AI helps secure municipal services, but it is not free

What has AI already achieved in municipal services?

When did you last need services from Kirkkonummi municipality? In Konnevesi, the municipality piloted AI for processing and paying out private road grants. Automation cut the average processing time from two and a half months to days.

In the project, funded by Sitra, AI prepares a draft decision, which an official then reviews and approves. A small municipality would not have had the resources to do this alone, but in collaboration with seven other municipalities the project succeeded. AI cannot simply be added to municipal operations without significant investment.

One of the main reasons I entered local politics is to secure services. It matters that shared resources are used responsibly and wisely. It matters equally that Kirkkonummi residents receive the services their taxes are meant to fund — in Finnish and in Swedish.

How should a municipality approach AI adoption?

AI is now delivering on expectations of automation and rapid change. The Konnevesi project is a clear example of this. First, forms are digitised; then AI prepares draft decisions; finally, a human reviews them. A good rule of thumb is that a machine should never make a negative decision. Unclear cases always go to a human.

AI is not, however, a tool that can simply be dropped into municipal operations. It is a long-term investment. Municipalities need to identify which services they want to develop, then design those services for automation — only then can the machine be brought in. There are no quick wins with AI; it requires money. Kirkkonummi has faced financial challenges for years, and the coming years look no easier given necessary school projects and a weak employment situation.

Why should small municipalities collaborate on AI?

Kirkkonummi is not large enough to justify developing its own AI-based services from scratch. From a national perspective, the best approach would be to spread Konnevesi-style reforms widely across municipalities. That way, an individual municipality’s resource constraints would not stand in the way of improving services. Valuable expertise would also be freed up to handle more complex cases and develop services further.

AI is here to stay. The question now is how Kirkkonummi residents want to integrate it into the municipality’s services. AI is also reshaping private sector work — software developers have gone through the same journey from doubt to acceptance. Digital development does not happen in isolation: digital independence is built one step at a time, and 2026 is the year of AI in municipal services too.