The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is planning to give its chief data officer (CDO) broader access over agency data following a reorganization of the office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), according to a  FedScoop report. NRC wants the additional visibility to inspire improved data quality and governance, which are key to AI success. 

Speaking at the agency’s seventh AI Workshop on September 15, Basia Sall, CDO at NRC, said, “One of the exciting things that happened in OCIO and directly under my division is we not only have AI and data but now we include application development. As a CDO, that gave me full access to the entire data lifecycle.”

Measuring Outcomes, Not Tool Counts

NRC Chief AI Officer Caroline Carusone said the agency’s updated strategy will focus on measurable outcomes, and not on the number of tools deployed.

“A year from now, we don’t want our success story to be: we deployed five more AI tools,” Carusone said. “What we really want is to hear that an inspector spent less time on administrative work… that a technical reviewer found relevant information faster, or that a newer employee could easily tap into decades of institutional knowledge.”

She said employee training is expanding, focused on knowing when AI is appropriate, how to check its output, and when human judgment should override it.

Data Quality Comes Before AI

NRC leaders tied the expanded data oversight directly to better data quality. “AI is not going to work if we don’t have the data,” Sall said.

As part of the reorganization, NRC also created a dedicated data-analytics branch. Analytics staff were previously spread across the agency. Now they work together as one team.

An Integrated Approach to AI Governance

NRC is taking a smart, integrated approach to AI governance. Giving its CDO access to the full data lifecycle can help connect data quality, governance and AI use instead of treating them as separate responsibilities. 

The agency’s plan to bring its AI-governance, data-governance and investment-review boards together is also commendable: it can reduce silos, align technology decisions with data standards and ensure more consistent oversight. 

For CDOs, this kind of coordination is important because responsible AI depends not merely on choosing the right tools, but also on knowing what data those tools can use, how it is governed and whether proposed AI projects deliver meaningful value.