Speakers

Gregory Barbaccia serves as the United States Federal Chief Information Officer, overseeing the implementation of secure, reliable, and high-performing technology across the Federal government. Prior to joining the White House, Gregory served in multiple leadership positions in the commercial technology sector where he executed robust information security strategies and implemented advanced analytics and security solutions at scale. Gregory is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and is a US Army Intelligence Veteran, having served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the United States Senate, The Honorable Kevin Rhodes serves as the 16th Administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. Also known as the Chief Acquisition Officer of the United States, Administrator Rhodes is responsible for setting policy on approximately ten percent of the annual US budget or nearly $1trillion dollars. He is responsible for the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) across the government by statue. He chairs the Chief Acquisition Officers Council and CAS board along with numerous other government-wide boards and councils. Administrator Rhodes leads the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul and CAS changes currently underway updating US procurement policies for the most significant updates in 40 and 50 years respectively.

Dr. Kevin Rhodes previously served as a senior advisor to the Director, Office of Management and Budget as part of the Executive Office of the President.
Before his OMB role, Dr. Rhodes was the Executive Vice President of Systecon North America. In this capacity, he led all aspects of Systecon North America, including strategy, senior government relations, and Congressional interface efforts. With direct profit and loss responsibility, he led Systecon North America to its best year ever in its existence.
Prior to joining Systecon, Dr. Rhodes served for 25 years of transformational senior leadership in the Air Force in various roles, including having direct interaction and influence with the last three sitting (and now the current for 4) U.S. Presidents as part of his White House position. Experiences include leading 100s of procurement professionals and managed budgets of more than $2 Billion annually in various roles such as the Director of Operations KC-46, Program Manager for Common Avionics and Materiel, and Director of Acquisition at the White House Military Office. Led the Department of Defense’s (DoD) best managed program two separate times from 1000s of programs. He served in combat and worked special programs for US Special Operations Command as well. Dr. Rhodes holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, a Masters Degree in Management, and a Doctorate of Business Administration with a project management focus. He is a distinguished graduate of the Air War College and served on the personal staffs of the Deputy Secretary of Defense and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff as an Air Force Fellow.

Dr. Rhodes previously served on the Board of Directors for the international non-profit Council of Logistics Engineers.

Rep. James Walkinshaw represents Virginia's 11th Congressional District, covering most of Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax, and the towns of Vienna and Herndon.

He serves on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which oversees the federal workforce, government operations, and federal IT management—areas that are critical to Northern Virginia’s economy—and on the Committee on Homeland Security,  covering areas like border/port security, cybersecurity, transportation security, counterterrorism, emergency management (FEMA), and customs.

Congressman Walkinshaw is the founder and co-chair of the first-ever Congressional Federal Workforce Caucus, which works to protect federal employees and defend the merit-based civil service from political interference.

A member of the New Democrat Coalition, Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Walkinshaw prioritizes protecting Social Security and Medicare, expanding housing and infrastructure, combating the climate crisis, and defending reproductive freedom.

Before Congress, Walkinshaw served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and spent over a decade as Chief of Staff to Rep. Gerry Connolly. He earned a B.A. in Politics from New York University and lives in Fairfax with his wife, Yvette, and their son, Mateo.

Craig P. Abod is the President and CEO of Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted IT Solutions Provider® to the Federal, State and Local Government, Education, Healthcare and Private Sector markets.

With decades of experience supporting the public sector IT ecosystem, Craig has served for several years on the FCW Federal 100 judging committee, giving him a unique, firsthand perspective on the technologies, priorities and leaders shaping government missions. Under his leadership, Carahsoft has become a top revenue producer and master aggregator for more than 500 technology partners, delivering innovative solutions across cybersecurity, AI, multicloud, DevSecOps and emerging technologies.

A recipient of the prestigious FCW Fed 100 Eagle Award, Craig is widely recognized for his commitment to simplifying IT acquisition and helping Government perform better through collaboration, insight and innovation.

Hemant Baidwan is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Knox Systems, where he leads enterprise cybersecurity strategy and the development of AI-driven, cloud-native security platforms. Mr. Baidwan brings over 20 years of leadership experience across cybersecurity, cloud security, governance, and large-scale digital transformation in both the public and private sectors. Previously, he served as the CISO and Acting Deputy Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he was responsible for securing one of the largest and most complex civilian federal environments. He also served as Vice Chair of the Federal CISO Council and as a Board Member of the FedRAMP Board, helping shape government-wide cybersecurity and cloud security policy.

Deidre Harrison is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in the US Federal government, currently serving as a Senior Expert at McKinsey & Company. Immediately prior to joining McKinsey, she was the Acting Controller of the United States (2020 through September 2025) at the Office of Management and Budget.  She has a distinguished track record of leading large-scale financial, operational, and digital transformations. 

Throughout her career, Deidre has been recognized for her expertise in driving government-wide strategy and providing data-driven counsel to Senior White House officials and Agency leaders.  Her extensive experience encompasses strategic planning, financial analysis, digital transformation, and public finance.

Drew Myklegard is the Executive Director of Government Programs at Carahsoft and a former Deputy Federal CIO at OMB. He works at the intersection of government and industry, helping technology companies navigate the federal market while supporting agencies' modernization, cloud, cybersecurity, and AI initiatives.

Ross Nodurft is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Digital Innovation (ADI), a coalition of technology companies focused on bringing commercial, cloud-based solutions to the public sector that can enable a modern, secure, digital government. ADI focuses on promoting polices that enable IT modernization, cybersecurity, smarter acquisition, and workforce development. Prior to joining ADI, Ross spent several years working with industry partners on technology and cybersecurity policy and spent several years in government, both in the executive and legislative branches. Having served as principal of Risk Management and Government Solutions at a digital identity and cybersecurity firm, and chief of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Cyber Team in the White House overseeing Federal government cybersecurity policy and federal agency incident response, Ross has significant experience on advising ADI member companies on how to navigate issues at the nexus of homeland security, technology, and cybersecurity policy.