MeriTalking

Podcast: Mission edge: AI at the endpoint

In this episode of MeriTalking, MeriTalk’s Gail Emery sits down with Antonella O’Brien, Consultant, CSG Federal Systems Integrators and Channel, Dell Technologies, to discuss what it really takes to enable AI at the desktop in federal environments where agencies are working to boost productivity, speed decisions, and turn AI pilots into repeatable mission outcomes. The conversation explores the workforce use cases that are best suited for on-device AI, how agencies can build trust through security and governance, and what a practical path from pilot to scale can look like.

Podcast: Fiscal Resilience Under Pressure: Planning for Uncertainty and Disruption

The biggest threat to state and local governments isn’t one budget gap, it’s compounding uncertainty: shifting funding rules, rising compliance demands, and disruptions that trigger spending now and reimbursement later. In this episode of MeriTalking, Gail Emery sits down with Melissa Moore, chief financial officer of Buncombe County, North Carolina, and James Harris, senior manager at Workday, to unpack what fiscal resilience looks like in practice.

Podcast: Cyber Deception: A New Preemptive Approach to Cyber Defense

MeriTalk’s Gail Emery speaks with Suril Desai, vice president of engineering at Acalvio, and Ralph Kahn, general manager for federal at Acalvio, about how cyber deception helps agencies detect adversaries earlier. They discuss how deception produces high-fidelity alerts, reduces security operations center alert fatigue, and strengthens zero trust by improving visibility into attacker activity.

Podcast: From Demo to Delivery: How Agencies Are Operationalizing AI

In this episode of MeriTalking, Nicole Burdette sits down with ICF’s Kyle Tuberson to discuss how agencies can go from lab to live, supported by a consistent delivery approach in ICF’s Fathom, which bakes in security, governance, and integration with existing systems. They’ll also address the drivers for AI, from efficiency pressures to practical technology maturity, and the common barriers leaders face, from talent to infrastructure and security.

Podcast: From shadow agents to accountability: Governing AI in the public sector with an identity security fabric

In this episode of MeriTalking, Nicole Burdette sits down with LaRel Rogers, staff product marketing manager for federal at Okta, to discuss the rise of agentic AI and its impact across government. Together, they explore how autonomous AI agents are transforming mission delivery, along with strategies for protecting critical access points and data flows between human users, AI agents, and sensitive government systems.

Podcast: Where Advanced Security Meets Efficiency

In this episode of MeriTalking, Gail Emery sits down with Cisco’s JT Clay and Norman St. Laurent to discuss how federal agencies can meet the modernization mandate while improving security and efficiency. Gail and her guests explore how agencies are blocking cyber threats, accelerating mission workflows, and trimming tool sprawl, plus smart tactics for measuring success and staying ahead of evolving mandates.

Podcast: Secure Your Mission with Dell Federal 5G

In this episode of MeriTalking, MeriTalk’s Gail Emery sits down with Bob Kerr, product management leader at Dell Technologies’ Mission Systems, to discuss how federal leaders can evaluate public, hybrid and dedicated wireless choices – and why dedicated federal wireless is so important today. Kerr outlines why and how Dell built a 5G solution tailored specifically for federal missions.

Podcast: AI Unleashed: Transforming Government Collaboration and Citizen Services with Google Workspace

In this episode of MeriTalking, MeriTalk’s Gail Emery sits down with Jeff Brown, Google’s Global Public Sector Workspace Lead, to discuss where modern collaboration, AI, and security intersect for the federal government. They explore how agencies can evolve their collaboration strategies, embrace AI responsibly, and align with zero trust principles – all while overcoming the persistent challenges of outdated processes and fragmented technology.

Podcast: From Vision to Velocity: Insights on Federal CAIO 2025 Priorities

Podcast: Putting Data to Work: Scaling the Zero Trust Journey

In this episode of MeriTalking, MeriTalk’s Gail Emery chats with George Teas, Vice President of Solutions Architecture at Elastic, about the Federal zero trust journey. As agencies move from crawl to run, they face mounting challenges with visibility, interoperability, and scalability. Teas shares insights on how agencies can harness data across the five pillars of zero trust to overcome these hurdles—without losing ground on their existing cybersecurity investments.