Your Agency Has a Deadline - Here Is How to Meet It
Under Texas Government Code Section 2054.5193, every state and local government employee who uses a computer for 25% or more of their duties must complete DIR-certified AI awareness training each fiscal year. The annual reporting deadline is August 31.
If you are an IT manager, HR director, or department head responsible for making this happen, the process can feel daunting - especially if you are managing hundreds or thousands of employees across multiple departments. The good news is that implementing this training does not require months of planning or a dedicated project team.
This guide breaks the entire process into three clear steps. Whether your agency has 20 employees or 20,000, you can follow this same framework to go from zero to fully compliant.
Step 1: Assess Your Training Requirements
Identify Which Employees Need Training
The law applies to employees who use a computer for 25% or more of their regular duties. In practice, this covers the vast majority of government workers - from administrative staff and analysts to managers and executives. If an employee regularly uses email, databases, spreadsheets, or any digital system, they almost certainly meet the threshold.
Start by working with your HR department to generate a list of all positions that involve computer use. For most agencies, it is simpler to assume all employees need training and then exclude only those in purely manual or field roles with no regular computer access.
Calculate Your Employee Count
You need a firm headcount for two reasons. First, it determines your budget. Second, the DIR requires agencies to report the total number of employees required to complete training alongside the number who actually completed it. Pull your current employee roster and identify:
- Total full-time employees
- Total part-time employees who use computers regularly
- Contract workers who fall under your agency's technology policies
- Employees on leave who will need to complete training upon return
Determine Your Budget
Training providers typically offer two pricing models: individual enrollment and bulk or enterprise pricing. Individual enrollment works well for small offices. Bulk pricing - which usually comes with significant volume discounts - makes more sense for agencies with 50 or more employees. Contact providers directly for enterprise quotes, as pricing often depends on your total headcount and contract duration.
Review Your Agency's Existing AI Policies
Before deploying training, check whether your agency already has internal AI usage policies. Some state agencies and larger municipalities have published acceptable use policies for generative AI tools. The DIR-certified training covers broad standards, but you may want to supplement it with agency-specific guidance. Knowing what policies already exist helps you set expectations with employees before they start the course.
Tip for Agencies with Limited IT Staff
If your agency does not have a dedicated training coordinator, assign the task to your HR director or an office manager. The actual deployment is straightforward - the most time-consuming part is gathering your employee list and coordinating enrollment. The training itself is entirely self-paced and requires no IT infrastructure on your end.
Step 2: Select a DIR-Certified Training Provider
What DIR Certification Means
The Texas Department of Information Resources maintains a list of certified AI awareness training providers. To earn certification, a provider's curriculum must address three specific standards defined in the DIR AI Training Program Certification Standards:
- General explanation of AI - including how public sector employees can use AI in their work
- Risks and limitations of AI - covering accuracy issues, bias, data quality, and contextual limitations
- Best practices for responsible and ethical AI use - including human oversight, privacy, transparency, and accountability
Certification means the provider's course has been reviewed and approved by DIR as meeting all three standards. This is not a general "AI course" - it is specifically designed to satisfy the legal requirements under Texas Government Code Section 2054.5193.
What to Look for in a Provider
Not all certified providers offer the same experience. When evaluating your options, prioritize these factors:
- Accessibility compliance - Government agencies must meet accessibility standards. Look for providers that meet WCAG 2.2 AA or AAA standards, not just basic compliance.
- Self-paced format - Employees need flexibility to complete training around their work schedules. Live sessions create scheduling headaches at scale.
- Verifiable certificates - You need proof of completion that can be independently verified. Look for providers that offer certificate verification by ID or URL.
- Compliance reporting tools - Managing completion tracking in spreadsheets is painful. Choose a provider that gives you a dashboard showing who has completed training and who has not.
- Bulk enrollment options - Enterprise enrollment features save significant time compared to having each employee register individually.
Why Agencies Choose Evolve AI Institute
Evolve AI Institute is a DIR-certified training provider that was built specifically for government compliance. Here is what sets our platform apart:
- WCAG 2.2 AAA accessibility - The highest level of web accessibility compliance, exceeding the minimum requirements for government platforms
- One-hour self-paced course - Employees can complete training in a single session or across multiple sittings, with progress saved automatically
- Instant certificates - Certificates are issued immediately upon passing the final assessment, with a unique verification ID and QR code
- Employer verification portal - Agency administrators can verify any employee's certificate by entering the certificate ID on our public verification page
- Bulk enrollment and compliance dashboards - Enroll your entire workforce at once, then track completion rates in real time from a dedicated dashboard
- Volume pricing for agencies - Significant discounts for organizations enrolling 50 or more employees
Evolve AI Institute has trained over 1,000 professionals in responsible AI use, and our work has been recognized by Forbes, Harvard, and the White House.
Step 3: Deploy Training and Track Compliance
Choose Your Enrollment Method
There are two primary approaches to enrollment:
- Individual enrollment - Each employee registers and completes training on their own. This works well for smaller agencies or departments under 50 employees. You can distribute a registration link via email and let employees self-enroll.
- Bulk or enterprise enrollment - Your agency sets up an enterprise account with a designated number of seats. Employees receive a unique enrollment code that automatically links them to your organization and bypasses individual payment. This is the preferred approach for larger agencies because it gives you centralized control over tracking and reporting.
For enterprise enrollment, contact our team to set up your agency account. We will assign your organization a dedicated enrollment code and configure your compliance dashboard.
Set an Enrollment Timeline
Do not wait until July to start. While the training itself takes only about an hour, coordinating enrollment across a large agency takes time. Here is a recommended timeline:
| Timeframe | Action |
|---|---|
| March - April | Complete Steps 1 and 2 - assess requirements and select a provider |
| April - May | Set up enterprise enrollment and distribute access to employees |
| May - July | Employees complete training at their own pace |
| July | Send reminders to employees who have not yet completed training |
| Early August | Final push - follow up with remaining employees and escalate if needed |
| By August 31 | Generate compliance report and submit to DIR |
Track Completion Across Your Organization
If your training provider offers a compliance dashboard, use it. At Evolve AI Institute, agency administrators can log in at any time to see:
- How many employees have registered
- How many have completed the course and passed the assessment
- Who specifically has not yet started or finished
- Certificate IDs for each employee who has completed training
This data makes it easy to send targeted reminders to employees who are falling behind rather than blasting the entire organization with generic follow-up emails.
Generate Compliance Reports for DIR
When the August 31 reporting deadline arrives, you will need to provide DIR with documentation of your agency's compliance. A proper training provider should let you export a compliance report that includes your total employee count, the number who completed training, the completion percentage, and individual certificate details.
Evolve AI Institute provides downloadable CSV exports and printable compliance summaries designed specifically for DIR reporting. You can generate these reports directly from your agency dashboard - no manual data compilation required.
Verify Employee Certificates
Each certificate issued by Evolve AI Institute includes a unique certificate ID (formatted as TX-AI-YYYY-XXXXXX) and a QR code. Anyone can verify a certificate's authenticity by visiting our public verification page and entering the certificate ID. This is useful for HR departments that need to confirm an employee's training status, especially for new hires or transfers who completed training through a different enrollment path.
Quick Implementation Checklist
- Identify all employees who use a computer 25% or more of the time
- Get a firm headcount of employees who need training
- Determine budget and choose individual or bulk enrollment
- Review existing agency AI policies
- Select a DIR-certified training provider
- Set up enterprise enrollment or distribute registration links
- Communicate timeline and expectations to employees
- Monitor completion progress monthly
- Send reminders to employees who have not completed training
- Generate and submit compliance report to DIR by August 31
Get Started Now - Not in August
The biggest mistake agencies make is treating AI awareness training as a last-minute checkbox. Waiting until summer to begin enrollment means you are competing with vacation schedules, budget cycles, and the inevitable employees who procrastinate until the final week.
Starting early gives you time to troubleshoot any issues, accommodate employees on leave, and avoid the stress of an eleventh-hour compliance scramble. The training itself takes about an hour per employee. The coordination is what requires lead time.
If you are ready to get started, register for individual enrollment or contact us for enterprise pricing. For more details on the legal requirements behind this mandate, read our complete guide to Texas Government Code Section 2054.5193.