Two local governments now offer AI assistants built around public data, and they do quite different jobs. Washington, D.C. runs DC Compass, a tool that lets people ask questions of the city’s open data and turn results into maps. Maricopa County, Arizona runs Mari, a public chatbot, and Marco, a version for county employees. StateScoop covered both on August 31, 2026.
DC Compass next to Mari
| Point | DC Compass (Washington, D.C.) | Mari (Maricopa County) |
|---|---|---|
| Job | Ask questions of open data, build maps, get analysis help | Answer public questions (Marco does the same for county staff) |
| Built on | Esri’s ArcGIS Online | IBM Watson conversational models |
| Status | Public beta since March 2024; OCTO still treats it as a beta | Formal launch June 2026 after testing 11,000 prompts |
| Reported scale | More than 700 public datasets (per StateScoop) | More than 12,000 questions; 706 users a month on average |
DC Compass, the data tool
D.C.’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) and Esri announced a public beta of DC Compass on March 19, 2024, after a six-month private beta. The tool uses generative AI to answer data questions, builds maps from open data, and includes an AI assistant for analysis. People can use an existing account or a free community account.
Then-interim CTO Stephen Miller said at the launch, “You no longer need to be a data scientist or a spreadsheet wizard to analyze DC’s vast open data catalog.” StateScoop reports that DC Compass connects to more than 700 public datasets. The 2024 OCTO release used different wording, citing “nearly 2,000 open data sets” in one quote and “thousands” elsewhere, so the dataset count depends on the source and date.
Mari and Marco, the county chatbots
Maricopa County built Mari for the public and Marco for county staff, according to StateScoop. Mari has received more than 12,000 questions. About 14 percent concerned property taxes or payments, nearly 8 percent concerned pet adoption, and 3 percent concerned county jobs. The county keeps conversations for roughly 13 months.
Why It Matters to You
If you live in Washington, D.C., DC Compass lets you query the city’s open data and make maps without being a data specialist, using a free community account if you don’t have an existing one. It is a public beta and has been since 2024. If you live in Maricopa County, Mari is available now for public questions, such as property taxes or payments, pet adoption and county jobs. Marco is for county employees only.
Where they fall short
The 12,000 questions to Mari are a usage count, not a measure of accuracy or resident satisfaction. About 706 monthly users is small for a county of Maricopa’s size, and we found no figure for how many calls Mari avoided. DC Compass is built for working with open data, such as maps and analysis, not as a general city help line. Neither article gives a dataset count for Mari or Marco.
Common questions
Who built DC Compass?
D.C.’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer built it with Esri, using Esri’s ArcGIS Online platform.
Is DC Compass finished?
No. StateScoop reports that OCTO still considers it a beta and a foundational platform.
What is the difference between Mari and Marco?
Mari answers questions from the public. Marco is aimed at county employees.
Does DC Compass work in other languages?
We could not confirm it. The OCTO release page was offered in several languages, but the page does not say that the tool itself supports them.
Sources
- StateScoop: Cities are giving their AI chatbots a new dimension: geography (Aug 31, 2026)
- DC OCTO: Esri and the District of Columbia Partner to Launch DC’s AI-Powered ‘Compass’ (Mar 19, 2024)