The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the formation of a new AI Task Force aimed at accelerating the agency’s responsible integration of AI technologies across its operations.

Valerie Szczepanik, a veteran SEC official and newly appointed Chief AI Officer, will lead the initiative. The task force is designed to centralize and coordinate AI efforts across divisions, promoting innovation while ensuring oversight and trust in AI-driven systems.

“The AI Task Force will empower staff across the SEC with AI-enabled tools and systems to responsibly augment the staff’s capacity, accelerate innovation, and enhance efficiency and accuracy,” said SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins in the agency’s press release. “By ingraining innovation into our culture SEC-wide, we will further our mission to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.”

The task force will support existing innovation initiatives within the SEC while removing institutional barriers, identifying high-impact use cases, and reinforcing governance structures to ensure AI adoption is mission-aligned and trustworthy.

Szczepanik, who previously led the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology, emphasized the task force’s goal of advancing enterprise-wide AI transformation. “I look forward to accelerating work already underway in the SEC’s divisions and offices to build enterprise capacity for AI innovation and implement AI solutions that are trustworthy, effective, and mission enhancing,” she said.

The announcement underscores the growing role of AI in financial regulation, particularly in areas such as market surveillance, fraud detection, and streamlining internal operations. The SEC joins a growing number of federal agencies seeking to modernize their practices through emerging technologies, as calls increase for regulators to both oversee and responsibly leverage AI systems.

The task force’s formation comes as the SEC navigates the evolving technological landscape while maintaining its investor protection mandate.

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