The Government Huddle with Brian Chidester

Crom Carmichael, a government contracting entrepreneur, investor, and historian joins the show to explore what a truly efficient government could look like and what history has shown us to be the best way achieve one. We discuss his journey into political philosophy and the creation of his educational platform, Giants of Political Thought, and dive into the historical roots of government. Finally,...

Amita Prabhu, Amber Lao, and Kaila Cage from Adobe’s Public Sector Digital Strategy Group join the show unpack the inspiration, methodology, and key findings of the report, which benchmarks digital maturity across U.S. state governments. Together we discuss the origins of the DGI and how it evolved from a side project into a strategic benchmarking tool and why the three pillars of digital maturity...

Laura Bennett, host of the Coach’s Corner Podcast and a principal at BDL Consulting joins the show for a candid conversation on leadership, resilience, and how to take meaningful steps forward amid uncertainty. Together, we explore what it truly means to be resilient—not just to withstand challenges, but to actively navigate through them and emerge stronger. Laura shares insights from her coaching...

Richard Carson, author of the best-seller The Book of Change and an experienced public sector leader joins the show to explore the evolving landscape of organizational change management. Drawing on over 30 years of experience across local, regional, and state government, he shares why effective change isn’t about technology alone—but how organizations adopt and adapt around it. From the bureaucrat...

Howard Cohen, former Senior Advisor at the Department of Defense's Defense Media Activity and current strategist at CX Studios joins the show to unpack the power of non-kinetic capabilities in modern defense strategy. From web consolidation and cost-saving at scale to safeguarding national security through strategic communications, he shares insights from his work leading digital modernization acr...

Mathew John, the award-winning Creative Director at the United States National Park Service joins the show to explore the transformative power of storytelling in the public sector. From growing up as a second-generation American in small-town Ohio to producing emotionally charged films for America's most treasured public lands, Mathew shares how his lived experiences and emotional intuition fuel h...

Mia Jordan, Global Go-To-Market Executive at Salesforce and former USDA Chief Information Officer, and Josh Millsapps, CEO of Millsapps, Ballinger & Associates join the show to explore the importance of platform strategies over one-off projects to ultimately drive strategic value for government agencies. Together, we unpack what is driving the rising appetite for change across federal agencies...

Dr. David Bray, Former Chief Information Officer of the Federal Communications Commission and CEO at Lead Do Adapt Ventures, and the Honorable Ellen McCarthy, former Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research join the show for a candid, wide-ranging conversation about the evolving landscape of data, digital trust, and national security. We unpack how the explosion of...

Andrew McClanahan, Senior Director at LexisNexis Risk Solutions for Government Relations rejoins for Part Three of the conversation around government program integrity and we tackle the urgent "so what" in today’s government assistance landscape — what can agencies actually do to strengthen their fraud, waste, and abuse defenses amid tightening budgets, AI-driven bot attacks, and mounting operatio...

Jim Richberg, Head of Cyber Policy and Global Field CISO at Fortinet rejoins the show for a timely discussion on the fast-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and we unpack AI’s unprecedented energy demands, its implications on national infrastructure, and the critical cybersecurity considerations government agencies must navigate in this new era. Jim also shares his "Three Rules for Gove...

Andrew McClanahan, Senior Director at LexisNexis Risk Solutions for Government Relations rejoins for Part Two of the conversation around government program integrity and he unpacks the increasing state responsibilities for service delivery and the tough financial balancing acts agencies face while grappling with program reforms, fraud prevention, and privacy protection. We also discuss Medicaid wo...

Sandy Carter, Author of the new book “AI First, Human Always Author” and the Chief Operating Officer of Unstoppable Domains joins the show to dive into the inspiration behind her latest book and shares why empathy and people-first strategies are essential for the future of artificial intelligence. We also unpack topics like AI trust gaps around the world, the critical role of human oversight in AI...

Kevin Greene, Chief Security Strategist for the Public Sector at BeyondTrust joins the show for a critical conversation on the evolving cybersecurity landscape in government. Together, we explore the mounting pressures government agencies face from increasingly sophisticated threat actors—and the urgent need for a proactive, threat-informed defense strategy. He also shares his perspectives on the...

Andrew McClenahan, Senior Director of Government Relations at LexisNexis Risk Solutions and former program leader at the Florida Department of Children and Families joins the show to dissect the growing concerns surrounding program integrity and fraud mitigation in federal and state benefit programs. We dive into what’s happening on Capitol Hill—from executive orders and agency mandates to the shi...

Jay Shah, former Chief Operating Officer of Octo and now Strategic Advisor at Technomile joins the show to explore how small and mid-sized companies can scale effectively and thrive amid federal market shifts. We also unpack his personal journey from helping build Octo from the ground up to navigating multiple acquisitions and get his candid perspective on the evolving landscape of government cont...

Mika J. Cross, Public Sector Workforce Transformation Strategist and former Government Executive joins the show to explore the evolving dynamics of the modern government workforce and together we unpack the critical issues surrounding return-to-office mandates, skills-based hiring, generational shifts in workplace expectations. We also dive into what it truly means to build a resilient, future-rea...

Larry Katzman, Chief Executive Officer of Applied Information Sciences (AIS)joined the show for a candid and insightful conversation on the evolving landscape of technology in government. We discuss his journey from developer to CEO and the intentional leadership practices that have guided AIS through decades of digital transformation in both federal and commercial sectors. We also dive into the c...

Hannah Hunt, Distinguished Technical Fellow at MetroStar and former Chief of Product at the Army Software Factory joins the show to share how her government experience is now shaping her impact from the private sector. She also offered candid insights on software factory success metrics, the challenges of scaling innovation within bureaucracy, and how emerging technologies like generative AI can b...

Oleg Polovynko, the Chief Advisor for Digitalization to the Mayor of Kyiv, Ukraine and Former Kyiv Chief Information Officer returns to share how the city has evolved through crisis, transforming its digital infrastructure amidst a full-scale invasion. From the launch of Misto—a platform designed to help cities adapt best practices—to reflections on the pandemic’s unexpected role in building resil...

Justin Brown, CEO of the Center for Public Sector AI and former Secretary of Human Services for the State of Oklahoma joins the show to level-set on where things stand with AI adoption in government—especially at the state and local levels. From small-scale AI implementations to larger strategic trends, we explore how emerging technologies are reshaping service delivery across health and human ser...

Mohammad J. Sear, Global Public Sector Consulting Leader at EY and Author of “Becoming Digital Nations,” joins the show for a deep dive into his new book while also sharing his inspiration behind the book and the bold ideas that drive his vision for rethinking governance, service delivery, and nation-building in a digital-first world. We also explore the difference between digitizing legacy system...

Dominic Sale, Managing Director at Code and Theory for Public Sector and Deputy Chief Information Officer of the United States joins the show to discuss the current state of government modernization and the critical need to reimagine public service delivery. We also deliberate on what government’s ultimate metric should be, and how experience, efficiency, and transparency are all levers to get the...

Savanrith Kong, the First Chief Experience Officer for the United States Department of Defense joins the show to discuss why customer experience is critical in defense and national security. He also shares personal reflections on his leadership journey, insights from building the DoD's CX office from the ground up, and the strategic importance of storytelling, data-driven decisions, and user-centr...

Arun Gupta, Chief Executive Officer of NobleReach Foundation joins the show to discuss innovative approaches to integrating top talent from the private sector into public service. He shares his personal journey and parallels between his early aspirations to become a sports general manager and his professional experience as a venture capitalist and the critical importance of assembling the right te...

Akash Mandavilli, Co-founder of GovEagle joins the show to explore how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the government contracting process. He also shares insights into how AI can accelerate proposal development, improve accuracy, and help organizations navigate the evolving landscape of government acquisitions and he covers trends in AI adoption, strategies for winning contracts, and th...