This week on the GovNavigators Show, Adam and Robert sit down with Ryan Hoesing, Chief of Staff for FedRAMP, and Nicole Thompson, Security Director, for a deep dive into one of the most consequential federal IT programs undergoing transformation today.

Ryan and Nicole walk through the sweeping changes to the FedRAMP program and explain what the new “FedRAMP 20x” approach means for agencies and industry. They unpack the shift from authorization to certification, the move toward continuous and machine-readable security data, and why redefining FedRAMP’s role is critical to making cloud adoption actually work across government.

Show Notes:

• Continued DHS appropriations uncertainty
• Launch of VP Vance's anti-fraud taskforce
• New DEI EO

What's on the GovNavigators' Radar:

• Mar 31: Oracle Federal Forum
• Apr 8: ACT-IAC Contact Center Summit

This week on The GovNavigators Show, Robert and Adam are joined by Rob Bocek, Chief Commercial Officer at Virtualitics, for a conversation on how artificial intelligence is reshaping defense readiness.

Drawing on his wide experience from Navy Special Warfare to Microsoft, Rob explains how AI can help the Department of Defense move beyond fragmented data and toward faster, more informed decision-making. We explore how these tools surface hidden readiness gaps, improve situational awareness, and support leaders operating in high-stakes, time-sensitive environments.

Rob also walks through how Virtualitics is helping defense leaders make sense of massive, fragmented datasets, using AI-powered analytics to surface hidden risks, identify readiness gaps, and support faster, more confident decision-making. He explains how their approach emphasizes explainable AI, enabling operators and commanders to trust and act on insights in real time.

Show Notes:

• DHS budget conflict continues
• DoW's $200B supplemental request
• Fraud Task Force EO
• HR shared services push
• GSA to establish Acquisition QSMO

What's on the GovNavigators' Radar:

Mar 24:

• The Hill and Valley Forum

Mar 25:

• House Oversight Committee hearing: “Doing More with Less: Eliminating Duplicative Programs”

This week on the GovNavigators Show, we're joined by Joel Hinzman, one of the most seasoned voices in government technology and policy, and a member of the GovNavigators Network. Joel has been walking the halls of Congress and the executive branch longer than most, and his career reads like a history of modern government IT. He helped move the House of Representatives onto the internet, put the Starr Report online (and yes, crashed the servers doing it), and spent years at GSA overseeing IT modernization and acquisition policy, before heading to Oracle.

In this conversation, Joel breaks down where Congress still struggles with technology, why AI is the next big test for Capitol Hill, and what the sweeping changes at GSA mean for companies trying to do business with the federal government. He also shares what he's up to now, helping clients navigate procurement, budgets, government affairs strategy, and how to actually turn lobbying relationships into business results.

Show Notes:

• OMB Circular A‑123
• New Cyber Strategy
• Proposal for Federal AI Commission

What's on the GovNavigators' Radar:

Mar 17

• AGA Technology & Transformation Summit

Mar 19

• RSM Webinar on AI Governance and Responsible Adoption in Government

Mar 26

• PRAC’s Grantus Fraudus

Mar 27

• ACT-IAC AI Hackathon

This week on The GovNavigators Show, Robert and Adam welcome Wynn Coggins, former Acting Secretary of Commerce and now Chief Growth Officer at Management Science and Innovation, for a candid conversation on leadership forged through crisis, transition, and 35 years of federal service.

Wynn shares the lessons she's carried from her early days as a patent examiner through navigating COVID at the Department of Commerce, serving as Acting Deputy Secretary, and landing in the private sector at Deloitte before her current role. The throughline: surround yourself with people who challenge you, park your ego at the door, and build a culture where failing fast is a feature, not a flaw.

Robert and Adam also cover the week's big news: the introduction of the Federal Loan System Modernization Act of 2026, a bill that would finally bring a single platform to manage the government's sprawling loan portfolio, and the escalating standoff between the Department of Defense and Anthropic, which has now prompted the White House to direct agencies to cancel contracts with the AI company. Plus: Microsoft's major takedown of a global phishing operation responsible for 30 million fraudulent emails a month.

Show Notes:

• Federal Loan System Modernization Act of 2026
• Check out the The Lending Brief Podcast's new home

What's on the GovNavigators' Radar:

Mar 12, 2026

• AFCEA NOVA Naval IT Day

Mar 17, 2026

• AGA Technology and Transformation Summit

Apr 22, 2026

• ACT-IAC Emerging Tech Demo Day (rescheduled from March 18)

This week on The GovNavigators Show, Robert Shea and Adam Hughes sit down with Deep Grewal, Vice President of Public Sector at MinIO, to unpack the findings of a new survey on the federal government’s AI readiness, and why so many agencies are still stuck in the pilot phase.

While AI ambition is everywhere, Deep explains that the real bottleneck is in data management. From lineage and governance to infrastructure, portability, and total cost of ownership, the conversation makes the case that the unglamorous foundational work will determine which agencies actually scale AI and which remain in perpetual experimentation.

They dig into the tension between cloud-first and cloud-smart, the rise of hybrid and sovereign architectures, the GPU and storage crunch, and why AI must become a mission-wide capability rather than a bolt-on “innovation project.” Deep also lays out a practical checklist for moving to enterprise AI: get your data house in order, modernize infrastructure, upskill the workforce, establish governance, and prove the ROI.

If you’re trying to move from AI pilots to real production, this episode is your roadmap.

Show Notes:

• MinIO's Federal AI Readiness Gap
• Anthropic's stand-off
• One man's big bet against DOGE

What's on the GovNavigators' Radar:

Mar 4, 2026

• Alliance for Digital Innovation’s Understanding OneGov: Discussions with GSA Leadership

Mar 5, 2026

• The MUST ATTEND Driving Government Efficiency Summit

Mar 11, 2026

• Data Foundation event on Treasury’s Do Not Pay

Mar 19, 2026

• RSM Webinar: AI Governance and Responsible Adoption in Government

This special episode of The GovNavigators Show features a live conversation with Socure’s Jordan Burris, former chief of staff to the Federal CIO, recorded at the Government Executive Federal Technology Priorities Conference.

Jordan lays out a stark warning: modern fraud is not a series of isolated schemes, it’s an industrialized, AI-enabled ecosystem operating at global scale. He explains how adversaries are using the same large language models, automation, and data-sharing techniques as legitimate organizations to defeat traditional identity controls in days instead of months, creating what he calls a “zero-day” environment for fraud.

The discussion explores why long-standing federal fraud defenses are being outpaced, how commercial sectors have pulled ahead, and what agencies can do now to measure risk, modernize verification, and collaborate across silos. With hundreds of billions of dollars at stake each year, Jordan argues the government must move faster, test new approaches, and learn from industries already fighting these threats in real time.

If you care about improper payments, digital service delivery, customer experience, or cybersecurity, this is a roadmap for how identity has become the front line.

Show Notes:

• USA Today's story on Socure's age verification work
• Supreme Court rules against the administration's tariffs
• ICYMI: upcoming changes to 8(a)

What's on the GovNavigators' Radar:

Feb 24, 2026:

• Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Hearing on Security Clearances
• State of the Union Address

Mar 4, 2026:

• Alliance for Digital Innovation’s Understanding OneGov: Discussions with GSA Leadership

Mar 5, 2026:

• Driving Government Efficiency Summit

In this special President’s Day pop-up episode, the GovNavigators break down a fast-moving week in federal management and policy. They unpack the latest partial shutdown and what it really means for DHS employees, travelers, and the long-term outlook for TSA, along with the state of negotiations between the White House and Congress.

The conversation turns to the Congressional Budget Office’s new long-term deficit projection, the Small Business Administration’s termination of more than 150 8(a) contracts and what it signals for the federal contracting community, and a notable Washington Post release of a searchable database of federal AI use cases, and what it says about the government’s progress (and remaining challenges) in making data usable.

Enjoy the long weekend, folks!

Show Notes:

Robert, there are a total of four presidents with alliterative names, they are:

• Woodrow Wilson (28th President)
• Calvin Coolidge (30th President)
• Herbert Hoover (31st President)
• Ronald Reagan (40th President)

This week, the GovNavigators are joined by Mike Wetklow, former Chief Risk Officer at the IRS and longtime federal financial leader, to kick off a new series on the pod, introducing you all to the illustrious members of the GovNavigators Network. Mike reflects on his career across DHS, NSF, OMB, and IRS, his decision to return to school mid-career to study data analytics, and his current work preparing the next generation of public servants at George Mason University. The conversation explores how AI, data science, and emerging technologies are reshaping risk management and financial oversight, and why government’s real challenge may be learning to oversee technology that increasingly does the work itself.

In the news, Robert and Adam break down a brief partial shutdown, ongoing DHS funding uncertainty, and GAO’s latest report on federal shared services. They unpack why progress remains slow, what leadership commitment is missing, and why agencies continue to struggle to stop paying for duplicative systems. The episode also covers the administration’s move to reclassify parts of the federal workforce, revisiting the spirit of Schedule F, and a rare bipartisan moment out of the House Oversight Committee that raises cautious questions about the future of good-government reforms.

Show Notes:

• Learn more about the GovNavigators Network
• GAO report on Federal Shared Services
• OPM Federal Workforce Reclassification Rule

What's on the GovNavigators' Radar:

• Feb 10-12: AFCEA West
• Feb 11: PSC Law Enforcement Conference
• Feb 18-19: AGA National Leadership Training
• Mar 5: Government Efficiency Summit