AI Strategy

CDC's AI Strategy (FY 2026 - 2030)

As the nation's premier public health institution, CDC is harnessing artificial intelligence to support its mission of protecting Americans from health threats. By using AI and establishing public private partnerships, CDC is working to accelerate disease detection and response, reduce burden on staff and partners, and drive operational excellence.

For decades, CDC has pioneered the use of advanced analytics and predictive modeling in public health, from flu forecasting to outbreak detection. Now, the scale and speed of modern AI capabilities are transforming the way CDC works to advance public health and protect Americans from health threats.

In alignment with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) AI Strategy, and other federal directives and guidance1 this strategy outlines four strategic pillars to advance public health with AI:

1. Support Public Health with Accelerated AI Adoption
2. Strengthen AI Governance and Public Trust
3. Advance AI Capabilities Across CDC's Enterprise Data Platforms
4. Empower an AI-Ready Workforce to Unlock Innovation

Consistent with CDC's mission and Public Health Data Strategy, these pillars together define CDC's approach to advancing AI in support of public health. Each pillar is supported by a vision and strategic objectives that outline focus areas and opportunities for collaboration across CDC programs, partners, and the broader public health ecosystem.

As CDC advances its AI strategy, key considerations, clear performance metrics, prioritizing initiatives, and aligning resources will be continually assessed and refined. This living AI strategy covers FY2026–FY2030 and will be refreshed as policy and technology evolve.

Pillar 1. Support Public Health with Accelerated AI Adoption

Vision

CDC is developing and deploying AI solutions that modernize how public health challenges are anticipated, identified, and addressed. By integrating AI into public health workflows and fostering cross-sector collaboration, CDC aims to reduce burden, improve decision-making, and accelerate impact across the public health landscape.

Strategic Objectives

• Identify, develop, and validate sustainable AI solutions to enhance public health prevention, detection, and response to infectious diseases and emerging threats.
• Integrate AI into appropriate CDC public health workflows to reduce administrative burden and improve operational excellence at all levels of public health.
• Evaluate, pilot, and, where appropriate, deploy agentic AI systems to support adaptive, goal-driven automation that: surpass traditional models in flexibility and decision-making; promote effective use of public health data; strengthen research, data sharing, and data integration; and accelerate access to data.
• Foster partnerships with the private sector, academia, state, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) public health authorities, and federal agencies to enhance programmatic and operational AI capabilities for public health impact.

Pillar 2: Strengthen AI Governance and Public Trust

Vision

CDC is working to uphold rigorous standards of transparency and accountability when it comes to the use of AI2. Through clear enterprise technology and data governance, risk-based oversight, and effective communication with partners and the public, CDC will focus on strengthening public trust in the use of AI for public health and aims to ensure it is used effectively to protect health and privacy.

Strategic Objectives

• Publish actionable and relevant resources to support accelerated and sustained AI adoption across STLT public health agencies.
• Establish risk-proportionate controls for external third-party AI systems implemented within CDC in an effort to develop consistent evaluation of privacy, security, and risk.
• Ensure CDC’s use of AI fully aligns with applicable existing federal security and privacy requirements: AI systems incorporated into CDC’s enterprise architecture will be treated as federal information systems under the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA); any use of personally identifiable information (PII) in the AI system will be governed by applicable federal law (e.g., the Privacy Act and the E-Government Act); and, where applicable, any use of protected health information (PHI) will comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules.
  
• Review existing CDC policies as needed, to ensure alignment with requirements and all applicable directives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Executive Office of the President.

Pillar 3: Advance AI Capabilities Across CDC Enterprise Data Platforms

Vision

CDC is investing in scalable, secure, and interoperable data platforms that enable researchers, programs, and partners to innovate and collaborate. By supporting transparent data access and reuse, CDC aims to accelerate scientific discovery and strengthen public health operations at scale.

Strategic Objectives

• Utilize CDC Enterprise Data Platforms as core infrastructure for secure, scalable, and sustainable access to AI tools and data across CDC programs and STLT public health agencies.
• Develop and share internal guidance on enterprise data platforms and access pathways to help CDC staff confidently navigate the AI ecosystem.

• Prioritize enterprise solutions and partnerships from HHS to strengthen departmental interoperability, reproducibility, and shared innovation.

• Publish information on available AI resources — highlighting the importance of data standards and Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reusability (FAIR) data principles in AI-enabled data sharing and integration.

Pillar 4. Empower an AI-Ready Workforce to Unlock Innovation

Vision

CDC is fostering a future-ready workforce equipped to lead in the age of AI. Through leadership engagement, comprehensive training, cross-agency collaboration, and a culture of innovation, CDC aims to ensure its staff, leadership, and STLT partners can confidently adopt and shape AI tools to meet evolving public health needs.

Strategic Objectives

• Promote AI fluency at CDC by supporting grass-roots innovation through the CDC AI Community of Practice and the development of technical expertise across the agency.
• Promote AI workforce capability among STLT public health agencies.
• Leverage opportunities provided by HHS and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to recruit and retain top AI and data talent to include exploring assignments and fellowships.
• Expand centralized, role-based training to provide foundational and advanced AI education by using internally developed resources, external training resources, and upskilling opportunities.
• Partner with peer HHS Divisions to establish a common baseline for best practices around training, governance, and use for emerging technologies across the Department.