Federal Tech Podcast: for innovators, entrepreneurs, and CEOs who want to increase reach and improve brand awareness

Hosted by John Gilroy

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300

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Aug 2026

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About the show

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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August 18, 202619 min

Ep. 342 Making Zero Trust Practical With Modern Identity Security

John Gilroy and Danelle Osworth discuss Delinea's privileged access management (PAM) solutions on the Federal Tech Podcast. Delinea's unique selling points include delivering just-in-time access, a hybrid platform for on-premises and cloud environments, and continuous verification of identities. During the interview, Ginelle has an insightful comment about Zero Trust and the federal government. She looks at Zero Trust as an opportunity for the government to take cybersecurity steps in the right direction. The key concept is to begin the Zero Trust journey, not necessarily where they begin. Oswroth goes on to say that identity security is the foundation for everything in cyber. In the future, standing privilege will feel as outdated as passwords on a sticky note. But today's threat is unyielding. This means that an identity solution must be able to continuously monitor access as well as credentials. Osworth emphasizes the importance of zero trust principles and the practical application of identity management. Delinea's platform supports 99.995% uptime and encrypted vaulting for machine and AI identities. They highlight the need for continuous authentication and authorization to manage the influx of non-human identities. The conversation also touches on the challenges of balancing security with innovation in the federal government.

August 13, 202628 min

Ep. 341 The Future of Government Fraud Prevention with AI

In the summer of 2026, the SAS Innovate Tour arrived in Washington, DC, at Convene Hamilton Square. 50 years have gone by since SAS launched a contract from the Department of Agriculture just down the street. It seemed appropriate to sit down with Stu Bradley, VP, Fraud, Risk & Compliance, SAS, to discuss how SAS delivers trusted AI for the federal government. In a recent interview, Kim Brand from CMS stated they disburse one billion dollars a day in claims. If you have just a 1% fraud rate, that means $10 million a day of waste. Today, we asked how SAS can help. The discussion focused on the importance of robust fraud prevention in government programs, emphasizing the need for efficient data ingestion and decision-making. SaaS has a 50-year record of regulating $300 billion in transactions and saving $500 million in fraud. The conversation highlighted the significance of governance in AI, with organizations that prioritize trustworthy innovation generating 60% higher returns on AI initiatives. During the interview, Bradley details the importance of preventing fraud. Today, federal organizations should be asking "What do I need to do to be ready for whatever comes next?" The cost for a typical "pay and chase" approach is high, and the results are paltry. The speakers also discussed the critical role of data integration and real-time analysis in preventing fraud, noting that 5% of payments involve fraud. The importance of partnerships between federal and state agencies to combat fraud was also underscored.

August 12, 202620 min

Ep.340 How SAS Delivers Trusted AI for Federal Mission Success.

In the summer of 2026, the SAS Innovate Tour arrived in Washington, DC, at Convene Hamilton Square. 50 years have gone by since SAS launched with a contract from the Department of Agriculture just down the street. It seemed appropriate to sit down with Caroline Baldwin, the Director, SAS Federal, to discuss how SAS delivers trusted AI for the federal government. Everybody reading this has seen reports of AI giving hallucinations. It is one thing to have a bad response for a doughnut company in Chicago; quite another to have the Department of War base decisions on bad data. Caroline Baldwin brings a refreshing splash of reality to the talk of applied AI to the federal government. Instead of evaluating the nuances of AI harnessing, she makes a blunt statement, "If government can't apply AI to outcomes for an agency or improve American lives, it's just a science project." Finally, we have a practical opinion. SAS has been working with sensitive federal data for fifty years and has the experience to ingest accurate data and use it to produce practical results for federal agencies. We have heard of the "black box" of AI. Don't ask for sources. In Baldwin's experience, an AI system must be able to produce sources for decisions that will be held up in court. During the interview, she mentioned that SAS can leverage synthetic data to produce more accurate models. She also describes how SAS partners with federal agencies to solve complex problems, adapt commercial innovations, and accelerate adoption. As AI evolves, agencies must balance enterprise strategies with mission-level needs while continuously updating models and maintaining trust.

August 11, 202625 min

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.

August 6, 202628 min

Ep. 339 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.

July 30, 202611 min

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.

July 28, 202625 min

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.

July 21, 202616 min

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.

July 14, 202620 min

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.

July 9, 202624 min

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.