From Practice to Classroom: AI in Public Procurement Education and Management

Governments are beginning to see artificial intelligence (AI) as a way to boost productivity and knowledge, including in procurement, a core function of public service delivery. Drawing on the experience of Murray City, Utah’s early adoption of generative AI in request for proposals (RFP) development, and insights from prior literature, we highlight lessons for students and practitioners. We provide a step-by-step instructional guide for educators to facilitate iterative prompting using AI tools within a human-in-the-loop governance framework, demonstrating real-world AI integration in public service delivery. In aligning these lessons with public procurement practices, we focus on AI’s ability to function as an improvisational thought partner that augments human intelligence when practitioners face extreme time constraints, critical staffing shortages, competing responsibilities within the task environment, and an unprecedented scope of demands. Implications for public values and pedagogy are discussed.