Coffee, Code, and City Hall: How the City of Bellevue Became Govstream.ai’s First Design Partner

I still vividly remember that first meeting at Bellevue City Hall. It was a windowless bright room, with a big whiteboard, and a room filled with energy, curiosity, and ambition. Across from me sat Bellevue's Development Services and IT leadership team, eager to sketch their vision for a smoother, less frustrating permitting process.

Their challenge was clear: Could we partner on innovation to eliminate friction, delays, and frustration for city staff and the community? Could we actually help build homes faster, cheaper, and with far fewer headaches? There were no elaborate presentations, no legal documents flying—just a genuine desire to get things done better, faster, and smarter.

Throughout my career in GovTech, starting from the early days at Socrata back in the 2010s, I’ve worked to help public servants wrestle sprawling data into something useful. It’s hard, often slow, and honestly, government tech can be a graveyard of good intentions. So when we founded Govstream.ai last year, our bar was intentionally set high and clear: if our products don't make a permit technician's day noticeably easier by lunch, we’re doing it wrong.

Bellevue was already ahead. The team had spent months exploring ways to leverage AI, seeking genuine solutions rather than shiny tech demos. Instead of a traditional 200-page RFP, they posed a more profound question: “Could we adopt an iterative approach—run a focused pilot, hone in on specific challenges, and learn by doing?” That single question set the tone. We agreed right then—this partnership would be built on prototypes, not PowerPoints.

Enter the Design Partnership

We kicked off an open, collaborative software development process—user-first by design, not technology-first. We’d already built the first version of Govstream.ai, centered around what we call Conversational Workflow—AI assistants that guide interactions naturally, rather than force applicants into a maze of rules and documents.

Our first step was to deeply understand the problems, not just from leadership’s perspective but from the front lines—spending days listening to permit technicians, reviewers, and planners. These sessions crystallized the challenges and opportunities. From there, we crafted a pilot plan, forming a tight-knit team: two outstanding project managers from Bellevue’s Development Services and IT departments, alongside a passionate group of subject matter experts from every permitting discipline—land use, building, fire, and more.

We started small, rapidly building prototypes, showing our work weekly, collecting feedback, and immediately incorporating it. Every iteration was transparent, every decision collaborative, building confidence and trust as we progressed. And soon enough, we began seeing results.

What We’re Building—Together

• Staff-first AI assistant: Now live, our tool helps staff instantly surface accurate, location-specific zoning rules and code requirements directly from their inboxes or the call center—eliminating the traditional struggle through layers of PDFs and disconnected systems.
  
• Transparent answers: Every AI-generated response is linked directly to the specific municipal code or GIS data that informed it, so staff can quickly verify—and adjust if necessary.
  
• Real-time learning loops: Our weekly reviews ensure every staff suggestion and correction helps refine the system, continuously improving accuracy and utility.
  
  

Why It Matters

Permitting may not seem exciting, but it’s the thin, crucial line separating a housing crisis from a housing solution. Shaving just weeks off permit processing—or preventing one extra frustrating trip downtown—translates directly into real savings and quicker housing solutions for the community. Bellevue’s willingness to partner closely, to test and critique, provides a powerful blueprint for responsible and effective AI use in permitting.

The Road Ahead

Phase one of our pilot remains focused internally, because trust and effectiveness must start within city hall. Once we receive consistent feedback indicating real-world usability (“I’d genuinely use this again”), we’ll expand to include applicants directly—imagine clear, guided chat interactions that automatically pull accurate, current zoning information without manual searches.

There will undoubtedly be bumps along the way. AI models will occasionally miss, and technical issues will crop up just before a major permit rush. But that's startup life, especially in civic tech. The key difference: Bellevue is eager to navigate these bumps alongside us—learning and improving together.

Personally, not just as Govstream.ai’s Founder, I am deeply grateful to the planners, reviewers, permit technicians, and IT professionals who have opened their screens, calendars, and insights to help us get this right. And of course, none of this would even be possible without the awesome founding team at Govstream.ai: Gia, Kevin, Ola, Bryce (our intern), and our partners who work with us every day. With this crew, I feel we can do anything we set our hearts on. We’ll continue to share openly about our journey—what’s working, what’s not, and how we’re fixing it.

If your city shares Bellevue’s spirit of curiosity, openness, and innovation, I would love to hear from you. Let’s build something transformative together.

Onward,

Saf Rabah
Founder & CEO, Govstream.ai
Follow me on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/safrabah/