The Government Technology Insider Podcast

AI-Driven Acquisition: Keeping Humans at the Center

With accelerating technology refresh cycles, evolving policy expectations, and the pressure to reduce waste and fraud while delivering mission outcomes faster, are transforming government acquisition from a transactional procurement function to a strategic capability. AI-driven acquisition offers agencies a way to address these pressures. Agencies are beginning to integrate AI [https://governmenttechnologyinsider.com/five-effective-ai-tips-for-federal-agencies-to-drive-real-mission-impact-in-2026/] directly into acquisition systems to streamline the requirements development process, automate research, and reduce administrative burden. These tools can help accelerate timelines and improve efficiency. However, agencies must also support common-sense workforce adoption to keep humans in the loop and avoid the risks of “cognitive surrender,” where users put too much trust into AI-generated outputs. Ben Allen, Vice President of Public Sector Solutions at Appian, joins our host, Lucas Hunsicker, in this episode of the Government Technology Insider podcast to talk about how acquisition modernization is evolving. They explore how the future of AI-enabled acquisition relies on embedding intelligent capabilities into procurement workflows in a way that keeps humans actively involved rather than replacing them.

Building a Cyber-Ready Workforce in the Readiness Revolution

The continual rapid evolution of the cyber threat landscape is making building a cyber workforce more important—and more difficult—than ever. As new cyber threats emerge more quickly and frequently, the “readiness revolution” is pushing cybersecurity readiness toward more active education and the ability to demonstrate skills before a crisis. In today’s episode of the Government Technology Insider podcast, Dan Magnotta, Senior Federal Business Development Manager at Hack The Box, explains how the readiness revolution is changing public sector cyber preparedness [https://governmenttechnologyinsider.com/technet-cyber-2026-takeaways-modernization-resilience-and-workforce-as-dod-transforms-cyber-strategy/] and what organizations can do to build a cyber-ready workforce. Artificial intelligence [https://governmenttechnologyinsider.com/doubling-down-on-fundamentals-how-ai-is-changing-and-not-changing-cybersecurity/] (AI), bring your own device policies, and new applications and devices are all expanding the government’s already massive attack surface. The Department of War’s (DoW) cyber workforce needs the skills to defend critical cyber terrain, but they also need the flexibility to shift priorities as threats, targets, and missions evolve.

AI Governance Defines the Next Stage of Federal AI Adoption

In a year defined by acceleration and transformation, 2025 will be remembered across the federal government as the start of artificial intelligence moving from pilot projects to production reality. Agencies are no longer debating whether to use AI; the conversation has shifted decisively to how to deploy it safely, effectively, responsibly, and at scale. On the most recent episode of the Government Technology Insider podcast, host, Lucas Hunsicker, spoke with Steve Boone, Director of Product Marketing at Checkmarx, about what this reframing has meant for government IT teams and what it signals as we move through 2026 and beyond.

Trust, Security, and Procurement: Deploying AI the Federal Way

As federal agencies continue to invest in, and deploy, AI solutions, the physical infrastructure needed to support mission-enabling use cases is top of mind for agency leaders. But the way these solutions will be acquired, implemented, and used significantly impacts the design of AI systems. Trust, security [https://governmenttechnologyinsider.com/technology-innovation-cybersecurity-and-knowledge-management-the-four-essentials-for-todays-federal-government-it-leaders/], and procurement all play a role in the value agencies get from AI and therefore must be considered from the onset. In part one of our podcast series, Michael Montgomery, President of Chenega Architecture and Design Solutions, explained how federal agencies can power and cool the systems enabling AI use cases and capabilities. In today’s episode of the Government Technology Insider podcast, we take a deeper dive into the operational challenges agencies need to keep in mind as they invest in AI.

AI In Federal Buildings: From Static Schedules to Predictive Operations

The increasing presence of AI in federal buildings is reshaping how the federal government works. From predictive AI that solves previously intractable challenges, enables digital twinning [https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2024/07/ai-enabled-digital-twins-are-transforming-government-critical-infrastructure/], and supports decision-advantage and operational superiority on the battlefield to generative AI that enables vital service delivery improvements, AI is the focus of federal agency investments [https://governmenttechnologyinsider.com/five-effective-ai-tips-for-federal-agencies-to-drive-real-mission-impact-in-2026/]. While there is little doubt about the value that AI can deliver to federal agencies, there are some very practical obstacles standing in the way. Before they can reap the benefits, agencies must confront the challenges of powering the vast AI infrastructures they are building and cooling the racks of servers that form the backbone of an AI-powered federal government. In this two-part series on the Government Technology Insider Podcast, we invited Michael Montgomery [https://governmenttechnologyinsider.com/as-the-electromagnetic-spectrum-heats-up-modern-scifs-deliver-a-strategic-advantage/], President of Chenega Architecture and Design Solutions, to discuss how federal facilities managers and their teams are addressing these mission-critical challenges, as well as the ubiquitous power and cooling issues [https://fedtechmagazine.com/article/2026/03/ai-causing-power-and-cooling-headache-agencies] that agencies will encounter as they move into the AI age.