Sandy Springs' push to use artificial intelligence in its permitting process drew a regional spotlight on Aug. 14, when more than 100 elected officials and 400 industry professionals gathered at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center for a conference devoted entirely to AI in development.

The Council for Quality Growth's annual INTERSECTION Development Conference, themed "The AI Era of the Built Environment is Here," brought together leaders from 87 local governments to discuss how AI is reshaping permitting, planning and construction across metro Atlanta, Rough Draft Atlanta reported.

Sandy Springs is at the center of that conversation. The city hired Keith McMellen as its first director of data strategy, analytics and AI integration in January 2025, and its community development department is now working with permitting software vendor OpenGov on AI features aimed at cutting the number of review cycles a permit goes through before approval.

For homeowners, contractors and design professionals who use the city's OpenGov portal, fewer review cycles could mean weeks shaved off project timelines. Sandy Springs' hilly terrain, tree canopy and stream buffers make its permitting process particularly complex, as Community Development Director Ginger Sottile has acknowledged.

"Sandy Springs' unique natural features, trees, waterways and varied terrain, make it a beautiful place to live and work but they can also present design and regulatory challenges," Sottile said in April 2025, when the city launched its free EasyBuild program to simplify permits for small residential projects like decks and accessory structures under 500 square feet.

The OpenGov AI work builds on that effort. No timeline or performance target has been released.

City's broader AI investment

The permitting collaboration is one piece of a larger AI strategy. The city's fiscal year 2027 budget, approved June 16, includes $883,200 for a new Office of Innovation and Delivery with three full-time employees reporting to City Manager Eden Freeman. The office is tasked with streamlining AI tools across permitting, public safety and community engagement.

The city also adopted a $36,000 contract with GovAI, an enterprise AI platform, in May 2026. As of early August, at least 125 city staff members were actively using it, according to Government Technology. An AI pilot program that started with 20 staff grew to 37 participants, who reported saving one to five hours of work each.

McMellen told Government Technology in August that permitting AI has a "much more narrow scope of information" than the city's general-purpose AI assistant, which handles everything from event schedules to trash service questions.

Mayor Rusty Paul framed the city's position bluntly at a June 16 council work session: "We've come a long way from where we were. In talking to other cities, there are very few, in fact I don't know any that are anywhere close to where we are today."

What contractors heard at the conference

At the Aug. 14 conference, Jeff Hiller, co-founder and CEO of AI permitting platform Alynea, described how his company plugs into local government systems to pre-screen applications before a human reviewer ever sees them.

"Instead of waiting weeks … months, how do you submit something and instantly get feedback?" Hiller said. "It basically acts as a filter at the beginning of the process, so as you're submitting your application, there's no way to move forward to the reviewer's desk unless you've actually been pre-approved."

Woodstock Mayor Michael Caldwell raised a caution at the same panel: compressing review timelines could outpace residents' ability to weigh in on proposed developments.

The city has not announced when the OpenGov AI features will go live or what metrics it will use to measure success. The Community Development department's FY2027 budget stands at $7.3 million.