The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, titled "Texas Towns Unprepared for What's Coming in 2027" and published June 25, 2026, warns that rural Texas communities are dangerously underprepared for the anticipated 'intelligence farming' wave in 2027. Host Justin McKenzie sat down with Katie Milton-Jordan, founder and CEO of SimpleEDO.ai, in Mason, Texas, to discuss how volunteer mayors and lean city councils lack the visibility that site selectors already enjoy, and how AI can level the playing field for under-resourced communities.
Milton-Jordan, who built SimpleEDO.ai from her work with the Kerr Economic Development Corporation, argued that economic development leaders must optimize for both revenue and risk as the AI economy accelerates in public-sector workflows. "AI is just really democratizing this access to people who didn't historically have access to it. So a lot of these strategies that were only available to bigger communities or people with deeper pockets are now available to that volunteer mayor," she said.
The conversation explored several key themes, including the risk of 'tribal knowledge' inside municipalities and small economic development organizations, and the potential of 'context mining' of town hall records and board meeting archives to surface constituent signals. McKenzie and Milton-Jordan also discussed regional collaboration across the Texas Hill Country versus traditional county-line silos, and highlighted the Texas Venture Gala and Forum hosted by C.S. Freeland, where Milton-Jordan was named Texas Venture Fest of the Year.
A significant portion of the discussion focused on data centers landing in rural America and what their site-selection metrics reveal about the information gap. Milton-Jordan noted that site selectors arrive armed with tools, funding, and research, while civic leaders often operate blind. She pointed to a practical fix: synthesizing years of public-record minutes, surveys, and board cadences with AI to expose historical constituent signals. This approach, she argued, can help rural communities compete for economic development opportunities.
The episode also previewed the Hill Country Venture Fest, returning October 1 through thetownie.ai, and reflected on Miles Murray, a Tyvee graduate spotlighted at a prior Kerrville-area Venture Fest focused on energy and biofuels.
The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles founders, civic leaders, and ecosystem builders shaping Texas innovation from the Hill Country to major metros. New episodes drop weekly across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, with sponsorship support from Chisos Boots. "Texas Towns Unprepared for What's Coming in 2027" is available now wherever podcasts are heard.
