Commerce CTO Details Push on Agentic AI for Workforce, Enterprise Coordination

Department of Commerce Acting Chief Technology Officer Matheus Passos said the agency is deploying agentic artificial intelligence (AI) to support workforce productivity, enterprise coordination, and mission delivery, while emphasizing security and governance as central to adoption.  

During a GovExec webinar on Thursday, Passos said Commerce is treating agentic AI as a tool to augment – not replace – its workforce, while aligning deployments with a broader enterprise integration effort under its “One Commerce” initiative. 

“We believe that [agentic] AI, at least for the Department of Commerce, is going to be a great tool for us to plus up our workforce, right? Not replace anyone, but enhance them,” Passos said. “[It] will make them better. It will make them smarter. It will make their jobs easier.”  

The department’s approach is rooted in breaking down organizational silos across its highly federated structure, which includes components such as the Census Bureau, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.  

Passos said agentic AI can help coordinate across those disparate missions. 

“Agentic AI is a great tool for that. It’s kind of a great equalizer … it can look across the organization and try to start coordinating efforts in areas where people have completely different missions,” he said. 

Commerce is currently piloting nine agentic AI use cases, with a focus on structured, repeatable workflows where automation can act within defined boundaries. Early priorities include acquisition support, position description development, project management, and customer relationship management. 

“Acquisitions are probably a good entry point … they’re very structured, very action driven,” Passos said.  

Passos said Commerce is conducting a three-month deployment that begins with broad exposure and advances to hands-on agent development. 

He added that the phased approach is designed to build understanding and counter misconceptions about the technology’s role. The agentic AI rollout is paired with enterprise-wide training aimed at addressing workforce concerns and clarifying how the technology will be used.  

Security and data protection remain the primary gating factors for adoption. Passos emphasized that workforce trust hinges on strong safeguards. 

“If a leader, a stakeholder, and anyone in the workforce believes that their data is not secure and safe, they won’t touch it … They would rather be less productive,” he said. 

To mitigate risk, Commerce is testing agentic AI in controlled environments and labs, particularly sensitive data use cases tied to economic indicators and national security. 

“Our number one priority is often to stay on top of the vendors and make sure that the security vulnerabilities are being addressed,” Passos said. 

Looking ahead, Passos framed agentic AI as part of a continuous technology evolution rather than a final state. 

“Agentic AI is not the end game … there will be another thing,” he said. “We’re going to get this thing [and] put in your hand while we’re thinking about how we make this thing better and [then] what’s next.”