EOTSS offers state agency employees a secure AI sandbox — a walled-off testing environment — that lets them experiment with generative AI tools without risking exposure of sensitive government data to public AI systems. The sandbox was established in 2024 and serves as the foundation for EOTSS's AI Center of Excellence.

The AI sandbox is a cordoned-off, cloud-based environment where state employees and agency teams can test generative AI use cases without their inputs being used to train public AI models. The sandbox was initially developed with assistance from Northeastern University's Burnes Center (through the GENIE project) and is administered by the EOTSS AI Center of Excellence, established in 2024. All executive branch project teams intending to use or procure AI are required to complete an AI Project Risk Evaluation reviewed by the Center. The sandbox preceded the broader ChatGPT enterprise rollout and served as the testing ground for many of the agency-specific AI use cases now moving into production.