Episodes

Season 5: Episode 6: The Marriage of AI and Cybersecurity – Opportunities and Challenges Abound A conversation with Micki Boland, Lead Technologist, Check Point Software Technologies, Office of the CTO. Starting with a military career that solidified her interest in information technology, Micki Boland is a self-proclaimed global cybersecurity warrior. She is a security architect with Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. She has over 20 years of experience in ICT and security system engineer...

Season 5: Episode 5: Training AI Models with Neurodivergent Human Talent A conversation with Peter Kant, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Enabled Intelligence. Having served as an executive at one of the leading tech innovation institutes, SRI International, Pete identified a gap in how AI models were being trained – and thus an opportunity. Without high-quality data inputs, AI models, including LLMs, will underperform or worse. That’s why Enabled Intelligence’s focus has been on ensuring...

Season 5: Episode 4: AI’s Impact on Organizational Boundaries and People Through a Qualitative Lens A conversation with Dr. Sarah Wittman, Assistant Professor of Management at George Mason University’s Costello College of Business. Artificial intelligence impacts all facets of modern life, particularly knowledge acquisition and assimilation, organizational behavior, and the growing relationship between humans and machines. This mind-opening discussion touches all the bases and more. Dr. Whitm...

Season 5: Episode 3: The Story of the Red Hen, Building a Culture of Innovation A conversation with Scott Conn CGCIO, CIO of the City of Mesa There is a reason why the City of Mesa has won 7 technology-related awards in just one year and is rated number 5 in the nation as a Digital City. Indeed, Scott Conn has something to crow about! He is an exceptional leader, motivator, and innovator. He has been a highly successful tech leader in both the private as well as public sectors and may have fou...

2025 Tech Forecast for State and Local IT: All Aboard the AI Train and More Tech Adventures A special webinar-turned-podcast features the executive directors of NASCIO and PTI. Now in its fourth year, Doug Robinson and Alan Shark once again share their views based on their organization’s research. To view this as a webinar see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fURO8VSP-c

Season 5: Episode 1: GovTech Vision 2025: Innovating the Future of Public Sector Technology A special webinar-turned podcast, hosted by CitiBot. This episode explores the pivotal trends shaping urban environments through AI and other digital advancements. · Bratton Riley, CITIBOT CEO and co-founder · Mark Wheeler, Former Philadelphia CIO and GIO · Ron Holifield, Co-Founder, Civic Marketplace · Alan Shark, Executive Director, PTI

Season 4: Episode 33: The City & County 2025 Tech Outlook As with previous years, Dr. Alan Shark shares his views about what to look for in 2025. This podcast’s content is based on a commentary he wrote for State Tech Magazine, see: https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2024/12/12-trends-watch-2025-city-and-county-outlook

This episode borrows from an informative webinar where PTI held a Part 2 as part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Jamil Niazi, Director Of Information Technology, City of Stockton CA; Elizabeth Di Bene, CISO, Loudoun County VA; William Mann, CGCIO™, CISO, Borough of West Chester PA. Moderated by Dr. Alan Shark.

This episode borrows from an informative webinar where PTI kicks off Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Panelists include: Nikki Milburn, CISO, Franklin County, Ohio Ryon Saenz, Deputy Director, Information Technology Services, Alexandria, Virginia Samantha Sendrowski, Director of IT Administration, City of Worcester, Massachusetts

A Conversation with Brooke Smith, NIGP-CPP, MIS, MMC, UCC, City Recorder, Murray City Corporation Recently, Brooke has embraced AI technology to update City Policy, prepare new RFPs and bids, and streamline operations. She is dedicated to training other procurement and government employees on the ethical and responsible use of AI. Brooke's mission is to equip government professionals with AI and Cooperative procurement knowledge to reduce tedious tasks, enhance efficiency, and improve public se...

A conversation with Mark Hampton, Ph.D., Executive Education Advisor, Amazon Web Services As an Executive Education Advisor, Mark works with higher education executives and line-of-business leaders to understand how cloud technologies can enable digital transformation efforts, particularly around the effective use of data and analytics. Prior to joining AWS, Mark served for 30 years as an administrator at six different institutions of higher education, ranging from a small private liberal arts ...

A conversation with James Farrell, CIO, Village of Bolingbrook, IL, with co-host Mary Frances Coryell, Chief Revenue Officer, Citibot. James Farrell has lived and worked in Bolingbrook for nearly 20 years and has been instrumental in modernizing digital services for the village. Serving as CIO for five years, he now sees things differently. Conversely, his peers and citizens view him in a new way—recognizing the confluence of personal power coupled with position power. James is a people person ...

Season 4: Episode 27: A Sure Bet, Reducing 200 IT Projects into Three Slots A conversation with Bob Leek, CIO of Clark County NV, with co-host Mary Frances Coryell, Chief Revenue Officer, for CITIBOT. (This Sharkbytes.Net episode is co-hosted with Mary Frances, Chief Revenue Officer , CITIBOT) Bob Leek is the CIO of Clark County, Nevada. He started out as the deputy CIO in 2021 and soon became the CIO when the former CIO retired. Leek leads a team of some 200 workers, with a mission to drive ...

A conversation with Robert Newell, PhDCS, CGCIO is the CIO, City of Ardmore, OK With hurricane and tornado seasons increasing in duration and intensity, Robert Newell shares his story of a recent set of tornados that hit his city. How he responded to some unprecedented incidents is remarkable and a story we can all learn from. New to the mitigation strategies was the use of artificial intelligence. This is also a true story of leadership and the need for succession strategies. Robert is a gradu...

Season 4: Episode 25: AI and Chatbots – Beyond Scripted Response A conversation with Bratton Riley, co-founder and CEO of CITIBOT Bratton first appeared on Sharkbytes.Net in September 2020, when machine learning ruled the industry. Today, with AI on the rise, CITIBOT is now an industry leader. Learn how much has changed since then and how AI is playing a safe and meaningful role. As the son of longtime Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, Bratton was brought up in a family committed to public service. ...

A conversation with Dr. Alan Shark, author of Artificial Intelligence-A Primer for State and Local Government: Everything You Need to Know Since Yesterday.” In this episode, we go behind the scenes of DR. Alan Shark’s new book, “Artificial Intelligence – A Primer for State and Local Government: Everything You Need to Know Since Yesterday. You will discover the significance of the Octopus on the cover. Unlike traditional books, this book relies on AI technology for the cover, outlining, editing,...

A conversation with Dr. Stephanie Deitrick, Chief Data Officer, City of Tempe, AZ, and Nick Stowe, Chief Technology Officer, Washington State. This special episode is a re-broadcast from The American Society for Public Administration’s (ASPA) Section on Science & Technology Interest Group (STTIG) “Lunch and Learn Webinar Series, that took place on January 24th. It is offered here given its enthusiastic reception and insightful discussion on AI and State and Local Government.

A conversation with Jamie Wasculus, CIO, Saint Paul, MN; Jon Eichten, Deputy Commissioner, MNIT, MN; Barry Condrey, former CIO, Chesterfield County, VA; Shawn Riley, former CIO State of North Dakota. This special episode was recorded from the closing session at the PTI Fusion Learning Partners Annual IT Symposium, December 14, Saint Paul MN. Listen to what this expert group has to say about the issues they are facing in 2024 and beyond. This panel discussion was so well received we felt it was ...

A conversation with Stacey Mansker-Young, former Deputy CIO, City of Chicago Always the innovator and strategist, Stacey Mansker-Young served as deputy CIO for the City of Chicago for some 22 years before leaving for the well-respected consulting firm, Plante Moran. Stacey has witnessed monumental change during her tenure at the City of Chicago, serving under at least 5 CIOs. Now Stacey has entered a new phase where she draws her past experience and wisdom to help current tech managers improve ...

A Conversation with Jasper Appleton, a former student athlete, sports podcaster, ISO. Jasper was a student athlete in swimming before Covid hit that ultimately upended his athletic opportunities and ambitions. He describes how he had to change course and navigate new career opportunities. Jasper will inspire you as he maintains a healthy and realistic degree of optimism in his quest to change directions and go into tech – never looking back.

Season 3: Episode 19: 12 Tech Predictions for 2024 – AI Is Everywhere – Including the Guest Host Guest chatbot host, Roberta interviews Alan Shark as he speaks to his annual list of predictions. This year is a first in many ways and the predictions will certainly surprise you! This year there are 12 as opposed to 10, and there are some completely new ones worth explaining. The ending is unsettling.

A conversation with Lorena Jordan, Policy and Government Librarian, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University. Jordan is the policy and government librarian, a position dedicated to supporting undergraduate and graduate students. She is experienced, driven, talented, and a successful professional, with comprehensive experience and solid adeptness at delivering information services across diverse areas of information management and library settings. In this episode we explo...

A Conversation with Rob Reynolds, CISCO, City of Raleigh, NC Rob Reynolds is the CISO, (Chief Information Security Officer) for the City of Raleigh. With nearly 30 years of experience, he started his career in the private sector, has been a CIO and CISO with most of his career in the public sector. He is a CGCIO as well as a Certified Chief Information Systems Professional in addition to two Masters’ Degrees. Rob offers a wealth of information on cybersecurity and addresses the issues of Zero T...

Season 3: Episode 16: A Vision of Cybersecurity Through the Eyes of a CISO: Part 1 A conversation with Nikki Milburn, CISO, Franklin County, Ohio. Nikki Milburn is the CISO (chief information Security Officer) for Franklin County, Ohio. Nikki is a certified CISO by three of the leading certification organizations. She has a steady track-record of accomplishments that are county-wide and shares some of her philosophies and strategies that should make many in the local government community quite...