Gov Copilot trial leader to direct DTA AI strategy

The leader of the Digital Transformation Agency's Microsoft 365 Copilot trial, Garrett Kelly, has been elevated to direct AI strategy.

Kelly, who was project manager for the federal government's now-concluded six-month trial of Copilot will now hold the title of DTA director of AI strategy and engagement as of this month, according to his LinkedIn.

Before taking on the Copilot trial last November, Kelly was assistant director for the DTA’s AI in government taskforce.

The DTA declined to comment on Kelly’s new role, saying that it only commented on executive appointments of a certain level.

“This is fairly common practice and is done to mitigate any potential security and privacy risks," a DTA spokesperson said.

The DTA launched the whole-of-government Copilot trial in March 2024 in an effort to “enhance productivity and develop skills, capabilities and preparedness for generative artificial intelligence (AI)” across the public service.

The trial saw 7769 Copilot licenses distributed across 5765 users and 60 participating agencies.

An evaluation report by the DTA found the tool was not able to be integrated into day-to-day processes or with important records repositories during the short trial period.

As a result, many agencies used Copilot only “a few times a week” or less, and their high expectations went “unmet”.

Other agencies, such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics, had to conduct separate generative AI trials because most of their data is in non-M365 systems, “making it inaccessible to Microsoft Copilot”.

The DTA is currently in discussions with Microsoft on the next version of its volume sourcing agreement, including the extent to which it will cover Copilot, which comes at an additional cost on top of M365 licenses. 

A number of agencies, including CSIRO and Geoscience Australia, have extended their use of Copilot since the trial.