Feds at the Edge

All government agencies face the challenge of achieving ambitious IT modernization goals while juggling limited resources and seemingly endless needs.

This week on Feds At the Edge, experts explore practical strategies to make modernization both achievable and cost-effective.

Christine Maii Sakuda, State Chief Information Officer (CIO) and administrator of the Office of Enterprise Technology Services for Hawaii, shares how a dedicated change management advocate and early practitioner engagement can transform digital initiatives, emphasizing that investing in people upfront leads to smoother, more efficient transitions. And Abe Rosloff, Senior Sales Engineer at Datadog, adds that not every system needs to be included in a transition. Understanding priorities, cataloging applications, and involving the team early are key steps to achieving cost-effective modernization.

Tune in on your favorite podcast platform to hear actionable insights that can help your agency modernize IT without breaking the budget.

Cloud adoption is accelerating, data is exploding, and agencies are under pressure to understand where cloud provider responsibility end, and where theirs begins.

This week on Feds At the Edge, experts from the State of Kansas, GovRAMP, and Palo Alto Networks share practical guidance for navigating today's cloud landscape.

Jeff Maxon, CITO for the State of Kansas, shares how to differentiate between infrastructure and applications and why responsibility shifts to the customer once you move into the application layer.

Michael Gregg, Field CIO at Palo Alto Networks, highlights why configuration isn't the same as security, the importance of continuous compliance testing, and why every organization needs a solid recovery plan.

Tune in on your favorite podcast platform and learn how collaboration, clarity, and continuous improvement drive stronger cloud security.

What if decades of security headaches could be solved with one framework?

In 2011, FedRAMP was created to end the repetitive, time-consuming security audits across federal agencies, standardizing security to cut costs and accelerate cloud adoption. Fast forward ten years, and state governments faced the same challenges. Enter GovRAMP: a standardized, transparent framework based on NIST 800-53 rev5, designed to bring states together around shared security practices.

This week on Feds At the Edge, data security experts break down the practical steps of implementing compliance, the importance of continuous monitoring, the role of cloud service providers, and why allocating the right resources is critical to protecting sensitive data.

Tony O'Neill, CISO & Chief Risk Officer from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, noted that a consistent baseline doesn't just save money, it frees leaders to invest in people.

Tune in on your favorite podcast today and discover how GovRAMP is making state-level cybersecurity simpler, smarter, and more resilient.

Making the transition from on-prem to the multi-cloud can be tough, and the real challenges often emerge long after the migration plan is written.

This week on Feds At the Edge, three experts in the multi-cloud world break down the assumptions, surprises, and security realities organizations face along the way.

Jessica Van Eerde, Chief of Operations for GovRAMP, offers three essential, practical suggestions for anyone considering a move: assessing security compliance, validating support and training needs, and using the "Customer Responsibility Matrix" to ensure your expected cost savings are real. Dan Wilkins, CISO at the Arizona Dept of Economic Security, builds on this advice by recommending organizations define their minimum cloud requirements upfront and run a true gap analysis to compare vendors on more than just marketing claims.

And Nick Peters, Information Security Program Manager, Rubrik, highlights the hidden costs that can surprise even experienced teams.

Tune in on your favorite podcast today, whether you're planning your first cloud migration or refining a multi-cloud strategy, as this episode offers a grounded look at what it really takes to make the transition successfully.

As technology evolves, so does our understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.

This week on Feds At the Edge, we break down how artificial intelligence is transforming cybersecurity, where it can meaningfully improve defense, and what agencies should consider before deploying it.

LCDR Ian Roessle, Deputy Director, Center for High Assurance Computer Systems at the Naval Research Laboratory, explains why vulnerabilities don't always translate to real risk and emphasizes knowing your systems inside and out. He also notes that AI can introduce new exposures.

Martin Stanley, AI & Cybersecurity Researcher at NIST, outlines the Assessing Risks and Impacts of AI program, which is designed to help leaders validate and secure AI-enabled systems.

Jarrod Vawdrey, Field Chief Data Scientist at Domino Data Lab, discusses how agencies can move toward AI-driven cyber defense by assessing data readiness, isolating high-value targets, and shifting away from static, rules-based tools.

Tune in on your favorite podcast today as we explore practical guidance for deploying AI in cybersecurity while managing the risks it introduces.

Today, we take a nuanced look at automating cyber risk management.

Let's start with ingress of data. Kemp Jennings-Roach from the DoD understands the concept of having a complete inventory of an agency's data. Still, his experience shows that data coming in from multiple missions, potentially with various classifications, can be challenging.

Combine that with varying kinds of reporting requirements, and you get a process that can overwhelm even the most experienced individuals. His recommendation is to consider a platform approach that can help normalize data, allowing it to be used in a meaningful way.

Matt Goodrich from Diligent expands on some of the benefits of automation. For example, you may have a shortage of talent that can be compensated for with an automated platform. Automation reduces human error and can speed up the time to report.

Goodrich makes a great point about summarizing information. The goal of reviewing logs for anomalies is not to create a report, but to increase speed to action.

Rather than arbitrarily selecting an automated system, Goodrich suggests looking for tools that can integrate with existing systems and align with compliance frameworks, such as FedRAMP and NIST CSF.

Zero Trust isn't just about defense - it's about unlocking new capabilities across even the most legacy-heavy federal systems.

When agencies move to a Zero Trust Architecture, the benefits go far beyond stronger cybersecurity. Integrating decades-old systems into a Zero Trust framework can actually centralize data, create consistency, and open new paths to modernization.

This week on Feds At the Edge, Sean Phuphanich, Principal Technologist at AWS, explains how synthetic data can safely demonstrate cloud scalability in non-production environments, while Richard Breakiron, Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives, Americas Public Sector, Commvault, offers candid insight into why no single vendor has all the answers. His advice? Collaborate across agencies to tap into shared experience and proven solutions.

Tune in on your favorite podcast today as we explore how Zero Trust can be both a security strategy and a powerful engine for modernization across government. Plus, learn about a free AWS assessment tool that can help your agency gauge its Zero Trust maturity and chart a clear path forward.

AI promises efficiency and better public service delivery, but how realistic is that promise today?

This week on Feds At the Edge, our panel of experts take a grounded look at what it really takes to implement AI responsibly and effectively across government.

Chris Bunton, CIO, Texas Dept of Agriculture, cautions that past technology shifts - like the move to cloud - often took years to deliver a return on investment, reminding agencies to weigh AI's costs and sustainability.

Natalie Buda Smith, Director of Digital Strategy, Library of Congress, shares how the nation's largest data repository—over 193 petabytes—underscores the need to capture the right data and ensure systems can talk to each other. And Jonathan Alboum, Federal CTO, ServiceNow, stresses that real change starts at the top, with leaders who empower users and drive change through vision and accountability.

Tune in on your favorite podcast today as we explore why strong governance, clear policy, and constant reevaluation are essential to realizing AI's promise in the federal space.

Implementing Zero Trust in federal environments requires more than technology, it demands a clear strategy for managing and protecting data.

CISA recently updated its Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Data Model Document (DMD), highlighting the most critical changes without requiring a full review of the entire framework.

This week on Feds At the Edge, our panel of experts unpack some of the expanded concepts and explore some of the challenges and practical strategies for implementing DMD.

Daniel Bane, Supervisory IT Specialist, TSA, highlights the complexity of reporting data from dozens of diverse systems and the tools needed to do it efficiently. While Mark Hadley, Chief Cybersecurity Researcher, Pacific Northwest Labs, explains the limitations posed by privately-owned critical infrastructure. And Brian "Stretch" Meyer, Field Chief Technology Officer, Axonius Federal, offers practical insights on how tool updates can disrupt compliance processes if not carefully managed.

Tune in on your favorite podcast today to gain valuable insights into how agencies can apply the DMD practically, align data strategy with Zero Trust goals, and navigate the complexities of federal environments.

Artificial intelligence depends on its ability to draw insights from massive datasets, but size alone isn't the goal.

This week on Feds At the Edge, our panel of experts explore how smarter data management can make AI faster, more efficient, and more reliable by focusing on clean, well-labeled, and right-sized information.

Years ago, scientists dreamed of capturing data from sources as vast as satellites and as precise as atomic sensors. That dream is now reality, and today's challenge is ensuring that this flood of data is organized and manageable.

Thane Price of Idaho National Laboratory shares how reducing duplicative data and streamlining metadata helps AI learn more effectively. Gulan Shakir from the National Archives and Records Administration discusses how modern cloud infrastructure accelerates data transfer compared to legacy systems. And Cloudera's Kevin Talbert explains how proper data cataloging, synthetic datasets, and metadata management enhance testing and training for AI models.