Innovation Heroes

How to Build a Smart City (In Just 4 Months)

Innovation Heroes

Show Notes

State and local governments are under pressure to deliver modern services, but budgets, staffing shortages, and long procurement cycles make innovation feel impossible. In this episode of Innovation Heroes, host Ed McNamara talks with three leaders proving that AI-powered Smart Cities aren’t a futuristic concept. They’re happening now.

SHI’s Jack Hogan and Denise Collison join NVIDIA’s Michael Sherwood to unpack how a 2,500-person mountain town deployed wildfire detection, accessibility compliance automation, traffic intelligence, and a digital AI ambassador in just four months. They reveal how SHI’s “Imagine, Experiment, Adopt” methodology helps governments move from reactive to proactive decision-making, and why interoperability, ecosystem partnerships, and accelerated AI infrastructure are reshaping what’s possible.

Key Takeaways

How SHI helped Vail, Colorado, deploy four AI solutions in record time

Why “start small” is the secret to unlocking Smart City momentum

The role of NVIDIA’s full-stack AI platform in rapid prototyping

How governments can overcome talent gaps, funding barriers, and resistance to change

Guests:

Jack Hogan, VP of Advanced Growth Technologies, SHI

Denise Collison, SVP of Public Sector Sales, SHI

Michael Sherwood, Sr. Business Manager for State & Local Government, NVIDIA

This episode is sponsored by NVIDIA.

If you're facing the complexities of enterprise AI deployment and generative AI implementation, you're not alone.

As AI initiatives move from experimentation to production, CIOs and technical leaders struggle with AI infrastructure scalability, LLM model governance, and ROI validation.

Discover how SHI and NVIDIA's integrated solutions address these challenges head-on: www.shi.com/partners/nvidia

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