In Pursuit with Mike Vichich — Government Technology & Public Sector Sales

In Pursuit #10 | Mike Vichich & Jim Weaver — The Real Role of a State CIO: Beyond Managing IT

For this episode of In Pursuit, we sat down with Jim Weaver — former State CIO of Washington, CIO and Cabinet Secretary of North Carolina, CTO of Pennsylvania, and past president of NASCIO. If you've ever wondered why a deal that seemed solid just stalled, or why timing your outreach to a state matters as much as your pitch — Jim explains the mechanics that most vendors never see from the inside. Visit pursuit.us [http://pursuit.us] Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:11 Meet Jim Weaver: 37 Years on the Buying Side 01:57 What a State CIO Actually Does (It's Not Running IT) 05:30 The State IT Org Chart: Centralized vs. Decentralized 11:11 Trade-Offs of Centralization — and Why Cybersecurity Is the Exception 13:39 Growing Up in Human Services: Why Business Context Matters 17:02 How Agency IT and Central IT Learn to Coexist 20:08 Taking Over Washington State IT: An Agency Graded F-Minus 25:38 Building Trust With Your Team After a Turnaround 28:00 How Initiatives Get From Idea to Funded Budget 31:20 Stack Ranking Projects Across an Entire State 36:05 What Happens to Initiatives Under a Continuing Resolution 40:50 The Annual State Budget Cycle, Step by Step 43:22 How Federal Budget Uncertainty Cascades Into State IT 45:11 How Vendors and Lobbyists Fit Into the Budget Cycle 48:49 The Mainframe-as-a-Service Deal That Saved Washington Millions 54:39 Mainframes in 2024: Still Relevant? GenAI and COBOL 57:17 NextGen 911 in North Carolina: Building Statewide Resilience 01:00:14 Hurricane Helene: When the System Got Tested for Real 01:03:16 AI in Government: Cost of Ownership and the Human-in-the-Loop 01:09:23 Closing Thoughts

In Pursuit #9 | Mike Vichich & Jocelyn Benson — Modernizing Government with Data

Michigan's Secretary of State turned around the DMV and broke voter turnout records. Here's the data-driven playbook she used to modernize government. Visit pursuit.us [http://pursuit.us] 00:00 Intro 00:35 Meet Jocelyn Benson — from civil rights to running Michigan's DMV 04:32 What was actually broken at the DMV 07:35 Was it a funding problem, a process problem, or neglect? 09:08 Why government incentives don't work like the private sector 12:28 Moving transactions online: from 28% to 60% 15:27 Kiosks in grocery stores — meeting citizens where they are 17:41 Government tech procurement: the right way to structure a vendor contract 19:19 What didn't work: why one-size-fits-all solutions fail in government 21:06 Building a feedback loop with an Office of Continuous Innovation 22:10 Michigan election security: from 34th to 2nd in the nation 24:43 How to distill a complex goal into two words: "turnout up" 25:22 Annual strategic planning — the one thing no other state agency does 27:37 Why Jocelyn is running for governor: costs down, wages up, rights protected 29:10 What it means to invest in "place" — and why Michigan's talent is leaving 30:51 Clean energy, AI, and the economic case for Michigan's future 34:23 Closing vision: high-speed rail and keeping Michigan's kids home

In Pursuit #8 | Mike Vichich & Milton Dohoney — 40 Years in Public Service: What Vendors Must Know

Milton Dohoney, Ann Arbor City Administrator, shares 40 years of public service insight on how cities buy tech, what vendors get wrong, and how government really works. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:21 Milton's 40-year career across five cities 01:34 Council-manager vs. strong mayor government 02:41 Writing "It Always Begins With Leadership" 04:06 The four layers of city law: charter, ordinances, resolutions & policy 06:09 Who's the "Supreme Court" for a city? 07:46 How charter amendments get proposed and approved 09:23 Administrative regulations and how policy gets changed 13:50 When well-intentioned rules create unintended consequences 15:27 How Milton shortened council meetings from 7 hours to 3 18:57 How cities buy technology: the ideal procurement process end to end 22:56 The role of finance in a tech purchase 23:38 When to bring in procurement (and when it's too early) 25:16 Co-op contracts and piggybacking on existing RFPs 28:21 Budget reality: what happens when you don't have the money 31:40 How grants factor into purchasing decisions 33:45 Vendor win rates and the myth of the predetermined bid 36:00 The #1 mistake vendors make: going straight to the city administrator 38:06 When it does make sense to reach out to the city administrator 41:31 When should a department actually pull in procurement? 42:57 Do your homework: why 50 of 60 vendor emails get deleted 45:43 Travel approval and bureaucratic sign-off chains 47:17 How Ann Arbor builds its brand without local TV 49:11 The city's relationship with the University of Michigan 52:32 Practical advice for vendors selling into local government 56:27 The RFP cutoff: when vendor engagement must stop 57:58 What happens when a vendor implementation fails 59:37 Where to find Milton's book

In Pursuit #7 | Mike Vichich & Jim Colangelo — A CPO’s Guide to Selling into Government

Former Michigan CPO Jim Colangelo breaks down how government procurement really works — and what vendors must know before the RFP ever drops. Timestamps: 00:00 The Triangle of Customers in Procurement 00:51 Introduction — Jim Colangelo's Background 01:55 20 Years in Procurement: What's Stayed the Same 03:34 Who Are Procurement's Real Customers? 05:05 How JetBlue Shaped Jim's Customer Service Philosophy 06:55 Public vs. Private Sector Procurement: The Real Differences 09:41 Why Working in Public Sector Is a Privilege 11:04 Why Government Procurement Takes Longer 13:13 The Real Sales Cycle: Rec to Check 14:43 Vendor Management & Stewardship of Taxpayer Dollars 16:29 Best Value vs. Lowest Bid 18:00 Can You Shortcut the Government Procurement Process? 19:55 The Formula — and Why Everyone's Is Different 21:30 RFP Thresholds and How Co-ops Work 24:35 What the Ideal Vendor Sales Cycle Looks Like 27:35 How Procurement Plans 18 Months Ahead 30:07 When the Business Knows Exactly What It Wants 31:39 Bid Protests: What Happens and Who's Accountable 34:44 How Scoring Committees Work 37:46 Small & Diverse Businesses in Government Procurement 39:10 Teaming & Subcontracting Strategies for Small Businesses 42:56 How to Change a Procurement Law or Code 46:30 How Jim Turned Around Michigan's Procurement Office 50:07 Leadership Lessons: Listening Before Leading 51:41 Simplifying Complex Organizations 57:36 AI in Procurement: What Should Change, What Should Stay 1:00:03 How to Break Into Government Sales — Jim's #1 Advice 1:01:41 The Biggest Mistake Vendors Make: Going Around Procurement

In Pursuit #6 | Mike Vichich & Rick Snyder — Cybersecurity & AI for State Government

Rick Snyder, Michigan's 48th Governor, shares how he built MEDC, led the nation in cybersecurity, and why AI is government's next big frontier.