In this episode of Disruption/Interruption, host KJ speaks with Jon Kokot, co-founder and CEO of Civic, an AI-native gov-tech company tackling the massive backlog of constituent communications flooding government offices. Jon shares how Congress received 80 million pieces of correspondence in 2024 alone, driven by AI drafting tools that have lowered the barrier for citizens to contact their representatives. Civic's platform auto-categorizes inbound messages, maps constituent concerns geographically, and helps offices respond with actionable data so that staff can reclaim hours of their day. Jon discusses the company's first customers in New York City processing 311 data, beta users in the US House of Representatives, and a mission to give residents real agency in the American democratic experiment.

Key Takeaways:

• 5:00 — What is driving the surge in government correspondence?
• 15:35 — Who are the early adopters of this gov-tech platform?
• 24:30 — How does Civic's platform handle a 300,000-email backlog?
• 25:20 – When will staffers see meaningful time savings after switching?

Quote of the Show (4:47):
"We want to improve the function of our democracy so that residents feel that they have agency in this American experiment."— Jon Kokot

Join our Anti-PR newsletter where we’re keeping a watchful and clever eye on PR trends, PR fails, and interesting news in tech so you don't have to. You're welcome.

Want PR that actually matters? Get 30 minutes of expert advice in a fast-paced, zero-nonsense session from Karla Jo Helms, a veteran Crisis PR and Anti-PR Strategist who knows how to tell your story in the best possible light and get the exposure you need to disrupt your industry. Click here to book your call: https://info.jotopr.com/free-anti-pr-eval

Ways to connect with Jon Kokot:
Company LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/get-civic
Company Website: https://get-civic.com

How to get more Disruption/Interruption: 

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=disruption+%2F+interuuption