PODCAST: Big Changes Mean Big Challenges for Shared Services and Government HR with Academy Fellow Brodi Fontenot and OPM's Rebecca Ayers Season 2 · Ep 39
Podcast
Originally Aired: November 23, 2020 On this episode, we welcome Doug Robinson, Executive Director for National Association of State Chief Information Officers and Academy Fellow, to discuss the roles and responsibilities of different chief officers in technology, the acceleration of AI tools as a result of the pandemic, and the challenges states face when deploying tools that use AI. Music Credits: Sea Breeze by Vlad Gluschenko | https://soundcloud.com/vgl9 Music promoted by https://ww...
Now Playing
Originally Aired: November 23, 2020
On this episode, we welcome Doug Robinson, Executive Director for National Association of State Chief Information Officers and Academy Fellow, to discuss the roles and responsibilities of different chief officers in technology, the acceleration of AI tools as a result of the pandemic, and the challenges states face when deploying tools that use AI.
Music Credits: Sea Breeze by Vlad Gluschenko | https://soundcloud.com/vgl9
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US
Episode Details
Listen On
Listen Now
Opens in your podcast app
Keep Listening
May 18, 2026
James-Christian Blockwood discusses U.S. Office of Personnel Management's modernization of federal HR and retirement IT systems with OPM’s Rebecca Ayers and Academy Fellow Brodi Fontenot. Building on a 2021 academy report urging congressional funding to modernize OPM systems, they describe the administration’s goal to build a merit-based workforce and modernize people management through the Federal HR 2.0 initiative. Key elements include moving agencies onto a mandatory single cor...
May 4, 2026
Host James-Christian Blockwood talks with Academy Fellow and McGeorge School of Law Professor Clark Kelso and American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Adam White about why public agencies struggle and what the executive branch does in response. They discuss how checks and balances slow action and make errors hard to undo, while polarization and congressional dysfunction push presidents toward unilateral action, creating separation-of-powers conflicts and court intervention. The conve...
April 20, 2026
Host James-Christian Blockwood interviews Teri Gullo, former CBO Director of Budget Analysis, and Karl Maschino, former GAO Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, about why federal budget work matters amid scrutiny of spending, workforce cuts, and “DOGE”-style reforms. They outline the normal OMB-agency-Congress budget timeline, emphasize GAO/CBO’s nonpartisan transparency and need to explain “the story behind the numbers,” discuss polarization blocking fiscal solutions as ne...