Federal Tech Podcast: for innovators, entrepreneurs, and CEOs who want to increase reach and improve brand awareness
The federal government spends $90 billion on technology every year. If you are a tech innovator and want to expand your share of the market, this is the podcast for you to find new opportunities for growth. Every week, Federal Tech Podcast sits down with successful innovators who have solved complex computer system problems for federal agencies. They cover topics like Artificial Intelligence, Zero Trust, and the Hybrid Cloud. You can listen to the technical issues that concern federal agencies to see if you company’s capabilities can fit. The moderator, John Gilroy, is an award-winning lecturer at Georgetown University and has recorded over 1,000 interviews. His interviews are humorous and entertaining despite handing a serious topic. The podcast answers questions like . . . How can software companies work with the federal government? What are federal business opportunities? Who are the cloud providers who work with the federal government? Should I partner with a federal technology contractor? What is a federal reseller? Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-gilroy/ Want to listen to other episodes? www.Federaltechpodcast.com
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Ep. 338 Federal AI Readiness Starts with Mission Outcomes
08/11/2026
Ep. 338 Federal AI Readiness Starts with Mission Outcomes
Everyone has read about how much productivity AI can have for federal applications. That allure can lead you into a situation where you may not be as prudent as you should be. Today, we sat down with Jamie Holcomb, COO of Electrosoft, and Steve Riley, VP and Field CTO of Netskope, to better understand how to balance the promise of AIAI with practical application in the federal government. Steve Riley has looked at federal technology projects, and he thinks that the government must get out of their pilots and into operations, measuring results and impact that is meaningful to the taxpayer. They highlight the rapid advancements in AI, noting that government agencies struggle to keep pace with commercial innovation. Riley thinks agents are great for gathering, assimilating, and assessing information. It is probably not time for them to have independent agency. A survey reveals that 78% of federal leaders believe AI tools should be managed like users or devices within zero trust frameworks. Only 31% of federal IT leaders have high visibility into public AI tools. Because of Jamie Holcomb’s experience at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, he thinks success comes down to action, not architecture. From his view, agencies need timely intelligence connected directly to operational decisions. The conversation emphasizes the need for federal agencies to balance innovation with security, particularly in predictive AI and zero trust strategies, and to prioritize AI discovery and integration.
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Ep. 338 Securing Federal Software Factories with GitLab
08/06/2026
Ep. 338 Securing Federal Software Factories with GitLab
For decades, software was “bespoke.” Each application was carefully crafted to solve a specific problem. When this was applied to the federal government, they discovered that this process was slow and unpredictable. The solution: a software factory. From custom-built software to software that could be created in an organization that had a “bubble” that could standardize on federal security guidelines. From there, they could deliver safer, higher-quality software much faster. Today, we sit down with Jorge Lopez, Vice President of Security Operations and Trust and Safety at GitLab, to discuss the concept of software factories in the federal government. Lopez admits the importance of visibility, collaboration, and compliance in these factories. However, during the interview, he notes that gaps in DevSecOps often stem from organizational issues, such as miscommunication between security and development teams. He emphasizes the need for proper monitoring, incident response, and managing secrets to mitigate risks. Digging deeper, he states that if a federal organization does not have monitoring in place, they will only discover a problem after it happens. One approach is to go to the people responsible for defending the software. Lopez has seen success when security operations teams and software factory teams talk to each other. Lopes also discusses the impact of AI on code production and the importance of proactive measures to ensure software factory security.
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Ep. 337 40% Faster Contract Awards with AI
07/30/2026
Ep. 337 40% Faster Contract Awards with AI
Today, we sat down with Rajan Venkatachalam from Icertis to discuss the evolution of federal contract lifecycle management. The main takeaway is that contract management is becoming harder to ignore, even though many organizations still overlook it. Perhaps it is too difficult; perhaps changing management with compliance is too complex. Rajan begins the interview by putting AI into perspective. He coins a great phrase when he states that AI has gone from “Buzzword to Backbone.” In other words, the value of AI is so clear that it should be applied across all aspects of running a federal agency. If you are asking for specifics, he gives them. Rajan states that agencies, contractors, and Icertis have seen up to 40% faster proposal-to-award cycles. Icertis has been in the contract management world since 2009. Building on that experience, they have honed their commercial skills to the point where they can examine every sentence in a contract to assess its limitations and strengths. If you sell to the federal government, Icertis can monitor rapid changes in compliance requirements and ensure your offering stays current. They highlight the shift from paper-based to automated and digital processes, driven by AI and compliance frameworks like FAR, DFAR, and CMMC. Finally, Rajan sees the future as autonomous contracting. He can see a future where a solicitation is reviewed and a proposal is generated. This increase in speed allows humans to review the process before submittal. This points to faster, more predictable, and compliant-friendly contracting, which is crucial for agencies under pressure to deliver quickly.
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Ep. 336 Securing Federal Critical Infrastructure with AI
07/28/2026
Ep. 336 Securing Federal Critical Infrastructure with AI
IT modernization carries unanticipated risks. Take operational technology, or OT, as an example. As modernization has increased the number of OT and IoT assets across many federal locations, it has also introduced new vulnerabilities. Federal leaders are warning that the situation has reached a tipping point. CISA maintains a growing list of vulnerabilities, and the NSA has issued warnings about OT and IoT risks. A recent SANS report indicated a 20% increase in confirmed OT attacks. To explore these challenges, we sit down with Chris Grove, Director of Cybersecurity Strategy at Nozomi Networks, to discuss the cyber-physical security challenges facing the federal government, particularly the modernization of older OT systems. He highlighted the difficulties in maintaining asset inventories, the impact of AI in both attacks and defenses, and the complexities of implementing zero trust in OT environments. During the interview, Grove addresses topics such as remote access, older technology not designed for updates, and OT devices that move around on ships and planes. Thirty years ago, “unified communication” was introduced by technology like VoIP. With the proliferation of OT devices, Grove recommends a unified security architecture. Grove emphasized the importance of resilience and the need for AI-enhanced tools to manage alerts and anomalies effectively. He also noted growing concerns about drone security and the significant workload expected to result from AI-discovered vulnerabilities.
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Ep. 335 Building Secure Research for Federal AI Innovation
07/21/2026
Ep. 335 Building Secure Research for Federal AI Innovation
Taylor Johnston, President of the Institute of Applied Engineering at the University of South Florida, discussed a secure research environment developed with AWS and the federal government. This initiative allows researchers to work with classified information, progressing from unclassified to top-secret levels. The partnership uses AWS GovCloud for multi-domain, multi-accessible research. Many organizations train models on unclassified data, but classified data has different nuances. Analysts need to build that model in IL6 using those data sets. Johnston highlighted the university's proximity to key military commands and its results-based research, emphasizing the importance of human performance and AI in military applications. During the interview, Johnston observed that AI is an enabler for productivity, not a job stealer. The university aims to bridge gaps among academia, the defense industrial base, and venture capital, helping enhance operational capabilities.
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Ep. 334 Modernizing Federal Security for the AI Era
07/14/2026
Ep. 334 Modernizing Federal Security for the AI Era
At one time, reacting to a cyber threat was enough; signatures and blocklists could cope. But AI is now amplifying every aspect of cyberwarfare, including speed and scope, leaving these traditional defenses in the dust. Today’s threats can be numerous and personalized, making old approaches worthless. Patricia Titus, Chief Information Security Officer at Abnormal AI, discussed the challenges of transitioning from legacy to modern AI-driven security architectures at the AWS Public Sector Show. During the interview, she advised focusing on asset visibility, decision-making platforms, and non-human identities to enhance cybersecurity. So many federal organizations are deploying tools that it is difficult to get a baseline or inventory of what is on a system. Titus recommends starting with an accurate inventory to establish a “normal” baseline and detect abnormalities. She also stressed the necessity of modernizing security architecture in parallel with cloud migration and the dangers of relying on outdated tools.
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Ep. 333 CMMC 2.0: Why Compliance Is Now a Business Issue
07/09/2026
Ep. 333 CMMC 2.0: Why Compliance Is Now a Business Issue
The Department of War realized it was dealing with a supply chain risk of vulnerable vendors; back in 2019 they launched the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification. The goal was to ensure defense contractors protected sensitive unclassified information. Over the years it has transitioned from being a “checkbox” compliance to moving way beyond the minimum to pass. During today’s interview with Travis Goldbach from Coalfire Federal, he gives us overview of how CMMC has made the transition to building a security program that protects the mission, supports growth, and earns trust. Goldbach continue by stating the cybersecurity is going to impact just about everybody – from sales, to legal, to operations, to finance and even executive leadership. Travis highlights the importance of CMMC for acquisition, noting that many defense contractors are unprepared. CMMC 2.0, implemented in November 2025, simplified the framework from five levels to three, focusing on basic cyber hygiene, CUI protection, and advanced protection. He also discusses the impact of remote work and AI on CMMC readiness and the importance of a robust ecosystem of trusted partners for sustained compliance. Rather than detailing the number of controls in the varying levels of CMMC, the discussion moved on to the concept of documentation. The challenge Goldbach sees is the conflation of documentation with readiness. More must be added to documentation to make it viable. For example, companies need ownership, governance, and accountability in a repeatable process.
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Ep. 332 Why Compliance Alone Won’t Protect Federal Agencies
07/07/2026
Ep. 332 Why Compliance Alone Won’t Protect Federal Agencies
In this episode of the Federal Tech Podcast, Robert Salvia of Fortress Information Security explains why agencies must move beyond a compliance mindset and adopt continuous risk management. One key insight stands out: "It's not what you find, it's what you fix," showing that mission impact should guide vulnerability priorities rather than compliance boxes. One insightful observation Salvia makes concerns observability. Many companies pride themselves on being able to see network details, including potentially unknown vulnerabilities. Salvia says the ability to find is important, but the ability to fix that problem is more valuable. He suggests that AI can assist in that endeavor, but it is a force multiplier, not an answer to everything. His main theme is to move from compliance to continuous risk management. Salvia explores the complexities of supply chain risk management (SCRM), emphasizing the need for comprehensive, enterprise-level solutions that address both hardware and software vulnerabilities. Salvia highlights the importance of collaboration, continuous monitoring, and adapting to new threats and regulations. He also discusses the role of AI, such as Mythos, in increasing the scale of vulnerability detection and the necessity of integrating AI with human expertise for effective risk management and remediation.
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Ep 331 Autonomous AI and Observability in Federal IT
06/30/2026
Ep 331 Autonomous AI and Observability in Federal IT
In this episode of the Federal Tech Podcast, John Gilroy interviews Justin Fessler, Vice President of Public Sector at LogicMonitor, about the growing role of autonomous AI and observability in federal government IT operations. Fessler explains that autonomous AI is not about replacing people but about automating repetitive operational tasks, correlating complex system events, and helping IT teams make faster, better-informed decisions. Rather than allowing AI to operate without oversight, LogicMonitor focuses on keeping humans "in the loop" while AI handles time-consuming analysis and routine remediation. A central theme is the importance of complete visibility across increasingly complex federal environments. LogicMonitor's agentless monitoring technology discovers devices, cloud resources, applications, and shadow IT without requiring software agents on every endpoint. This broad visibility enables agencies to identify unmanaged assets, reduce blind spots, optimize cloud costs, and strengthen security. The discussion also highlights observability's critical role in Zero Trust. Fessler notes that agencies cannot secure or verify assets they cannot see. By discovering everything connected to the network—including servers, cloud services, IoT devices, cameras, badge readers, and physical infrastructure—LogicMonitor helps agencies build a stronger Zero Trust foundation. Gilroy and Fessler examine the challenges of managing hybrid and multi-cloud environments, emphasizing that agencies require a single operational view regardless of where workloads reside. LogicMonitor integrates information across cloud providers and third-party platforms, including ServiceNow, Splunk, Dynatrace, Datadog, and IBM Watsonx, enabling AI-driven event correlation and faster incident response. The conversation concludes with the future of autonomous IT. Fessler predicts increased automation, AI-assisted self-healing infrastructure, and significantly reduced mean time to identify and resolve incidents. Rather than replacing IT professionals, autonomous AI will eliminate repetitive work, allowing skilled personnel to focus on higher-value mission objectives while improving operational resilience, reducing alert fatigue, and delivering better digital services to citizens. For more information, visit www.logicmonitor.com/solutions/federal-government.
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Ep. 330 Lessons from Ukraine on Defending Against Cyberattacks
06/25/2026
Ep. 330 Lessons from Ukraine on Defending Against Cyberattacks
Craig Bowman, Senior Vice President at Trellix, discussed Trellix's project to secure Ukraine's cyber environment against nation-state attacks, highlighting the rapid evolution of attack vectors from Ukraine to the U.S. He emphasized the importance of AI in cybersecurity, noting Trellix's use of AI to autonomously mitigate attacks, as seen during the 2025 cyber espionage campaign. Bowman also explained Trellix's detonation chamber technology, which isolates and analyzes threats without affecting live data, and its Agentic AI, which operates on-premises without data movement to provide real-time cybersecurity insights. Ukraine has become the world's most concentrated cyber battlefield, giving security teams unprecedented visibility into emerging attack techniques. In this interview, Trellix's Craig Bowman revealed that attack patterns once took six months to reach the U.S. after appearing in Ukraine—today, that gap can be as short as six seconds —highlighting why AI-powered cyber defense is becoming essential for federal agencies. It is essential because a human simply cannot fight an autonomous machine by clicking through alerts. It is time to use AI to fight AI.
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Ep. 329 How Federal Agencies Can Unlock Hidden Workforce Skills
06/23/2026
Ep. 329 How Federal Agencies Can Unlock Hidden Workforce Skills
Today, we examine the strategy for filling technology roles in the federal government. Everyone reading this sentence knows that the federal government is competing with commercial organizations for tech talent. Combining that with an arduous federal hiring process, a reduced budget, and a drastic increase in cyberattacks heightens this concern. We sat down with Nav Singh, the Chief Marketing Officer at Eightfold.ai, to discuss the company’s mission to match job candidates with roles based on skills. For example, Eightfold has analyzed 1.6 million skills and 1.6 billion career trajectories, enabling it to identify and upskill employees for roles like cybersecurity. Singh emphasizes the importance of reducing bias in hiring and leveraging AI to discover hidden talents within organizations. During the interview, he reviews the idea of training people who you already have on staff for cybersecurity positions. It is possible to assess talent and identify which candidates can make this transition. This “hidden talent” theme makes even more sense for the federal government. One may need a specific kind of security clearance. It may be easier to assign an existing employee with that clearance and train them rather than go through the whole vetting process again. Singh also mentions introducing an AI interviewer to enhance hiring consistency and efficiency. He states that the future workforce will be a combination of humans and agents. This is a scenario in which agents perform repeatable tasks, while humans set the strategy and exercise judgment.
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Ep. 328 How LMI Is Accelerating Defense AI for the Modern Army
06/16/2026
Ep. 328 How LMI Is Accelerating Defense AI for the Modern Army
John Gilroy and Josh Wilson, CEO of LMI, discussed the shift from traditional defense technology development cycles to rapid deployment, emphasizing the need for integrated hardware-software systems. For decades, the military would assemble detailed requirements, solicit bids, select a winner, and wait years for the contract to be completed. This approach can work with some hardware systems, but today’s combat requires maximum flexibility and adaptability. This approach prompts the question of whether a company is judged by how perfect its product is on day one. What about day two? What about the pace? Can they figure it out based on what they learn? Wilson suggests a more flexible approach in which a combat system is proposed, evaluated quickly, defects are identified and replaced, and the system is then reassessed. He highlights LMI's approach, which combines software, hardware, services, data, and AI to deliver outcomes, citing examples like asset management in shipyards and the He stresses the importance of trust, earned through demonstrable solutions, and the cultural shift towards outcomes over ownership and the SHPRD program. Wilson also notes the success of the Ivy Sting exercises, which prioritize user feedback, and the potential for scaling rapid development models across the Army and other federal agencies. You can read the press release here:
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Ep. 327 Is Cybersecurity a Data Problem? Elastic Explains Why
06/11/2026
Ep. 327 Is Cybersecurity a Data Problem? Elastic Explains Why
Finding a needle in a haystack would seem like a minor endeavor compared to what today’s federal systems managers must face. Let’s take a stab at a correct farmyard analogy – the haystacks double in size every day and are moving. That sounds like an exaggeration, but recent reports show that nine million zero-day exploits are released every day. AI is putting malicious actors on steroids. Chris Townsend, Global Vice President of Public Sector at Elastic, discussed the company's role in federal cybersecurity and data management. His argument is, essentially, that cybersecurity is a data problem. If threats are viewed from that perspective, the more data you can bring into your security environment, the more effective you are at defending it. Elastic enables security operations analysts who are responsible for detecting threats to keep up with today’s tlandscape and cyber-attack velocity. Elastic’s platform and tools can reduce false positives and help federal security operations centers (SOCs) prioritize valid threats. Townsend highlighted Elastic's agentic AI tools, which help SOC operators prioritize and remediate threats, reducing mean time to detect and respond. Elastic's partnership with CISA for a managed Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) as-a- service was also mentioned, emphasizing the importance of standardizing data for effective AI-driven cybersecurity. Townsend goes on to articulate Elastic’s launch of a SIEM-as-a-Service offering for federal civilian agencies, featuring Elastic Security on Elastic Cloud. SIEMaaS delivers a cloud-based platform for next-generation, AI-powered threat analytics, incident response, and open-standards-based cybersecurity data ingestion. Here is a describing CISA’s SIEMaaS offering and how it supports federal agencies’ cybersecurity posture while reducing costs
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Ep. 326 Kong Explains the Future of Federal API Security
06/03/2026
Ep. 326 Kong Explains the Future of Federal API Security
John Gilroy hosts Dennis Woo, Director of Federal Sales at Kong, to discuss the rise of API management in federal security. API management has been a slowly growing concern for the past decade. Cloud adoption has driven API adoption; now we see cheap storage and AI systems making many API connections. Voilà, API security is now a topic for federal security leaders. During the interview, Dennis Woo discusses the origin of Kong and brings up topics of major concern for cybersecurity: The perimeter is disappearing. Before the cloud, a perimeter might have been the walls of a data center. APIs caused that to increase dramatically. Today, we see agents talking to APIs, APIs talking to models, and models consuming MCP tools. Woo remarks that the last thing a federal agency wants is token consumption at enterprise scale. Kong offers an API and AI management tool to ensure compliance, avoid vendor lock-in, and reduce cost. If we fast-forward five years, Woo predicts systems that are semantically aware, systems that can understand intent and detail, and systems that can manage risk. This can extend to semantic guardrails, semantic compression, and even token management. Listen to the podcast to understand how to manage an AI environment that can get out of control
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Ep. 325 Federal Cyber Leaders Face the AI Vulnerability Wave
05/29/2026
Ep. 325 Federal Cyber Leaders Face the AI Vulnerability Wave
Today, we sat down with Snehal Attani from Horizon3.ai to discuss the impact of large language models (LLMs) like Mythos on federal cybersecurity. He makes a range of startling statements. First, he admits that AI tools like Mythos can find bugs in code. In fact, he claims that the effort to find it may drop to zero. He also warns of the potential for AI-generated exploits to overwhelm security operations centers. Attani predicts a surge in vulnerabilities, what some call a Vulnpocalypse, and stresses the importance of prioritizing remediation and building muscle memory for incident response. However, that does not mean the effort to exploit the vulnerability is also zero. Knowing vulnerability does not guarantee a successful attack. Second, this new information can overwhelm a system administrator. His call to prioritization can yield effectiveness. He makes statements like, “The hardest part of the job is deciding what not to fix.” Finally, in a twist on the cybersecurity business, Attani admits that the attacker will get in. The best perspective is to see yourself as in the business of blast radius management. Attani advocates focusing on core cybersecurity fundamentals and cautions against chasing headlines to avoid organizational distraction. Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn
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Ep. 323 AI Threat Detection and Federal Cybersecurity Trends
05/21/2026
Ep. 323 AI Threat Detection and Federal Cybersecurity Trends
Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Everyone seems to have an opinion on AI. Today, we interviewed Levi Gundert, the Chief Security and Intelligence Officer for Recorded Future. He thinks that AI gives federal leaders an opportunity to fight back. For example, one aspect of cybersecurity is velocity; the number of attacks has expanded exponentially. Gundert thinks this is an opportunity to match this attack's velocity. Many will balk at this opinion. They will describe federal data as challenged in cross-domain sharing, data labeling, and data trapped in PDFs or legacy systems. During the interview, in a refreshing observation, Gundert observes that defenders have always been on the back foot. Always in defense. Finally, AI can give tools that level the playing field. One application of AI is the ingestion of the data provided to federal systems. AI can be used to provide actionable intelligence. In some systems, this deluge can result in false alerts. When used properly, AI can filter through the signal and identify what is critical. Gundert emphasizes the need for automation and decision advantages in threat intelligence, the challenges of data fragmentation and legacy systems, and the urgency of upgrading systems to address vulnerabilities. They also touch on the role of AI in insider threats, the potential of Mythos to increase vulnerabilities, and the importance of sharing threat information to enhance cybersecurity.
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Ep. 322 Mattermost Secures Mission Critical Federal Collaboration
05/19/2026
Ep. 322 Mattermost Secures Mission Critical Federal Collaboration
Ep. 322 Mattermost Secures Mission Critical Federal Collaboration Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Want to listen to other episodes? The federal government has an unbelievably wide network. We all know about the IRS citizen-facing websites. We log in from our homes, the server is in the cloud somewhere, and we file our taxes. At the other end of the spectrum is the military and intelligence community. The military talks about a “contested” environment. This can be in Low Earth Orbit or can be underwater in a submarine. There are no simple connections in that world. Yet users demand security in a world constantly under attack and disconnected. Resilience means they must not lose packets of information. Also, just to make it interesting, this can be a life-or-death situation. Into this demanding world steps Corey Hulen, founder and CTO of Mattermost. Their mission is to provide collaboration software designed for high-trust, high-risk environments, including even air-gapped network components. The software emphasizes resilience in contested environments, ensuring collaboration continues even when network connections are lost. Hulin highlights the importance of both security and compliance, noting the challenges of meeting multiple regulatory standards. He also addresses the need for AI to support human decision-making in mission-critical scenarios, ensuring quick, informed responses.
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Ep. 321 Skills-Based Hiring and AI in Federal Government HR
05/12/2026
Ep. 321 Skills-Based Hiring and AI in Federal Government HR
Want to listen to other episodes? Today we sit down with an HR company, Workday, to see if it can transfer the success it has had in the commercial world into helping federal agencies reach ambitious goals. Matthew Cornelius works for Workday, but he has spent mor than a decade working in a wider variety of federal agencies. The interview covers topics like the shift towards skills-based hiring, the challenges of outdated HR systems, and the need for comprehensive workforce data. One concern is that the applicant can report skills. One candidate’s Python experience may differ greatly from another’s. Presidential administrations have encouraged the concept of skills-based hiring. However, this is a subject that is difficult to implement. For example, it can clash with the standard GSA classification system. Today’s AI skills are changing so rapidly, it would be almost impossible for an HR person to understand what skill sets are important. Cornelius has firsthand experience in federal HR systems that are dated. He references using Excel spreadsheets that can have issues with version control and backup. One great place to start is to use a system than can give an HR manager a “birds eye” view of the skills of their current employees. He emphasizes the importance of communication, empathy, and leveraging modern HR technology to improve federal HR processes and outcomes.
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Ep. 320 How to Mean Time to Resolution for Federal Systems
05/07/2026
Ep. 320 How to Mean Time to Resolution for Federal Systems
Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Want to listen to other episodes? Two of the least well-known, but most important acronyms in federal technology are ITSM and ITOM. IT Service Management focuses on services and user experience, while IT Operations Management focuses on technical performance and monitoring. These two concepts are the backbone for maintaining the massive federal IT systems we see everywhere. Today, we sat down with Seth Gardner from BMC Helix, who details how BMC Helix can provide insights for service management. He starts with the importance of visibility and generating clean, reusable data for AI. Gardner maintains AI is only as good as the data behind it—and most federal agencies are still “re-wrangling” fragmented systems. In this episode, BMC Helix explains how correlating incidents across 12+ tools can pinpoint root cause and dramatically reduce mean time to resolution. He also touches on the importance of data sovereignty and security in multi-tenant environments. The conversation concludes with Seth outlining BMC Helix's differentiator in adapting to rapid technological changes.
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Ep. 319 Data Control Is Redefining Federal Security Strategy Now
05/05/2026
Ep. 319 Data Control Is Redefining Federal Security Strategy Now
Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Want to listen to other episodes? Angel Smith, President of Global Public Sector at Virtru, discussed the challenges of data interoperability in federal agencies, emphasizing that trust and policy issues often hinder data sharing more than technology. It took several years, but the federal government has realized that its defenses are not perfect and has had to adopt a zero-trust approach to limit access to important information. Zero Trust is Missing the Point During the interview, Angel Smith argues that Zero Trust seems to focus on the network and identity, rather than on data. While intended to secure infrastructure, these changes can create new attack vectors. Data Sovereignty is broken. Traditionally, a data set would reside in a hard drive in a server room down the hall. Because of this, thinking about security can be focused on the physical location of the data or its sovereignty. Sometimes, a strategic approach is necessary to protect data. This is an outdated approach because data can be protected by the data object itself, which can carry control. Security vs. Speed is a False Tradeoff. This legacy thinking also applies to security. Some will exist to control data because it has been viewed as too time-consuming. Smith also stressed the need for modern data governance to enable AI and other advanced technologies, advocating for a rethinking of legacy practices to enhance data security and usability without compromising mission speed.
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Ep 318 Securing Millions of Federal Endpoints in the AI Era
04/28/2026
Ep 318 Securing Millions of Federal Endpoints in the AI Era
Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Want to listen to other episodes? There is a popular podcast in the Washington, D.C. area called “Feds at the Edge.” The title alone acknowledges the importance of edge devices for the sprawling federal government. Today, we sat down with Tommy Gardner from HP to discuss the challenges of securing millions of endpoints in the federal government, including legacy systems and operational technology (OT). When it comes to OT, Gardner makes a shocking observation: if you take an endpoint, like a sensor in a boiler, and it gets compromised, it could shut down the refinery, and people could get hurt. That is why HP has developed a system called the Workforce Experience Platform (WXP), which manages diverse devices and applies updates remotely. One little-known fact Gardner brings up is that, when malicious actors assess vulnerabilities, the easiest way to get into a network is through the printer. In fact, HP now offers printers with defenses against post-quantum encryption. Given that a company like HP has thousands of products, the supply chain is a major consideration. During the interview, Gardner mentions that HP has over 10,000 vendors in its supply chain. He addresses the complexities of supply chain security, emphasizing the need for rigorous vendor verification and compliance with the Trade Act. He concludes by advocating for AI at the edge for real-time decision-making and cost efficiency.
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Ep 317 Mission-Driven AI Modernization in Federal Health Systems
04/24/2026
Ep 317 Mission-Driven AI Modernization in Federal Health Systems
Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Want to listen to other episodes? The Veterans Administration is a system with nine million enrolled veterans across 1,300 facilities. In a system like that, downtime is not an option. Today, we look at how a company successfully reduced documentation time, increasing adoption in one part of this massive system. We sat down with Nilanjan Sengupta from Thoughtworks to learn which methods proved successful. He began by stating the focus must not be on bits and bytes, but on mission outcomes. For example, for years, clinicians spent 10–20 minutes per patient on documentation, often taking 2 or more hours to leave their shift. Sengupta highlights a successful pilot of AI ambient scribe technology at the VA to address this issue. It was so successful that it achieved an 86% adoption rate among primary care providers. During the interview, Sengupta outlined topics such as the importance of data governance, trust infrastructure, and a responsible AI strategy. He emphasized the need for a well-governed data discovery process and a cultural shift towards treating data as a mission-critical product.
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Ep. 316 AI Supply Chain Risks Every Federal Leader Must Know
04/22/2026
Ep. 316 AI Supply Chain Risks Every Federal Leader Must Know
Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Want to listen to other episodes? Interest in technology comes in waves. Back in 2022, managing the supply chain became number one on the list of priorities for federal technology leaders. Since then, we have seen a huge cycle of AI dominating the federal government's attention span. This shift in focus may be causing you to overlook other critical supply chain concerns. Today, we sat down with Bob Kolasky from Exiger. His company got its start by helping the Department of Justice monitor HSBC, a large financial management company. That led to a successful reputation, prompting other federal agencies to ask for their help. During today’s interview, Kolasky gives an overview of due diligence, continuous monitoring, and risk management. He argues that AI-driven supply chain insights reveal hidden risks, fraud, and vulnerabilities that impact federal agencies and contractors. With attacks occurring so rapidly, Kolaksy expands on the application of continuous monitoring across the entire supply chain. He uses the term “illuminate” to describe the technology Exiger offers that can carefully examine all aspects of the supply chain. Exiger’s technology is so advanced that it can look at unstructured data, sanctions lists, adverse media, ownership records, and trade data. With that amount of information, systems must be put in place to ferret out abnormalities and prepare for the next wave of supply chain attacks. = = =
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Ep. 315 Behavioral AI Stops Advanced Federal Phishing Attacks
04/16/2026
Ep. 315 Behavioral AI Stops Advanced Federal Phishing Attacks
Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Want to listen to other episodes? Sending deceptive email has been around for decades. It has gone from a Nigerian prince asking for financial assistance to 10,000 people. Today, phishing isn’t ‘spray and pray’ anymore—AI is creating hyper-personalized emails that look exactly like someone you trust. Today, we sat down with Patricia Titus from Abnormal AI to learn how the correct response to an enhanced AI phishing attack. Some may shock you. Voices are being emulated, hyper personalized threats are being developed, and threat actors are using AI faster than humans can respond. This deception is getting increasingly difficult to defend. One approach that Patricia Titus recommends is to start off being AI-native and using behavioral techniques to defeat the massed attacks. During the interview, Patricia Titus explains that the Abnormal AI system will look at normal behavior over 15-30 days and flags anomalies. Abnormal AI partners with major SaaS providers and offers a free 30-day proof of value. The technology aims to reduce alert fatigue and operational drag, enhancing cybersecurity efficiency.
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Ep 314 Federal API Security Risks Rise with Shadow IT Threat
04/14/2026
Ep 314 Federal API Security Risks Rise with Shadow IT Threat
If you go to Google Trends and type in API threats, you get a classic hockey stick. This is probably caused by the proliferation of connectors to cloud solutions paired with the popularity of AI. Today, we sat down with Brian Dennis from Akamai to talk about the problem this can present to federal systems. He begins by telling the audience that API attacks have increased by over 1,200 percent, reflecting the Google data. The shock is that many organizations, federal included, do not even know how many API’s they actually have. There may be APIs that were designed in earlier systems; there could have been APIs designed, used, and now dormant. Worse, it is possible that individuals have launched independent systems, called Shadow APIs, which can present unimagined vulnerabilities. The fact is malicious actors know this is a current vulnerability. It is a matter of knowing what to do when you get attacked. During the interview, Brian Dennis makes some suggestions that can help overcome some of these challenges. Microsegemetation will allow any breach to be blocked off. Traditionally, microsegmentation has been a time-consuming task but today’s AI can make it a trivial concern. Akamai has recently merged with a company called Guardicore that can provide enhanced network visibility. Today, developers are grabbing code off the shelf and plugging it in. There may be insecurities in this approach. Dennis explains how Akamai’s No Name can help identify and secure APIs at the code level, enabling operational security from development to runtime. Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Want to listen to other episodes?
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Agentic AI Reshapes Federal Government Workflows Now
04/07/2026
Agentic AI Reshapes Federal Government Workflows Now
This is an interview at the Salesforce Agentforce World Tour in Washington, D.C., held on March 29, 2026, at the Washington Convention Center. Mia Jordan was the federal CIO twice and brings a unique view to the discussion of challenges and solutions around federal technology. She sat down with Federal Tech Podcast at the Salesforce Agentforce World Tour to give her thoughts on AI and innovation in the federal government. Jordan notes the federal government has used AI for a decade, but now faces pressure to move rapidly from concept to production. Although there is a sense of urgency from federal leaders, Jordan cautions that a human being should be in the loop when deploying AI. One way to accomplish this goal is to use tools that assist with it. One example she uses is the Salesforce tool Einstein Next Best Action. It can look at a workflow and make suggestions for a human to select. Jordan also addressed how the Informatica acquisition lets agencies track data lineage—who created it, when, and how it is used—so they can defend decisions during audits. touches on the role of low-code tools in automation and the need for reimagining workflows. Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Want to listen to other episodes?
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Agentic AI Transforms Federal Mission at Scale
04/02/2026
Agentic AI Transforms Federal Mission at Scale
Today, we sat down with Paul Tatum, Executive Vice President, Global Public Sector at Salesforce, to hear how Salesforce can help federal agencies reach ambitious goals with Agentic AI. By now, everyone has played around with AI, and possibly some agents. Viewed independently, they can dazzle. Unfortunately, the federal government expects action based on data. If you isolate Agentic AI, you can fall into the trap of lacking the ability to scale, ensure security, and maintain control. In those several weeks, notable technology leaders have jumped headfirst into some agentic offerings from new vendors. What is not reported is that many have jumped back out because of privacy concerns. Salesforce can serve as the “adult in the room,” enabling federal leaders to leverage agentic technology in a secure and compliant manner. The good news: agents can connect just about everything. The bad news: agents can connect with everything. In the federal government, one needs trusted, mission-specific data through controlled interfaces. During the interview, Paul provides insight into innovation and security while using Agentic AI in a federal environment. He envisioned future AI evolving from reactive to initiative-taking and personalized, potentially becoming a concierge for citizens. Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Want to listen to other episodes?
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Federal HR Modernization: Mapping Chaos to Clarity
03/30/2026
Federal HR Modernization: Mapping Chaos to Clarity
Today, we sat down with Charles Fiery from Excella to discuss the complexities of improving federal agency processes. He shared insights on the challenges of process discovery, change management, and data transformation. It is always difficult to assess a large enterprise, whether public or private, to determine how to improve complex processes. One approach is to look at duplicative systems; the federal government provides a notable example. The federal government has evolved into new agencies over the years. Because of technical and legal challenges, they have mostly remained siloed. As a result, we have human resource systems that do remarkably similar tasks. A consolidation effort would reduce costs, improve speed, and assist in interagency collaboration. The OMB mandate requires agencies to integrate core HR functions while maintaining ancillary services like payroll and benefits. The transition involves mapping current systems, identifying essential functions, and ensuring data compliance. Current systems need to ensure the data they provide is accurate and error-free. Each agency has unique data, and structuring that data is important. Visibility into system components is much more difficult. Connectors and integration are complicated by shadow IT and AI. Charles Fiery concludes that although the transition is challenging, completing the necessary groundwork will lead to stable and compliant improvements in federal HR systems. Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Want to listen to other episodes?
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Fast Content Delivery and Security in Federal IT
03/26/2026
Fast Content Delivery and Security in Federal IT
In the 1990’s, the World Wide Web was so popular that it was facetiously called the Worldwide Wait. Centralized servers handled a small workload but bogged down as volumes increased. As a result, Content Delivery Services sprang up to distribute the workload worldwide. By 2001, large news organizations could manage unpredictable increases in traffic. The past decade saw a drastic increase in traffic and threats to it. During the interview, Omeed Nosarti describes how companies like Fastly began offering proprietary methods to deliver content faster. Nasrati highlights Fastly's proprietary technologies, such as Smart Parse, which reduces false positives in web application firewalls (WAFs), and its network architecture optimized for low latency and high cache hit ratios. Included in this conversation is the appearance of many remote points on many federal networks. These can function by increasing the attack surface and including the possibility of attacking the Application Programming Interface (API). Nasrati also mentions Fastly's API security features, including schema enforcement and discovery, and its significant ROI in terms of infrastructure and human capital costs. Nasrati emphasizes the importance of real-time traffic analysis and the evolving nature of DDoS attacks. Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Want to listen to other episodes?
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Real-Time AI Intelligence and the New Federal Cyber Threat Landscape
03/24/2026
Real-Time AI Intelligence and the New Federal Cyber Threat Landscape
In 2026, we are seeing an increase in cyberattacks targeting defense contractors and defense production. Today, we met with Tim Miller, Field CTO at Dataminr, who explained how the company is helping the federal government address this growing threat. Traditionally, cyber threats could be classified as “Zero Day.” Essentially, this meant an attack targeting a software or hardware vulnerability that was unknown to the public. They were effective because no security patch existed, and they could bypass defenses. AI has compressed this 24-hour window to minutes. If your opponent is speeding up attacks, then the defender must use similar tools to prevent a breach. Dataminr has developed something called “real-time intelligence.” This concept can provide early warnings, help separate nuisance attacks from serious malware, and address today’s workforce gap in cyber defense knowledge. During the interview, Miller noted that the company also launched a new product for cyber defense that integrates threat intelligence with internal data. It is called Dataminr for Cyber Defense and leverages AI and Agentic AI to neutralize threats. = = Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn Want to listen to other episodes?
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