I think we’re still designing policy for a world that doesn’t exist anymore.

It feels like we’re in an in-between moment. The old way isn’t holding up. The new way isn’t fully formed. And we’re kind of stitching it together as we go.

There’s a tension at the heart of government that we don’t talk about enough.

On the front lines, everything feels urgent. You’re dealing with real people, real problems, right now. You see what’s broken. You feel the pressure to act.

Then there’s the center. The place where resources sit. Where decisions get made. Where the stakes are bigger, the scale is wider… but the urgency isn’t always there in the same way.

And when these two worlds collide? That’s where things start to break down.

My friend Almero Oosthuizen who is living both worlds, as an Emergency Doctor and as an Innovation Specialist for the Department of Health in the Western Cape of South Africa.

Together, we explore that friction: why the frontline often feels ignored, why the center moves more slowly than it should, and why both sides are actually right (and wrong).

If we’re serious about making government work better, we need to understand this tension, not just complain about it.

Curious how others are experiencing this where you are. Drop a comment and let me know.

We might be starting to see the future of government take shape… and I’m not sure we’re ready for it.

In this video, I unpack Ukraine’s latest roadmap on the Agentic State — one of the first real attempts to move from theory to practice when it comes to AI in government.

This builds directly on my recent conversation with Manuel Kilian, where we explored the idea of the Agentic State. But this time, the question is different:

👉 What does this actually look like when a government tries to build it?

We get into:

I’ve been sitting with this one for a bit. There’s something real here — but also a lot we don’t fully understand yet.

▶️ My interview with Manuel Kilian on the Agentic State:

▶️ Explaining “Rules as Code” (and why it matters):

This isn’t just about technology.

It’s about what happens when AI becomes part of how government actually runs — how decisions get made, how services are delivered, and where accountability sits.

If you’re a public servant (or care about how government works), this is a conversation worth paying attention to.

I make videos exploring how government works — and how it could work better.

If you’re into public sector innovation, digital government, or just trying to make sense of where things are going…

👉 consider subscribing and following along

Are we actually ready for something like this?

Or does this still feel a bit too far off?

Last week I was in Melbourne for the Public Sector Network Government Innovation Week. I’ve got a full series linked below from the trip, so check those out if you want the full picture. But there’s one idea in particular that’s been stuck in my head ever since.

I finally had a chance to sit down and process last week’s Public Sector Network Government Innovation Week in Melbourne… and there’s a lot that’s still rattling around in my head.

I recently had the chance to spend a couple of days with one of my favourite Civic Punks, the author and public servant Amber Guette in Wellington, New Zealand.

We talked about what public service means to her and what inspired her to write her well-known book: Dear Minister - Letters From a Public Servant. She also gave a sneak peek into her next book that she is currently writing.

Have you heard about Agentic AI? If not, you will, it is shaping to be the next major frontier for AI. What is it? How can we be ready for it?

For this week's Rent Free, I sat down with Brenton Caffin, the founder of States of Change, to learn more about the book that has most shaped his thinking.

He chose "Reimagining Organizations" by Frederic Laloux and shared how he has worked to apply its principles in both States of Change and Government.

I’m on a bit of a mission right now: find government projects that actually worked. Not theory but Real impact. And in Adelaide, I think I found one.

The Thinkers in Residence program did something pretty unusual… it brought in some of the world’s leading thinkers to work directly with government and help tackle big challenges. I sat down with Brenton Caffin, who saw it up close, to dig into what made it work (and what didn’t). Honestly, this is one of those ideas that sticks with you.

Right now, it feels like we are in a moment focused on austerity. Governments everywhere are cutting their workforce, but is there a danger with this? Nick Scott thinks so. In his recent article, "Why Budget Cuts Without Resource Reallocation Rarely Transforms Systems" he argues that when cuts are rushed or made across the board we end up not with more efficient government but with crappy government. But he also has a solution, invest in reforming the pipes of government. Read the full article here: https://www.shiftflow.ca/ideas/budget-cuts-rarely-transform-systems