In a May 11 op-ed-a manifesto of modern bureaucracy-and a post on the enigmatic X, Patel spins his tale. He, the ninth FBI Director, crowned on Feb. 20, 2025, paints AI as the savior in the bureau’s grand modernization opera. Yet, when he and Deputy Director Dan Bongino first stepped into this theater of the absurd, AI, he claims, was but a ghost, lurking in the wings with “almost zero role.” Lo and behold, an AI working group emerged, a chief AI officer was anointed, and an AI Review Board took its seat-a trinity of progress, or so the story goes.