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

John Gilroy
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Technology
  • Updated Weekly

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

  1. 6h ago

    Ep. 345 How AI Is Transforming Federal Cognitive Operations

    Here is the free media kit from Federal Tech Podcast  The explosion in sensors and remote devices has led to many discussions in the federal tech community.  In fact, there is a podcast called Feds at the Edge.  Today, we look at how an AI native startup can help the military make accurate and speedy decisions at the tactical edge. Our guest is Carrick Longley, the CEO of ZenithFlow.  He came to understand the problem of operating in a contested environment while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.  He begins the discussion by examining decision-making in a remote environment.  Traditionally, one may use the well-known OODA loop.  That is to say: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. This concept may have had application in earlier environments.  However, today, a warfighter may lose communication in the first few minutes in a contested environment.  They could be in a world where disinformation is present, and decisions are extremely difficult. During the interview, Longley discusses circumstances in which a warfighter may be deluged with information yet lack a way to filter the most important data.   Longley expands upon a concept called "cognitive domain." From his perspective, data is not the problem.  He states that the way we process the information makes sense. That way, we can make better decisions off that data. For Longley, speed in decision-making is accomplished by moving the human's decision earlier.  He emphasizes the importance of early detection and pre-bunking of adversarial narratives, as well as the need for synthetic audiences to test messaging effectiveness. Listen to the interview to learn how a network must be able to operate in isolation and still inform military leaders to make decisions that are rapid, accurate, and effective.

  2. 2d ago

    Ep. 344 Why Cybersecurity Must Shift from Compliance to Resilience

    Here is the free media kit from Federal Tech Podcast  John Gilroy and Snehal Antani, CEO of Horizon Three AI, discuss the evolving landscape of cybersecurity, emphasizing the need for a shift from compliance to resilience and defense. The discussion began with taking a look a common list of vulnerabilities. Back in 2021, CISA could develop a list of common vulnerabilities, and they called it the Known Exploited Vulnerability Catalog.  It was an authoritative list of specific software flaws and security bugs that had been verified in the wild.    Today, malicious actors have overwhelmed us with vulnerabilities.  We have reported 1600 software and hardware vulnerability entries, making it almost impossible to address each issue. Antani argues that what is important it to patch the critical vulnerabilities, not the complete list.  He states, "I'd rather patch the right few things quickly than everything slowly." During the interview, Antani refers to a couple of federal initiatives that reinforce his approach.  For example, BOD 26-04 is an initiative from CISA that signals a move from vulnerability identification to real world exposure. This concern is beyond the federal government.  The European Central Bank has looked at threats and is telling bank CEOs that AI is shortening the time from discovery to exploitation Antani also predicts that small and medium-sized companies will be prime targets for cyber-attacks in the coming months. From small businesses to federal governments to banks, it looks like we are in the middle of a drastic change in the way organizations handle vulnerabilities

  3. Aug 25

    Ep.343 Building Trustworthy Agentic AI for Federal Mission Success

    Today we hear what James Rebsco from Striveworks has to say about solving this problem for the federal government. Rebesco suggests beginning with a deep understanding of the problem. Once you make sure the solution makes sense, then look at AI opportunities that can help solve the problem. Applying the solution to real-world situations can be difficult. One may produce a model that behaves flawlessly in a clean, air-conditioned environment. In the real world, the situation is changing daily, commonly called a contested environment. The defense community must deliver and manage production-grade machines that operate in austere, disconnected, and high-stakes environments. Some in the academic community would like to put a stop to AI progress. The idea is to produce ethical and moral guidelines before proceeding. That certainly sounds nice when debating on a campus. Rebesco points out that we do not have the luxury of this approach. In today's geopolitical environment, we have adversaries who are very smart, capable, and well-resourced. History has shown us the results of appeasement and delay. He emphasizes the importance of embedding AI in real-world scenarios and ensuring models can adapt and learn. Robesco also discusses the concept of "situational awareness" in AI and the need for continuous testing and evaluation. During the interview, he mentions StriveWorks' platform, Chariots, which aims to provide dependable, mission-critical AI solutions.

    Ep.343 Building Trustworthy Agentic AI for Federal Mission Success

  4. Aug 18

    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.

    Ep. 342 Making Zero Trust Practical With Modern Identity Security

  5. Aug 13

    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.

    Ep. 341 The Future of Government Fraud Prevention with AI

  6. Aug 12

    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.

  7. Aug 11

    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.

  8. Aug 6

    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.

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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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