AI Summit

Zach Whitman is the Chief Data Scientist and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (CAIO) at the General Services Administration (GSA), where he supports the Data Analytics Center of Excellence (CoE) team, and leads cloud migration, data architecture modernization, change management, data and analytics, data management, technology procurement, and strategy formation modernization efforts at external federal agencies.

As GSA’s inaugural Chief AI Officer, Zach is responsible for maintaining awareness of GSA’s artificial intelligence activities, establishing processes to measure and evaluate AI performance, establish and chair AI oversight governing bodies, lead the development of GSA’s AI inventory and other reporting, among many other responsibilities. He played a pivotal role in standing up GSA’s AI Directive.

Zach has over a decade of experience in research and data analysis and has released several research publications. Before joining GSA, Zach served as the Chief Data Officer at the U.S. Census Bureau for over seven years. During his tenure, he worked to make data as accessible as possible and to build trust in data analytics across the US.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geology from Colgate University and a Doctorate in Hazard and Disaster Management from the University of Canterbury.

Taylor Stockton is the Chief Innovation Officer of the U.S. Department of Labor. In his role, Stockton leads the DOL’s exploration of how AI and emerging technologies impact the labor market and the overall experience of the American worker, as well as what new innovations can support workers in achieving the American Dream. Stockton was formerly the Co-Founder of future of work venture capital firm Pathway Ventures and the Chief Operating Officer of an AI-powered workforce development company, and he received his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Mr. Adarryl M. Roberts was appointed to serve as the Director, DLA Information Operations (J6), Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) on August 2, 2023.

As the Director, J6, Mr. Roberts is the DLA Chief Information Officer (CIO), responsible for coordinating and integrating policies, guidelines, procedures, and activities to ensure effective, efficient, and economical information technology (IT) planning, acquisition, and management in support of DLA and the Department of Defense (DOD) missions and objectives. He is responsible for the management and supervision of all DLA IT policies and planning, and investment management to include cyber resilience, technical architecture and infrastructure, emerging technology, research and development, data management, and IT acquisition program management throughout the Agency and DOD.

DLA is the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)’s logistics combat support agency, providing worldwide logistics support for the material and personnel readiness and sustainment of the Military Departments and the Unified Combatant Commands under conditions of peace and war. It also provides logistics support to other DOD components and certain Federal agencies, foreign governments, international organizations, and others as authorized.

Prior to his selection as CIO, Mr. Roberts was appointed to the Senior Executive Service and selected as the Program Executive Officer (PEO) DLA on November 4, 2019.

As the PEO, Mr. Roberts was instrumental in leading DLA’s Digital Business Transformation efforts to modernize, transform, and fundamentally change the way DLA provides value to our customers. He was the corporate provider of acquisition management services and provided overall direction and guidance for the development, acquisition, testing, systems integration, product improvement, and fielding for assigned DLA programs on behalf of DOD wide sponsors.

Before being appointed as the PEO, Mr. Roberts served as the Portfolio Manager, Enterprise Sourcing, Medical, and Contingency (ESMC), DLA Information Operations, Program Executive Office responsible for oversight and acquisition expertise across the life cycle in support of the DOD and DLA user communities for 16 programs and 35 applications. Prior to his tenure as the ESMC Portfolio Manager, Mr. Roberts held a variety of increasingly responsible positions at DLA, including Director of the Business Systems Center of Excellence (BSCoE) working with Industry IT Business System partners within DOD to look at innovative ways to develop and sustain business systems, and Program Manager of Wide Area Workflow (WAWF).

After graduating from Fayetteville State University, Mr. Roberts enlisted in the United States Air Force where he served as the equivalent to a civilian Contracting Officer for the 81st Contracting Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base. Upon separation from the Air Force, Mr. Roberts worked as a Functional Analyst Lead for contract writing at CACI, Inc. He then entered Federal service as a Procurement Analyst with Army Business Center for Acquisition Systems before transferring to the Business Transformation Agency in 2008 serving as DOD agency lead for Federal Procurement Data System Next Generation, and Deputy Program Manager of Federal Business Opportunities, and later Program Manager of WAWF.

Mr. Roberts holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and Management from Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, NC and he is DAU certified at level three in Contracting. Mr. Roberts awards include the Air Force Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Ribbon, Outstanding Unit Ribbon, and Air Force Squadron/Group Company Grade Officer of the Year.

Niki Maslin comes from a long career in the Navy, leaving as a Lieutenant Commander, where she was able to hone her technical and leadership skills as both an operator and technologist. She also spent time in the private sector as a senior developer, AI, and cyber security expert, before coming back to the public sector. She was at FEMA leading teams in developing policy, data, systems, AI, and research and development before coming to the EPA. In addition to her office director duties, she serves as the Chief AI Officer and Chief Technology Officer for the Agency.

Krista Kinnard currently serves as the Deputy Chief AI Officer for NASA where she leads the agency in driving innovation through the adoption of cutting-edge artificial intelligence capabilities. With a focus on ethical AI practices and data-driven innovation, Krista fosters cross-agency collaboration and empowerment of the NASA workforce. A passionate advocate for responsible technology, Krista is dedicated to ensuring AI solutions are equitable, transparent, and impactful for all stakeholders. Prior to this role, she served as the Culture & Communications Lead for NASA Digital Transformation where she facilitated the adoption of transformation activities across NASA. Prior to joining NASA, Krista served in several roles in government including as the Director of Innovation and Engineering at the Department of Labor (DOL) and as a director at GSA’s Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence.

Cara Rose is the Director, Workplace and Collaboration Services, in the Office of the Chief Information Officer at NASA. She and her team are responsible for delivering consistent, innovative, and evolving solutions that drive mission success and exceptional customer experiences. Cara’s team is transforming NASA’s mission with innovative and user-friendly services.

Previously, Cara worked for nearly 21 years at the Social Security Administration. She was the Deputy Associate Commissioner of the Office of Analytics and Improvement, where she worked to turn data into information to support SSA in its decision making. Prior experience in SSA’s CIO organization includes leadership roles in the Enterprise Architecture group to advance SSA’s modernization efforts, and as the Director of Digital Services in the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, responsible for leveraging the power of technology and data to provide innovative solutions and impact culture change to support organizational priorities. Other experience at SSA includes budget, vendor, and IT project management.

On a personal note, she is a native of the Baltimore, MD, area where she resides with her husband, two children (ages 8 and 10), and two dogs.

Amy Ritualo serves as Acting Chief Data and AI Officer and Managing Director of the Center for Analytics at the U.S. Department of State. With over 21 years of federal service, she is a senior executive specializing in data analytics, artificial intelligence, strategic planning, evaluation, and policy analysis. She leads cross-functional teams and drives organizational transformation through innovative technology solutions, with expertise in advancing data-driven decision making and implementing generative AI technologies. Previously, Amy served as Deputy Chief of the Office of Performance and Quality at the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) where she managed several enterprise-wide portfolios, including forecasting and modeling to inform agency resource allocations and statistical reporting on immigration benefits. Amy also managed and set standards for research and evaluation of multimillion dollar school feeding, agricultural development, and trade programs in the Foreign Agricultural Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Kevin Byrne is the DevSecOps Team Lead at Idaho National Laboratory. Originally from Montana, he now calls Idaho home, where he enjoys raising his family. He earned his B.S. in Computer Science from Boise State University.

Kevin brings extensive experience across the software stack, having worked as a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET), Developer, Scrum Master and in DevOps. For the past four years he has also excelled as a people manager, fostering growth and excellence within his team. Kevin is passionate about helping individuals become the best version of themselves.

Outside of work, Kevin is married to Ashley Byrne and together they have five children: Liam, Ian, Aaron, Declan and Ailey.

David Aha serves as the Director of the AI Center at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. He received his PhD in 1990 from UC Irvine, where he launched the UCI Repository of Machine Learning Databases. His research interests include goal reasoning agents, deliberative autonomy, case-based reasoning, explainable agency, machine learning (e.g., GenAI), reproducible studies, and related topics. David served as a AAAI Councilor, co-organized the AAAI Video Competitions during 2007-2009, received AAAI’s Robert S. Engelmore Memorial Lecture Award in 2017, and received awards for five publications. He has led the evaluation teams for four DARPA programs and one ONR program.

Jennifer Hay is a technology and national security leader with over two decades of experience, deeply focused on the intersection of technology, policy, and defense.  Most recently, she served as the Director of the Defense Digital Service (DDS), leading a cross-functional team in delivering rapid software solutions across the Department of Defense. Previously, Jennifer shaped policy on responsible AI and supported key deployments as the head of Global Government Relations at the enterprise AI platform DataRobot.  Her extensive career includes key roles at the Department of Defense and the White House, notably positions within the National Security Council, the Deputy Secretary of Defense’s office, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security, and the Defense Intelligence Agency. She holds an M.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University and a B.A. in Political Science from Pepperdine University.

John Dvorak is Chief Technology Officer, Public Sector at Red Hat. He leads a team of experienced Chief Architects and open source thought leaders who focus on the diverse mission requirements of Federal, State, Local, and Education customers. His team helps to shape and communicate the Red Hat technology vision; co-innovates with customers, partners, and associates; and advocates for Public Sector interests within Red Hat and Open Source communities.

Dvorak has spent 30 years as a technology leader in the Federal Government and industry. He is a former FBI Senior Executive who led efforts in data analytics, enterprise engineering, and software development within the law enforcement and intelligence communities. He began his civil service at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he oversaw network engineering and drove several cybersecurity modernization efforts. Prior to joining Red Hat, he served in Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) roles within the systems integrator community, maintaining a focus on government mission requirements. He maintains active participation in multiple industry and government cooperative forums.

Tommy Gardner is HP’s Chief Technology Officer for HP Federal, spanning the US Federal Agencies, Higher Education, as well as Federal Systems Integrators. His current responsibilities include technology leadership, strategic technology plans, product and technology strategies, sales force technical support, and customer and partner relationships.

Previously, Tommy has served as the Chief Technology Officer for Jacobs Engineering, Scitor, and ManTech. Earlier in his career he was a senior technical executive at Raytheon. In the U.S. Navy he served as the Deputy for Science and Technology for the Chief of Naval Research. He oversaw the Navy’s Deep Submergence Program as well as its Advanced Technology Program. He also commanded the nuclear submarine, USS San Juan (SSN 751).

Tommy’s educational background covers multiple disciplines and fields of interest including: cybersecurity, data science, digital supply chains, quantum information science, artificial intelligence, high performance computing and systems integration.

Tommy holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University, an M.S. in Management of Technology from MIT and a Ph. D. in Energy Economics from George Washington University. He is a Professional Engineer, an ASME Fellow, and serves on the ANSI Board of Directors. He is currently on the U. S. Council on Competitiveness and serves as the Co-chair of the Advanced Computer Roundtable.

In his spare time Tommy teaches graduate students at Catholic University of America in Cybersecurity, Software Programming, the Digital Supply Chain and Cyber Ethics. He was awarded the 2021 Part Time instructor of the year at CUA.

Mike Chon leads IBM Federal Talent and Business Applications consulting services, which includes HR and Skills Transformation, HR Technologies, Change, Learning and Business Applications. Mike has over 25 years of experience and is a recognized thought leader in the Human Capital domain both in Federal and Commercial industries. Mike has worked with federal clients spanning across both federal civilian and defense intel agencies, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, US Army, and GSA to name a few.

Mike drives HR transformation from strategy/vision/business case through design and implementation with a focus on the Future of Work, Digital HR and AI. Mike is best known for bringing innovative HR solutions in practical customer focused terms that spans across business, HR, and technology

Prior to rejoining IBM, Mike has extensive experience working with C suite executives within multinational corporations and consulting companies to help drive Future of HR initiatives.

Josh Finke is the senior vice president of public sector at Lumen as is responsible for driving the business’ overall go-to-market strategy and profit and loss. Finke has more than 25 years of technology leadership experience in artificial intelligence, cloud, communications, networking and security. Finke was previously chief solutions officer at Compucom, chief strategy officer at Zones and vice president of advanced and emerging technologies at Iron Bow Technologies.

Reuben Richards has worked in the public sector technology provider solution space for the last 25 years using SAS software to solve complex analytical problems. In his current role as the Technical Director for the SAS US Government business vertical, he is responsible for developing a team of data scientists, data engineers, and cloud architects that develop and position AI-focused solutions based on SAS technology to public sector customers. Prior to his current role at SAS, Reuben was a Technical Architect and focused on the integration of SAS software into complex IT environments.

Chris Ritter is the Division Director of Scientific Computing & AI and Director of the Digital Innovation Center of Excellence at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). He leads a team of ~100 experts advancing AI/ML, digital engineering, HPC, and digital twin technologies across sectors like nuclear energy, semiconductors, and defense. Chris founded INL’s digital engineering team, now over 57 strong, credited with innovations such as the first nuclear reactor digital twin and the Deep Lynx digital thread platform. He also serves as Chief Digital Officer of SMART USA, a $1B semiconductor digital twin institute. Previously, he co-founded Innoslate, the leading cloud-native MBSE tool used in 107 countries.

Scott Godwin serves as the Director of the Center for Continuum Computing (C3) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, leading the integration of high-performance computing, cloud platforms, edge systems, and AI-enabled workflows into a seamless digital research ecosystem. Through C3, Scott is helping redefine how computational resources are aligned to the dynamic needs of science, enabling real-time orchestration of complex workloads, and empowering researchers with flexible, scalable, and secure environments. His work targets impact not only within PNNL, but across the .gov and national science enterprise, driving innovation, efficiency, and accessibility at the intersection of computing and discovery.

Doyle Choi is a proven executive leader whose success has been built upon strong customer and partner relationships coupled with a deep technical background. Doyle has successfully planned, built and executed sustainable growth and profitability strategies as evidenced by his direct responsibility for assembling and leading successful teams to grow business throughout his 30 year career spanning Pure Storage, Crowdstrike, Trellix/Mcafee, GDIT/CSRA, and Northrop Grumman covering Defense/Intel, Civilian, International, and Commercial markets.

In his Strategic Programs leadership role at Pure Storage, Crowdstrike and Trellix/McAfee, he has direct responsibility for Federal Systems Integrator partnerships, Capture and Business Development teams, and CTO and Government Affairs support activities. Throughout his tenure at GDIT/CSRA and Northrop Grumman, Doyle has held numerous senior leadership positions with increasing levels of responsibility to include, Senior Vice President of Defense Growth, VP of Business Development, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Director of Technology Solutions, Program Management, and Systems Engineering.

Doyle has successfully led account management, business development, sales, strategy development, campaign management, capture management, CTO activities, technical subject matter experts, marketing communications, and proposal operations teams to successfully market capabilities, shape and influence customer acquisitions, and capture and execute new program and recompete business in excess of $8B.

In addition to sales leadership, Doyle has overseen the development and implementation of diverse technical solutions to include NextGen cloud solutions, cyber security solutions, enterprise network solutions, as-a-service solutions, data analytics and knowledge management solutions, and enterprise applications.

Prior to joining the private sector, Doyle held software development positions at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology and the Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA where he developed artificial intelligence applications to improve the effectiveness of machine vision solutions and geospatial information systems.

Doyle attended the University of Maryland, University College earning a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems Management. He’s completed executive marketing programs at the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business, and the American Management Association. Doyle is also a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and an active member in AFCEA International.

Doyle also has a passion for supporting various Veteran charities, most recently sponsoring high performance driver education events that benefited Warrior Salute and Paws for Vets.

Anish Patel serves as the Head of Federal Civilian at Cloudflare, with a mission of helping to build a better Internet for everyone. Since joining three years ago, Anish has led go-to-market for Cloudflare’s Federal business and his team is directly responsible for improving the resiliency of many services that citizens rely on every day.

Scott Andersen is a long-time IT Architect with over 30 years of industry experience. During his career, Andersen has delivered solutions to customers worldwide. Over the last decade, Andersen has focused on the US Federal and US State IT markets. At that time, he focused on advanced technologies and their impact on state and federal IT environments. Currently, he is evaluating and considering the impact of Artificial Intelligence, and the path agencies can follow to build and deliver AI.

He lives in Maryland with his family. On weekends, he hikes the hills of Maryland. You can often find him peering at a market depicting and describing a great historical event. He is happy to share his many pictures of historical markers.