhaps most remarkably, Walmart deployed an AI-powered bot that handles all vendor negotiations. Companies seeking to become new Walmart vendors or renewing existing contracts now negotiate with bots rather than human procurement teams. Walmart reports the bots secure more favorable terms and pricing than their human predecessors managed.
“Who would have thought that bots could successfully automate the entire vendor contracting process and produce better outcomes than humans?” Gibert pointed out.
Understanding the distinction between generative and agentic AI proves essential for businesses charting their AI strategy. Generative AI, the category most people encounter through tools like ChatGPT, creates content from prompts-text, video, or documents. Agentic AI, however, promises the greatest business value, though implementation proves more complex.
“It’s limited only by your imagination,” said Gibert, “and a lot of companies and their staff struggle to figure out (AI implementation), since this is brand new, they don’t have any blueprint to rely on where it makes sense.”
Ernst & Young provides a compelling agentic AI case study. The firm’s head of HR described at an August AI conference how the company incorporated agents throughout their hiring process, from identifying prospective candidates through interviewing and onboarding. For a company with 500,000 employees constantly hiring worldwide, the productivity gains prove substantial.
The IT management software company ServiceNow has embedded AI throughout its platform, from HR to IT support to network management. These tools help businesses maintain their IT systems with unprecedented efficiency. Gibert said that mainstream application software tools used across industries increasingly partner with AI developers, incorporating intelligence into their platforms. This trend makes AI accessible even to small businesses through their existing operational software.
“We’re going from just automating the transactions to enhancing those transaction processing systems to be more intelligent, to be smarter, and to perform some of the functions that humans do in operating those systems,” said Gibert.
For Mississippi specifically, Napier identified limited AI awareness and training as both the primary challenge and greatest opportunity. Many companies stand ready to explore AI but require clear direction, affordable access, and skilled workforces to implement it effectively. MAIN bridges that gap by aligning education, workforce development, and industry partnerships into a unified statewide ecosystem.
“Mississippi’s close-knit business and education communities give MAIN the ability to move faster, connect resources efficiently, and deliver real value where it is needed most,” said Napier.
MAIN’s statewide engagement reveals most Mississippi businesses occupy the early adoption phase, exploring how AI might improve operations, customer service, and decision-making. The greatest opportunity awaits in helping companies transition from experimentation to integration by building workforce confidence and practical skills. MAIN provides training, resources, and connections that clarify where AI creates genuine value.
Strong potential exists for Mississippi to lead in applied AI adoption across manufacturing, logistics, energy, and small business innovation as awareness grows and talent pipelines expand. Over the next three to five years, Napier anticipated AI will reshape traditional industries while creating new jobs in data, automation, and technology management.
“MAIN is working to ensure that every community in Mississippi has access to the training and tools needed to benefit from this transformation,” Napier emphasized. “By aligning education, workforce development, and industry partnerships, MAIN is helping Mississippi build a competitive and inclusive AI economy.”
MAIN supports businesses through no-cost AI training and workshops, workforce skills development, and connections between industry leaders, education, and government partners. Statewide partnerships with Intel, AWS, and NVIDIA help Mississippi companies identify practical applications and prepare teams for the future of work.
Gibert cautioned that AI tools cannot substitute for human creativity. Generative AI leverages and capitalizes on what humans have already created, processing and assembling that information rapidly. One area where expectations have exceeded reality involves automating software coding. While AI tools save time generating initial code, significant human intervention remains necessary to polish the output into functional finished products.
“Expectations are set too high sometimes,” suggested Gibert, regarding coding automation disappointments.
Nevertheless, Gibert remains confident that fully automated coding will eventually arrive, along with AI that emulates human decision-making combined with video processing, high-performance computing, and networking. Quantum computing on the horizon promises to accelerate these changes further.
“It’s not that it’s necessarily doing anything humans can’t do,” Gibert said. “It’s just doing it way more efficiently, effectively, reliably, and faster.”
AI expert Chris Chism of Pearl pointed out the greatest mistake businesses make when considering AI integration: “Taking full advantage of what these language models have to offer. Most simply use AI to edit documents or help write emails. They’re so much more powerful than this surface-level usage. With the proper training, the user can create time saving models that can amplify efficiency, saving hours of desk time. These models can make predictions, give insights into data, and scan millions of websites/documents/ data within seconds. Businesses can use these models to help with finances, legal matters, business planning, and even do market research in the blink of an eye.”
The technology stands not in its infancy but its embryonic stage, as Gibert described it: nascent yet rapidly developing. For businesses willing to invest in workforce development, thoughtful implementation, and realistic expectations, AI offers transformative potential. The question facing Mississippi companies is not whether to adopt AI, but how to do so strategically, responsibly, and effectively.
AI Policy Update: Mississippi Task Force Charts Course
Mississippi’s AI task force is building the knowledge base necessary to recommend sound policy to the legislature. The group has held three meetings since its formation in late spring, including sessions at Mississippi State University (MSU) and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
Senate Technology Chair, Bart Williams, emphasized the state task force’s singular mission: policy recommendation.
“As AI continues to develop,” he said, “it will become clear where we need to create policy.”
At MSU, members toured AI-integrated programs, including the CAV Center’s autonomous vehicle research and agricultural AI initiatives.
“The tour was more about gaining an understanding of how Mississippi State is infusing AI throughout the university across all of their educational and research programs,” said Gibert.
Williams outlined the task force’s approach: visiting AI hotspots statewide rather than conducting hearings exclusively in the capital. When examining specific sectors like healthcare or manufacturing, the group may invite industry experts as temporary members.
“We didn’t want to build a board that’s too big and bulky,” Williams explained.
The task force complements the Governor Tate Reeve’s AI initiative launched earlier this year, which positioned Mississippi as a national leader. Williams noted that no other state has implemented AI statewide as Mississippi has done.
Federal policy attempts have complicated the landscape. Williams referenced a congressional bill proposing a ten-year hold on AI implementation.
“That’s going to stifle the industry,” he said, emphasizing that public safety remains paramount while avoiding excessive restriction.
Gibert acknowledged policymakers’ challenge.
“Anytime you’ve got novel technology that’s hard to define and frame, it always makes it difficult for policymaking,” he said. “You don’t want to impose so much policy that it becomes an impediment to innovation, but you also want to protect people from possible risks and threats of this technology to privacy and safety.”
The Information Technology Services agency has been charged with inventorying how state agencies use AI. Williams and Representative Jill Ford will incorporate those findings into the task force’s deliberations as they work toward policy recommendations.