Shows / The GIST of Govt IT
The GIST of Govt IT
The weekly show that breaks down ideas, innovations and decisions that cut through complexity and offer real insights from the intersection of technology and the mission.
Episodes
The GIST of Govt ITIf You're Not First, You're Last: A Former Govt. CTO's Perspective
Steve Wallace spent 15 years at DISA, seven and a half of them as CTO, building some of the largest IT programs the Department has ever attempted. Now 130 days…
The GIST of Govt ITA Wrap on FY26: Trading Disruption for Execution
In this season finale, Brian and Sean look back on a year that traded disruption for execution. Sean breaks down the wave of end-of-year infrastructure buys as…
The GIST of Govt ITSecurity Compliance Checklists vs. Commander's Intent
The government is great at security governance — but that isn't the same as being secure. In Episode 18 of The GIST of Govt IT, Brian and Sean sit down with…
The GIST of Govt ITThe LRA is Here and the Clock is Ticking!
It's here. On August 20, CISA dropped the Logging Reference Architecture (LRA) a practitioner's guide that operationalizes OMB M-26-14 and the countdown just…
The GIST of Govt ITFederal AI Wants to Fly but Data Weighs it Down
Somewhere between 60% and 80% of federal AI projects have stalled out and the common denominator almost always traces back to the data. In Episode 16 of The…
The GIST of Govt ITBillion Dollar Pilots and Boil Water Notices: Securing OT Environments
“The only thing that isn't digital in the Department of War is the bayonet.” That line from DoW CISO Aaron Bishop set the tone for a standing-room panel Brian…
The GIST of Govt ITA Pause, Not a Pass on CMMC
On July 13, the Department of War hit pause on one of the most consequential compliance regimes in the defense industrial base. In Episode 14 of The GIST of…
The GIST of Govt ITFed Christmas in July? The OMB M-26-14 Holiday Rush Begins!
Level One by Christmas. Level Two by Valentine's Day. Level Three by Independence Day. That's the OMB M-26-14 logging mandate clock federal agencies are now…
The GIST of Govt ITThe Founding Fathers' Guide to Federal IT
Happy 250th birthday, America. In this special shortened Fourth of July episode of The GIST of Govt IT, Brian and Sean keep it snackable for the beach-and-boat…
The GIST of Govt ITThe Five-Dollar Agentic AI Hacker
Four days. A spare $500 mini PC from Microcenter. An open-source quantized model running on 512 MB of VRAM. And by Thursday morning, an autonomous AI agent…
The GIST of Govt ITAn Apache Down. An ASV Up: Crossing the Rubicon for Autonomous Warfare
In Episode 10 of The GIST of Govt IT, Brian and Sean are joined by David Hutchins, Director of Naval Systems and Defense Technology at Forecast International…
The GIST of Govt ITQuad Charts be Damned: Data Meets the Mission
For years now, the question for federal agencies has been the same: is your data ready for AI? In Episode 9 of The GIST of Govt IT, Brian and Sean sit down…
The GIST of Govt ITMinutes, Not Months: Inside the New Cyber Velocity Facing Federal Agencies
48 hours. That's the time it took for a federal employee credentials to be stolen as a result of a phishing attack, to being listed on a dark web marketplace…
The GIST of Govt ITIran Came for US Dams and We Got Lucky: Frontline Insights from the OT Fight
When Iranian-linked cyber actors hit U.S. water, energy, and government facilities through internet-exposed Rockwell Allen-Bradley PLCs during the sixth week…
The GIST of Govt ITCupcakes & OODA Loops: Inside(r) Insights Into the New Federal AI Cyber Playbook
Last episode, we left you hanging with a question: when it comes to cybersecurity, what is the federal government doing to both leverage AI and defend against…
The GIST of Govt ITVibe Hacking and Nation State Cyber Threats
Your router may not be your router. It could be a Russian surveillance device. In Episode 5 of The GIST of Govt IT, Brian and Sean unpack a stunning two weeks…
The GIST of Govt ITA New Playbook for Small Businesses and Startups in Federal IT
From a startup consulting shop to a $1.4B IBM acquisition, Octo Consulting Group's story is one of the great growth journeys in government IT. Brian and Sean…
The GIST of Govt ITChaos, Change, and Opportunity in Federal IT
"Chaos." "Change." "Opportunity." Three words that surfaced in a room full of federal contractors when asked to describe today's government IT environment…
The GIST of Govt ITFighting Fire with Fire to Secure Federal AI Agents
There's a workforce inside your agency that nobody hired, no one trained, and nobody is watching. We're talking about AI agents. In Episode 2 of The GIST of…
The GIST of Govt ITMoving Ideas to Mission Outcomes
Sean and Brian kick off the inaugural episode of The GIST of Govt IT, and they're diving into why speed and real results are suddenly the only things that…