The Government Huddle with Brian Chidester

Mathew Lehnig, a former combat-proven Veteran & Navy SEAL Officer, accomplished author, keynote speaker, executive coach, and the Vice President of Programs at EXCELR8 joins the show to share leadership insights from his military background that align to both government and industry professionals alike. We also discuss what a day with Independence Day means to him and dive into the most common...

Teri Takai, Former Chief Information Officer for the US Department of Defense, State of California, & State of Michigan & the SVP at e. Republic’s Center for Digital Government joins the show to discuss the current drivers of change in government modernization. We also talk about what “putting the citizen in the center” really means to a CX leader, how she has seen this focus change since...

Justin Davis, Associate Chief of Customer Experience at State of Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) joins the show to discuss how artificial intelligence is changing how the agency is supporting the state’s resident experience and service delivery. We also talk about his approach to effectively drive programmatic change within an organization and what it will take to deliver predict...

Michael Leahy, former Secretary of the Department of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer for the State of Maryland joins the show to discuss the key principles of his verifiable government framework. We also talk about his IT governance approach while he served as the State of Maryland CIO and his advice to organizations looking to avoid vendor lock-in and manage costs effectively...

Brian Fox, Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships at Omni Federal and the Former Director of the National Security and Intelligence Portfolio at 18F joins the show and we dive into some of the pockets of innovation happening in government and why it has exploded the way that it has in recent years. We also talk about the work he is doing at Omni Federal, how his experience in government has sha...

Lawrence Eta, Vice President, Digital and Analytics for the Royal Commission for AlUla & Author of “Bridging Worlds: A Journey of Technology, Leadership, and Public Service” joins the show to discuss how his personal and professional journey influenced his new book. We also talk about his strategy to align to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, his thoughts on how technology will be most impactful in...

Bob Lavigna, Senior Fellow, UKG Public Sector and the Founding Director, for the Institute for Public Sector Employee Engagement joins the show as we celebrate Public Service Recognition Week and we reflect on the importance of employee engagement. We also talk about the 2024 human capital management “megatrends” that government should be focused on which are redefining the employee/employer relat...

Ott Velsberg, Global AI Thought Leader and Chief Data Officer of the Government of Estonian joins the show to discuss Estonia’s new AI and data strategy which is built on three main pillars: a data-driven economy and society, an AI-driven government and society and trustworthy, human-centric AI and data governance. We also talk about the country’s approach to digital citizen experience and why Est...

Mark Wheeler, Director with the General Services Administration’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS), Centers for Excellence in Data & Analytics & former CIO for the City of Philadelphia joins the show to discuss the role data is playing across government, especially in the proliferation of AI technology.  We also discuss the learnings he brought as an urban planner to his role for t...

Jason Adolf, Vice President - Global Public Sector Vertical at Appian Corporation joins the show to discuss the current landscape for low-code platforms in federal, state and local government agencies. We also discuss the renewed emphasis on the  “citizen developer” movement and why CIO’s are finding value in the democratization of application development. Future trends are also discussed as we lo...

Marina Nitze, the former Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the author of the book “Hack Your Bureaucracy: Get Things Done No Matter What Your Role on Any Team” joins the show to discuss some key takeaways people should know to help them navigate their organization in a more efficient way. We also talk about how she got started at the Department of Veterans Aff...

Matt O'Neill, former Secret Service Deputy Special Agent in Charge of Cyber and one of the most decorated Agents in the history of the law enforcement branch joins the show to discuss the latest trends he sees across the government fraud landscape and how he sees AI changing the game. We also hear some stories about how he lured fraud criminals to the United States to be prosecuted and he shares s...

Trevor Pawl, the nation’s First Chief Mobility Officer from the State of Michigan joins the show to talk about why he suddenly left his dream job to spend a year traveling the globe with his wife and kids. In our conversation we discuss struggles he had with balancing his career and his personal life and what he learned during his year-long sabbatical. We also tap into some of his government exper...

Rachel Weissman, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of Potential AI joins the show to discuss the impact that artificial intelligence will have in the public sector and the role of governments in equipping citizens for an AI-centric world. We also talk about AI trends to look for in 2024, we examine how AI mirrors and reveals societal biases and values, and debunk the myth of AI as a replace...

Mark Greene, former Navy SEAL and the author of the book Unsealed: A Navy SEAL's Guide to Mastering Life's Transitions joins the show to discuss his evolution from college athlete to college dropout, then from SEAL training to enlisted SEAL, and from sniper to civilian, which led him to discover the six predictable phases of transitioning. We also talk about his time at University of Southern Cali...

Jill Olmstead, Managing Director and Federal Health Industry Leader at Accenture Federal Services joins the show to discuss the latest trends impacting healthcare and what has changed since the pandemic. We also discuss the importance for organizations to become “future fluent” within their technology choices, examples of ways she is supporting federal agencies and we dive into her passion for sup...

Charles Grindle, Ph. D, Former Chief Information Officer for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and Senior Advisor at ProofPoint joins the show to unpack and discuss the top ten priorities for State CIO’s revealed by the National Association for State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO). In our candid discussion we talk about the difference between digital transformation and modernization, why putting t...

Chris Hughes, Cybersecurity Thought-Leader & the President & Co-founder of Aquia joins the show to discuss some of the important things that public and private sector leaders and practitioners need to know going into 2024 around cyber. We also talk about programs including FedRAMP & CMMC, why security by compliance isn’t the best path an agency can take, and what should governments be...

Travis Howerton, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of RegScale joins the show and allows us to jump into the head of a founder CEO to understand some of the challenges he faces and what he does to stay sharp. We also discuss his thoughts on the future of work, how his experience in government inspired creating RegScale, and what trends he is seeing in government that will impact 2024.

Brett Johnson, Former U.S. Most Wanted Cybercriminal, ”The Original Internet Godfather" and one of the leading authorities on cybercrime, identity theft, and cybersecurity on the planet joins the show to tell his story of how he went from being convicted of 39 felonies, being the leader of the first organized cybercrime community, Shadowcrew… to redemption, and how what he is working to stop indiv...

Melinda Rogers, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Information Resource Management & Chief Information Officer at the US Department of Justice joins the show to shed some light on what is it like being a digital leader in such a high-profile organization. We also talk about her approach to implementing a zero trust framework at her department, how she has seen the cybersecurity landscape ov...

Charlotte S. Lee, the Industry Advisory Chair for Customer Experience at ACT-IAC and Strategic Lead for CX & Innovation at Granicus joins the show to discuss what type of mindshare she believes there is in government around CX and the growth that was catalyzed by the executive order around experience. We also talk about where the CX executive order fell short, some predictions for 2024 around...

Danelle Barrett, Former US Navy Rear Admiral & Director of Current Operations at U.S. Cyber Command joins the show to discuss her book “Rock the Boat” and the lessons she has learned across her life and career. We also talk about traits that she believes good leaders must possess, what she felt like she learned from her mentors, and why her current battle with brain cancer has changed her pers...

William D. Eggers, Executive Director of the Deloitte Center for Government Insights & Donald F. Kettl, Professor Emeritus & former dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, and the co-authors of the book “Bridgebuilders: How Government Can Transcend Boundaries to Solve Big Problems” joins the show to discuss their new model for a modern government that they introd...

Jamie Grant, CEO and Co-Founder of RedLeif and Former State of Florida Chief Information Officer joins the show to unpack his time at the Florida Digital Service and what the priorities of state IT leaders look like in 2023. We also talk about his time in the Florida State Legislature and how that helped him during his tenure as CIO, his thoughts on collaboration across state leadership, and the b...