How Innovation and Efficiency Are Transforming Government: Session 1

Session 1: Government Innovation in the Era of AI

Government Keynote 1: Building a Future-Ready Government Workforce

- Alexandra Barker, Director of Operations and Head of StatVentures, Census Open Innovation Labs, Office of the Deputy Director, U.S. Census Bureau
As technology rapidly transforms how public services are delivered, government leaders must rethink how they recruit, train and empower their workforce. This keynote explores strategies for developing a resilient, digitally fluent workforce — one equipped to leverage AI, automation and data-driven tools to meet the evolving needs of the public.

Lightning Keynote 1: Why It Might Be Time to Move on From Cyber Risk Management

- John Kindervag, Chief Evangelist, Illumio
Are government agencies putting their systems and data at risk by trying to apply the principles of risk management to cybersecurity? John Kindervag explains why quantifying cyber risk isn’t feasible — and why thinking in terms of danger management can bring greater urgency to cybersecurity efforts.

Lightning Keynote 2: Rethinking Networks for the Age of AI

- Kevin Manwiller, Operations Director, National Security, Cisco Systems
Federal networks often rely on legacy systems that can’t support AI or defend against modern cyber threats. Kevin Manwiller discusses how upgrading to AI-optimized infrastructure enables new capabilities and better security for government.