Speakers

​​Mark is the Chairman of Americans for AI Safety, a political action committee dedicated to safeguarding national security against the potential threats posed by AI's weaponization and alignment failures. Prior to this role, he spearheaded Gladstone AI as its co-founder and CEO, delivering foundational AI training products and cutting-edge AI test and evaluation capabilities for the Air Force. While at Gladstone, Mark co-authored an upcoming report, commissioned by the Department of State, exploring policy pathways to address the challenges posed by advanced AI systems. His journey also includes a stints at Amazon and the Pentagon, where he was the inaugural Pentagon Director for AI Strategy and Policy.

Adrian Carter, Chief Enterprise Architect Director, Implementation Division, Office of the CFO, USDA

Senior Technical Leader that has led diverse staffs and organizations through change and challenge in the ever-changing environment of Information Technology across a myriad of federal agencies. Comprehensive technical knowledge and expertise with superior program management. Initiated and planned major technological initiatives worth billions of dollars. Led several enterprise resource planning financial and human resource system implementation within public and private sector.

Marisol Cruz Cain is a Director in GAO’s Information and Cybersecurity team. She oversees work on federal cybersecurity and privacy issues, including the National Cybersecurity Strategy and specific agencies’ ability to protect privacy, sensitive data, and the computing infrastructure. In addition, she is a Diversity Champion participating in efforts to increase diversity at GAO and facilitating multiple Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion courses.

Marisol joined GAO in 2005. Over her career, she has led audits on government-wide cybersecurity, privacy, and information management issues, including reviews of agency use of Login.gov, efficiency of federal privacy programs, the implementation of cybersecurity risk management practices, threat information sharing within critical information protection sectors, and the transition to electronic records. She has also led reviews of cybersecurity and IT management/operations at specific agencies, including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Federal Student Aid.

Marisol graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, University at Albany with a master’s degree in public administration concentrating in information policy, and University of Maryland University College with a master’s in information assurance. Marisol also holds many professional certifications, including the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US), CIPP/G, and Chief Information Officer (CIO) Certificate.

Nicole “Niki” French is the Customer Service Branch Manager within Civil Rights & Liberties, Ombudsman and Traveler Engagement (CRL/OTE). In her role, Niki serves as the Customer Experience lead for TSA and manages the TSA Contact Center and TSA Cares, which receive over 1.5 million contacts each year. Niki believes that customer experience is core to TSA’s mission—increasing passenger trust and confidence, and strengthening the security of TSA and our nation.

Niki began her TSA career in 2007 as a Transportation Security Officer at the Manchester-Boston Regional airport, spent five years at the Transportation Security Operation Center within Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshals, and transitioned to CRLOTE in 2015.

Niki holds a Bachelor’s degree in Administration of Justice and a Master’s degree in International Relations and Homeland Security from Salve Regina University.

Dave is a Director in GAO’s Information Technology and Cybersecurity team. He oversees audits on critical infrastructure protection, the IT and cybersecurity workforce, cloud computing, and the IRS’s IT modernization efforts.

Dave joined GAO in July 2002. He has led numerous reviews of federal data center optimization and cloud computing, and was responsible for GAO’s work on the High-Risk area of Improving the Management of IT Acquisitions and Operations. Prior to joining GAO, Dave worked as a business consultant for several private sector firms (including PricewaterhouseCoopers), and served as a Surface Warfare Officer in the United States Navy.

Dave earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Arizona. Dave earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Vassar College.

Dave works in GAO’s Dallas Field Office.

Mr. David McKeown serves as the Deputy DoD Chief Information Officer for Cybersecurity (DCIO(CS)) and the DoD’s Senior Information Security Officer (SISO) per 44 USC 3544. In this role he provides expert policy, technical, program, and defense-wide oversight support to the DoD CIO on all cybersecurity matters. He is responsible for leading the DoD-wide cybersecurity program and associated governance processes. He partners with industry to improve cybersecurity and information sharing through the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and represents the Secretary of Defense and DoD CIO in international discussions and negotiates cybersecurity topics in both bilateral and multi-lateral (alliance and coalition) channels. He leads the development of the cybersecurity investment priorities for the Department and provides planning guidance to Components.

Mr. McKeown has over 35 years of experience in the Department of Defense having served 27 years in the Air Force and 8 years as a government civilian. He spent 21 years as an Air Force Cyberspace Operations officer skillfully leading numerous organizations and high-visibility initiatives to include the Air Force Cybersecurity Program as a member of the Air Staff.

He served as the Director of Enterprise Information and Mission Assurance for the United States Army Information Technology Agency and as the Cybersecurity Center Chief and Enterprise Services Center Chief for the DISA Joint Service Provider in the Pentagon. He led the Pentagon Computer Incident Response Team (PENTCIRT) providing twenty-four-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week network security monitoring and intrusion detection, attack sensing and warning, and incident response and handling for the Department of Defense's key leadership and staffs.

Mr. McKeown most recently led the Department of Justice’s Service Delivery Staff where he was responsible for the acquisition, development, deployment, operations, and maintenance of Department IT as well as delivery of high quality, customer-centric services to ensure the success of the DOJ and its component organizations.

Mark Patrick, CIP, AROC, leads the US Department of Defense (DoD) Information Management Team. A retired US Navy helicopter pilot who has served in the federal civil service for over 16 years, he worked in information and records management for over 18 years and served on the Joint Staff from 2007-2023 as the Chief of the Information Management Division prior to assuming his current role. Mark served 6 years on the board of directors of the Association for Intelligent Information Management (AIIM) during which he was the 2018 board chairman and the 2019 Immediate Past Chair. He holds an AIIM Certified Information Professional (CIP) and NARA’s Agency Records Officer Certificate (AROC) and was inducted into AIIM’s Company of Fellows in 2020.

Mark Schaan is the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister for Strategy and Innovation Policy at the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED). In this role he is responsible for advancing the government's microeconomic policy agenda; supporting the development of the department's horizontal policy and strategic priorities, including by ensuring robust marketplace frameworks telecommunications policy, and the deepening of external relations; and, providing support to regional economic development.

Prior to becoming an ADM, Mark was the Director General, Marketplace Framework Policy Branch at ISED. In this role, Mark advised on the policy, legislative, and stakeholder issues relating to laws of general economic application, including privacy and data protection, patents, trademarks, copyright, competitions and insolvency, all in support of an innovative and high-functioning Canadian economy. Mark’s public service career has included roles across the policy spectrum, as well as leading on revitalizing the public service through innovative recruitment models.

Mark earned his BA (Honours) from the University of Waterloo in Political Science with an Honours Option in Peace and Conflict Studies in 2002, where he studied as a Loran Scholar. Mark earned his MPhil in Comparative Social Policy, conferred in 2004, and his DPhil in Social Policy, conferred in 2010 from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Mark has been awarded the Nathalie des Rosiers Audacity of Imagination Award, the Barnett Prize in Social Policy, and the University of Waterloo Young Alumni Award. Mark is also actively involved in his community: chairing the board of the Ottawa Art Gallery; founding a new initiative at the National Gallery of Canada; active involvement in the Ten Oaks Project, including helping to launch Project Acorn, a community building space for youth of LGBTQ+ identities, families, and communities; and continued involvement with the Loran Scholars Foundation.

Patricia has worked for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Program Manager for new Information Technology Implementations for three Secretariats:  The Executive Office of Administration and Finance, the Executive Office of Transportation, and the Executive Office of Human Services, (HRD) and four agencies: Department of Children and Families (DCF), Registry of Motor Vehicles, Mass Health, and the Department of Revenue.  Many of these projects benefited from the experience and lessons learned from other state’s implementations of similar initiatives and participating in software user groups on a state and national level.

Patricia first joined the Commonwealth working at the, now named, Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTTS).   Patricia has also worked at HRD and DCF in Secretariat/Leadership agency leadership positions which provided important background on Information Technology Competitive Procurements and Contracts, HR hiring and Collective Bargaining, Change Management, Assistive Technology (the Americans Disabilities ACT), Annual Budget and the Information Technology Capital Planning Process, the House and Senate Ways and Means Offices and Information Technology Committees and Federal Agencies: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Administration for Children and Families and Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).  

Patricia is a long time resident of Cambridge Massachusetts 

Role: Americas East ITOM Solution Architect, Service Management Automation

Experience: With over 20+ years of experience in the industry I joined Micro Focus from CA Technologies  where I held several positions as an implementation consultant in Pre-Sales as a subject-matter expert focused on presenting and driving the sale of solutions focusing on Application Lifecycle Management, Project and Portfolio Management and TT Service Management and IT Operations Management solutions.

While at CA Technologies, I was also presented with the opportunity to mentor new hires in presales.

Education: George Mason University, Bachelor of Science – Management and Information Systems, ITIL Foundation Certified
 

Public sector veteran Kevin Davis joined OpenText in August 2023 as President of US public sector. Mr. Davis is responsible for further expanding strategic partnerships and growth of the company’s customer base within the US public sector.

Prior to OpenText, Mr. Davis was head of several public sector organizations including Cohesity, Databricks, Splunk and Oracle. In total he has more than 25 years of sales and management experience focused on the mission of public sector.

Mr. Davis received his B.S. from Boston College.

Kevin E. Greene is an experienced leader, champion and advocate for advancing the state of practice in cybersecurity. He has successfully led multiple federally funded R&D projects in his career that were commercialized and transitioned into practice. 

Kevin is currently the Public Sector CTO for OpenText Cybersecurity.   Leveraging his innovative and strategic expertise, he drives customer engagement around cyber capabilities in federal agencies for digital transformation, software supply chain, zero trust and evolving threat defense. 

Prior to joining OpenText, he worked at the MITRE Corporation supporting DevSecOps and cyber defense initiatives. Kevin also spent time serving our nation as a federal employee at the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, Cyber Security division.

He holds a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Information Systems from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and supports several external advisory boards in formalizing cybersecurity curriculum and initiatives. 

Mike Kremer is the Director of Solutions Consulting for OpenText’s US Public Sector business unit.  His team supports customers in the Federal Government, DoD, Intelligence Community, Federal Systems Integrators, State & Local government agencies and Education entities ranging from K-12 to Higher Ed.  He has worked closely with his fellow OpenText teammates in developing our FedRAMP offering and go to market strategy.

A career IT professional, Mike has an extensive background in process automation and integration technologies working with commercial and government customers.  Since joining OpenText in 2011, he has expanded his knowledge to incorporate content and records management as well as improved user experiences into customer solutions.

Jim Montgomery is a Solutions Architect and the Governance Practice Lead with TriVir, a boutique consulting company that works with Identity, Access and Governance. An interest in finding elegant solutions to complex problems over the last two decades has led him to advance best practices around Identity Governance programs. Jim has a wide IT background. He's worked in multiple industry verticals, in private and public sectors, and for both small and large multinational organizations. After migrating data more times than he can count, he always strives for efficiency and effectiveness. And while Jim may be known for his sense of humor, he has a serious commitment to providing the cutting edge of Identity Governance solutions for TriVir’s clients.

Keith Nelson, Senior Strategist for Global Public Sector, OpenText, has spent the last 24 years working in various roles in the U.S. Federal and state government. His most recent government appointment was in 2019, as Acting Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, U.S. Department of Transportation. Other appointments include Assistant Secretary for Administration, Deputy Chief Information Officer, and Acting Chief Financial Officer and DOT, HUD and DOL. Keith also worked in state government for the Office of the Governor of Texas.

John Radko, Senior Vice President of Engineering for OpenText, leads a talented team of over 3000 engine engineering, quality assurance, and product management professionals globally responsible for OpenText’s products and services for enterprises, including Enterprise Content Management, Business Network, Digital Experience, Analytics, Security, LegalTech and Process Management.

Prior to his current role, John served as Vice President of the OpenText Business Network, the largest global B2B Managed Services provider, Messaging provider, and Fax network. John led Business Network during the transformation of the B2B managed services business to the multi-tenant cloud platform, the OpenText Trading Grid. 

John has been a contributor to the advent and advancement of 'software-as-a-service' in B2B integration. He has advised dozens of companies on how best to deploy and leverage hosted supply chain automation solutions and how to achieve true B2B integration on a global scale.

Chris Robins in 2013 founded ClearInfo, an innovative, results-driven Federal Enterprise Information Management service provider.  ClearInfo is focused on delivering transformative digital solutions that optimize the lifecycle of structured and structured data assets to meet our customers mission objectives.

Before founding ClearInfo, Chris held leadership business development positions in both the Commercial and Federal Government sectors. In the Commercial sector he worked with Harris Communications, CompuServe, Centel Information Systems and iManage. His Public Sector sales and management experience includes iManage, Symantec, Savvis and OpenText. In total Chris has over 25 years of experience in delivering mission solutions for the Public Sector. He started with the Federal government working in the Secret Service in the early 1980′s.

Chris holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Maryland and is a certified Design Thinking specialist. He is an active member of the American Society Military Controllers, Logistics Officers Association and the National Defense Transportation Association. Additionally, he has participated and been a supporter of the U.S. Naval Academy Plebe Sponsorship program, Operation Underground Railroad and the Woodson Center.

Bob Slevin is the Director of Product Marketing for IoT at OpenText. Bob is an Internet of Things (IoT) architect and evangelist with more than 30 years’ experience in telecommunications spanning Military and Private sectors. He has collaborated with partners to deploy millions of connected devices across business and consumer markets. An IoT thought leader with an MBA in Technology Management, Bob is focused on identifying business challenges and building innovative solutions to improve operational efficiencies, drive growth and mitigate risks.

Adam Terrill: OpenText Director DoD/Intelligence/Aerospace & Defense

Adam Terrill brings over 23 years of experience as an executive strategist, focused on mission-success for the US Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and Aerospace and Defense industries. Prior to joining OpenText, Adam has been at the forefront of technology and business transformation in the Government, lending his leadership to other technology companies such as Oracle, Salesforce, CyberArk, and Red Hat.

A Marine Corps veteran and having attended North Carolina State University, Adam continues to serve his community in various volunteer capacities ranging from animal rescue to Special Olympics.

James Willis Manager | Solutions Consulting | U.S. Public Sector

James has spent over 25 years serving the Public Sector in many different capacities. He currently leads one of the most talented teams of Solution Consultants in World.  He is an award-winning Solutions Consultant, known for complex, innovative solutions.  He is not only a subject matter expert in AI\ML, but also in content\records management, networking, security, and application development.  James holds certifications in Kubernetes, Cisco, Microsoft, Security, Networking, Web Development and is a Certified Technical Trainer.  James is a member of the National Society of Black Engineers, IEEE, and a member of several working groups with the IETF.  James has been a Director of Network Services and Director of Information Technology.  He absolutely loves serving the Public Sector and his community though volunteering and missions.

George Jackson is VP of events at GovExec – the largest and most-influential media company in the public sector marketplace. He joined the company in 2020 to enhance the scale of their events and audience experiences. In 2021, George launched GovExec TV (streaming video content) and received the company’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, part of their first-annual Icon Awards.

George graduated from The Ohio State University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in English. In 2006, he earned his master’s in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.

George spent the first five years of his journalism career at WJHL-TV in Johnson City Tenn. – beginning as an overnight producer for the station’s 6 a.m. broadcast. He advanced to lead on-air reporter for WJHL’s 11 p.m. newscast.

As a reporter, George examined the earnings of two non-profit hospital systems, felony charges filed against a local sheriff, predatory paving companies, a health benefits backlog for local veterans, and a series of cold-case murder investigations. He received an honorable mention for Best TV Reporter in the 2011 Tennessee AP Broadcast awards and won a Best Investigative Reporting award from Media General in 2010.

George joined DC’s ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in 2012 to produce Capital Insider, which won him an Emmy award. One year later, he developed and recorded the pilot episode of Government Matters – a program about the business of government. It debuted as a weekly show on Sunday, August 4th of 2013. George led Government Matters through September of 2020, expanded its reach to a daily worldwide audience, and produced its first feature-length documentary The Dawn of Generation AI.

George is from Toledo, Ohio. He lives with his wife, twin daughters, and a pair of rescue dogs in Northern Virginia.

Troy K. Schneider is the GovExec's Editor-at-Large. Until early 2022, he was Editor-in-Chief of both FCW and GCN, as well as General Manager for Government Technology Brands at GovExec.

Mr. Schneider previously served as New America Foundation’s Director of Media & Technology, and before that was Managing Director for Electronic Publishing at the Atlantic Media Company, where he oversaw the online operations of The Atlantic Monthly, National Journal, The Hotline and The Almanac of American Politics, among other publications. The founding editor of NationalJournal.com, Mr. Schneider also helped launch the political site PoliticsNow.com in the mid-1990s, and worked on the earliest online efforts of the Los Angeles Times and Newsday. He began his career in print journalism, and has written for a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, WashingtonPost.com, Slate, Politico, Governing, and many of the other titles listed above.

Mr. Schneider is a graduate of Indiana University, where his emphases were journalism, business and religious studies.