Case Study/Guide

The Denver Model: A City Manager's Guide to Transforming Resident Engagement with AI

Author: Mary Frances Coryell

National Awards and Recognition

Denver reshaped resident engagement with artificial intelligence. It's important to highlight the city’s leadership on the national stage—recognized in 2025 with several of the public sector’s highest honors for digital innovation and transformative use of technology. The City and County of Denver received the prestigious 2025 CIO 100 Award, honoring just 100 organizations nationwide that demonstrate outstanding achievement in deploying information technology for business value and public impact. This accolade recognizes not only technical prowess but strategic vision, as technology leaders from across the country gather annually at the CIO 100 Symposium & Awards to share breakthroughs in innovation, efficiency, and service delivery.

In addition, Denver was named an inaugural winner of the Center for Public Sector AI’s AI 50 distinction. This program recognizes the top organizations blazing new trails in the use of artificial intelligence to transform state and local government, spotlighting trailblazers who deliver measurable results for residents. Denver’s AI-powered chatbot “Sunny” was most notably honored among government AI deployments for making city services instantly accessible in 72 languages, drastically lowering 311 hold times, and setting a new benchmark for digital accessibility and equity in the public sector.

Summary

This case study explores how city, county, and state government leaders are using AI-powered chat solutions to revolutionize the way residents access information and services. Focusing on the success story of the City and County of Denver’s chatbot, “Sunny,” it examines the challenges of multilingual communication, digital accessibility, and operational efficiency for public agencies. Through direct insights from leaders at Citibot and the City of Denver, the case study offers practical guidance on deploying AI chatbots, highlights the profound impact on resident engagement, and lays out best practices for implementation. Readers will find compelling evidence, actionable recommendations, and thought leadership on how AI—and Citibot in particular—is reshaping the resident-government relationship.

Key Conclusions

• Denver’s AI chatbot, Sunny, has dramatically improved resident access to information, allowing over 95,000 residents to obtain answers and services in more than 45 languages, with over 100,000 questions answered and 5,000 service requests filed since March 2022.

• Multichannel access through website, SMS, and WhatsApp means 24/7 multilingual support for residents, creating more equitable service—especially for Spanish-speaking migrants and other language communities.

• AI-powered chat reduced costs by more than 90% per interaction, with each AI conversation costing roughly $0.35 compared to the $4 average for a human, freeing up resources for municipalities and delivering faster support.

• Implementation does not require extensive IT infrastructure. Citibot’s team works directly with city staff to deploy, integrate, and maintain the chatbot, usually by a small cross-functional team.

• Integration with systems such as Salesforce automates the routing of service requests, eliminating bottlenecks and ensuring residents’ needs reach the right departments swiftly.

• Real-time data dashboards allow city managers and communications directors to understand trends in resident inquiries, identify information gaps, and make data-driven decisions for improved services.

• Continuous learning: Resident feedback and interaction data guide the expansion and refinement of chatbot capabilities, letting cities evolve swiftly to meet changing needs.

• Maintaining control: Sunny use only curated, city-approved data sources, ensuring accuracy and authority in resident communication.

Key Quote

“Sunny has engaged over 95,000 residents, answered over 100,000 questions, and filed over 5,000 service request cases. We’ve seen 90% satisfaction. And if Sunny can’t answer the question, a resident can easily message a 311 agent for additional help. Don’t overthink it. This is a very easy and smooth process.”
—Rich Karbowiak, Marketing Technology Manager, City and County of Denver

How Government Leaders Use AI to Help Residents Connect and Get Answers

Connecting Communities in Real-Time: Why Accessibility Matters

When it comes to community engagement, city and county governments have always faced a daunting challenge: how to connect with tens of thousands of residents who speak dozens of languages, are always on the move, and expect instant answers. In Denver, that challenge was compounded by the city’s 50+ independently operating agencies, a sprawling web presence of over 2,500 pages, and an influx of new Spanish-speaking migrants drawn by economic shifts and crisis events.

Rich Karbowiak, Denver’s Marketing Technology Manager, reflects on the past: “We had residents who simply couldn’t find what they were looking for, and with our agencies operating so autonomously, information was scattered.” 

That gap led to frustration for both residents and city staff, compounded by ballooning call volumes to Denver’s 311 service and growing pressure to reduce costs.

That challenge crystallized during the recent migrant crisis, when Denver city leaders realized that traditional outreach wasn’t reaching key communities. “WhatsApp became essential,” recalls Rich. “For Spanish-speaking migrants, it was the platform of choice. To truly serve our community, we had to engage them where they were—not where we hoped they’d go.”

Sunny’s Arrival: An AI-Powered Bridge

Enter Sunny, Denver’s Citibot-powered AI chatbot. Launched in March 2022, Sunny was designed with one simple mission: make city information and services universally accessible, regardless of time, language, or digital literacy. Accessible 24/7 on the city website, SMS, and WhatsApp, Sunny allows residents to obtain answers, submit service requests, or check on city programs in their preferred language—instantly.

The impact was immediate and striking. In just over two years, Sunny has engaged more than 95,000 residents, answered over 100,000 questions, and submitted more than 5,000 service requests. Interactions are available in over 45 languages—a number that surprised even the city’s planners, who initially anticipated support for just five to ten major languages.

“For many residents, especially recent migrants, even calling 311 or reading an English-language website was a barrier,” says Rich. “Now someone can text in Polish, Somali, or Vietnamese; get an answer immediately; or start a service request completely in their own language. That builds trust in a way no static web page can.”

The Economics of Instant Answers

Efficiency gains have been equally transformative. Each interaction with Sunny costs the city about $0.35, compared to $4 for a 311 call—an order-of-magnitude savings that enables Denver to reinvest those dollars in critical services and new programs. And Sunny never sleeps; it processes requests long after the city’s physical offices close for the night, delivering on the promise of a city that is truly “always on.”

“Resident expectations have changed,” explains Mary Frances Coryell of Citibot. “People want the same always-connected, app-free convenience from their city as they get from their bank or favorite retailer. Citibot was built from the ground up to deliver that experience—securely, reliably, and in whatever language a resident prefers.”

The cost savings, Rich notes, are only the start: “With AI handling routine questions and requests, our staff can focus on the complex, human challenges. That’s a win for both sides.”

From Implementation to Integration: Lessons for City Managers

One of the most surprising aspects of the Sunny rollout, according to both Denver and Citibot, was just how simple the technical implementation proved. “This isn’t a major IT project,” Mary Frances emphasizes. “A cross-functional team of about five people got it launched. The heavy lifting—the AI models, natural language processing, web integrations—remains under the hood. The Citibot team handles setup, security, and ongoing customization.”

Citibot’s approach is CMS-agnostic, with the chatbot integrated by a single line of code into existing municipal websites. Data ownership remains with the city, securely hosted in the Amazon cloud and protected by enterprise-grade standards.

Integration with Salesforce allows service requests submitted through Sunny to be routed automatically to the appropriate department, with no manual triage, delay, or possibility for lost requests. The system can even ingest new press releases, web pages, or FAQ updates automatically, keeping answers accurate and up to date.

As Rich puts it: “You’re not siloing information or adding a shadow database. The integration honors your existing tech stack.”

The Power of Data and Real-Time Insight

Beyond convenience, the true value of AI chat for government manifests in the data. Every resident question becomes a datapoint, allowing cities to spot trends, identify underserved groups, and close information gaps as never before. Language analytics helped Denver discover that demand for Polish, Vietnamese, and other linguistic support far outstripped initial estimates.

“Before, we could only guess at what residents wanted,” Rich says. “Now, with Citibot’s data dashboard, we see exactly which topics are trending, which languages are used, and where we need to update our web content or service workflows.”

Monthly, quarterly, and annual reports from Citibot’s client success team provide ongoing insight, while dashboards are available in real time to city leaders and communications teams.

Key Learnings and Advice for Peers

Denver’s experience with Sunny and Citibot offers a roadmap for other state and local governments:

• Start Simple: Focus first on the 80% of questions and requests that generate the majority of call volume. Clean up and curate those core FAQs.

• Use Data to Drive Growth: Let resident usage—and the questions they ask—guide the next phase of content and service expansion. There is no need to “overthink” the initial launch.

• Accessibility Is Not Optional: Multilingual, multichannel access turns digital engagement into an inclusive service rather than a barrier.

• Security and Control Matter: Only city-curated, authorized data sources power the chatbot, maintaining control over answers and service routing.

• Iterate and Integrate: AI chat should not be a standalone tool, but rather an integral piece of the city’s communication and service delivery. Continuous updates keep it relevant and useful.

Denver reports 90% user satisfaction with Sunny. Feedback mechanisms ensure that if the chatbot can’t answer a question, there’s always a pathway to escalate to a human operator.

Looking to the future, Denver is exploring integrations between Sunny and a range of city services, from animal shelters to new program launches. The scalable API at the core of Citibot’s platform ensures the city can plug the chatbot into “just about everything,” as new needs and resident demands emerge.

For other city managers, communications directors, or IT leaders considering a move to AI-powered chat, the advice is clear: explore a pilot, start with the basics, and iterate rapidly. Citibot even offers the ability to test-drive the solution on your own website—just a name, email, and municipal URL away from instant, automated answers.

Conclusion

As governments across the country grapple with rising service expectations, language diversity, and mounting pressure to “do more with less,” AI-powered chatbots stand out as a proven solution. They cut costs, break down barriers, and deliver human-level connection and trust at digital scale.

Denver’s journey with Sunny and Citibot demonstrates what is possible when technology, leadership, and resident-centricity intersect. The city’s experience provides a replicable playbook for others seeking to bring their communities closer together.

The challenge for state and local governments is no longer about whether to deploy AI-powered chat solutions—but how quickly they can move to engage, listen to, and empower every resident.

As Sunny’s success in Denver proves: when governments meet residents where they are, everyone wins.

For Further Information

To see how AI can transform engagement in your community or to request a demo for your city, county, or state agency, visit Citibot.io. Begin with your most common resident questions—then use data to shape the journey ahead. https://www.citibot.io/demo