Vidhu Shekar, Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer at Caltrans, presented Overview of Artificial Intelligence at Caltrans: A Framework for Enterprise Governance and Adoption at the ITS Berkeley Transportation Seminar on Sept. 11, 2026.
Abstract: This presentation examines how the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is adopting, governing, and scaling artificial intelligence across a large public-sector transportation enterprise. The work is based on California Executive Order N-12-23 and a CalSTA directive that establishes the Chief Data and AI Officer (CDAO). Together these authorities support an integrated model for aligning AI initiatives with organizational goals through unified data governance, ethical implementation, and cross-departmental collaboration. The presentation also elaborates on the 2026 -28 Data and AI Strategic Plan, a structured use-case framework and real-world deployments and a workforce adoption strategy aligned with the U.S. Department of Labor’s AI Literacy Framework. These efforts position Caltrans as an emerging model for state-level AI governance.
Bio: Vidhu Shekhar serves as Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer (CDAO) at Caltrans, where he leads the department’s enterprise data governance and artificial intelligence strategy. In this role, he provides executive leadership for how Caltrans manages, governs, and applies data and AI technologies to support safer and more efficient transportation systems for Californians. Prior to joining Caltrans, he served at Microsoft as the Americas Lead for Global Partnerships within Industry Solutions Delivery and previously as Government Strategy Lead for U.S. State and Local Government. His career also includes leadership roles at Workday and KPMG, as well as earlier public-sector experience spanning transportation, criminal justice, and municipal finance. He is the author of Generative Artificial Intelligence Use Cases in State & Local Government and participates in the University of Washington Mobility Innovation Center, the PacTrans-USDOT Region 10 University Transportation Center, and the National Academy of Sciences, supporting the responsible adoption of emerging technologies in the public sector. In 2025, he was named to GovTech’s Center for Public Sector AI 50 and nominated for the ITS America Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award. He holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California and is a Senior Executive Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government.