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Tennessee's Chief Information Officer speaks to the 5 key focus areas of the state for technology and innovation, covering cloud, modernization, cybersecurity, digital government, and automation. How does the next phase of the State of Tennessee’s technology strategic vision look and what is the impact on it’s employees? 

• What is currently setting Tennessee ahead of the crowd when it comes to innovation and transformation? How is Tennessee meeting the needs of citizens and meeting them where they are, while balancing the need for modernization?
• Hear about the All-of-State approach to Cybersecurity and how the State is working to elevate the Cyber capabilities across all of Tennessee, identifying key risk areas and areas for shared growth.    

- Managing the competing priorities of modernization of internal and external services, and ensuring those services are accessible and manageable for employees and citizens.

- How can government keep up with the rate of digital transformation change happening, and how does centering data and metrics enable this?

- Dig into opportunities that flourish with internal digital transformation that can lead to enhanced service delivery

-To what extent does digital trust help and hinder the progress governments can make when modernizing or exploring digital transformation opportunities?

Carter Lawrence

Commissioner - Department of Commerce & Insurance, State of Tennessee

Tammy Wilson

Chief Information & Digital Officer, Tennessee Valley Authority

Alexandra Weaver

Senior Solutions Architect, Semperis

Tom Reese Facilitator

Delivery Executive, IBM

AI is rapidly progressing and as a result, reshaping government services by offering new ways to improve citizen engagement and operational efficiency. But with this opportunity comes critical questions about oversight, ethical deployment, and the long-term impact on policy and governance. States are forming task forces and working groups to navigate these challenges, but a clear, strategic approach is still needed.

This session will help you explore how agencies can responsibly adopt AI while addressing budget cycles, legal, ethical, and security concerns. You’ll gain insights into how to balance innovation with regulation, ensuring AI serves both government efficiency and public trust.

• Examine how agencies are using AI to enhance citizen services while managing risk
• Learn how states like Tennessee have taken a methodical, multi-stakeholder approach to AI policy
• Discuss emerging consumer AI rights and how legislation is evolving to address them
• Hear how cities’ agility in AI policy can enable innovation and more responsive governance

Lauren S. Lamberth

Special Counsel to the Chief Deputy, Office of the Tennessee Attorney General

Roger Waynick

Director of AI Strategy & Innovation, Department of Finance and Administration, State of Tennessee

Aaron Welch

Director of Security, City of Chattanooga

Tom Utiger Facilitator

Offering Leader Global AI, IBM

- Learning how Chattanooga has embedded innovation into the city.

- How to enable your leadership to have the information needed to make great vendor decisions

- What makes the City of Chattanooga unique in how it sets deliverables?

- What is the difference between outcomes, and the discussion of outcomes

- What are the biggest challenges in rolling out such advanced AI and Machine learning?

Tennessee has around 7 million citizens, who are located across the state, with a extreme range across the population when it comes to digital access and knowledge.

- Hearing from State leaders about initiatives across service areas meeting citizens where they are and enriching Tennessee

- What is needed to enable Tennessee State Government to deliver innovative projects at community level.

- Increasing both the benefits and outcomes of these programs by leveraging data and analytics.

-Amplifying partnerships that serve government and citizens and workforce

JW Randolph

Deputy Commissioner for Health Strategy & Regulation, Department of Health, State of Tennessee

Marla Adams

Director of Talent Management and IT Academy, Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration, State of Tennessee

Stacy Hapgood Facilitator

Partner & Lead Client Partner Tennessee, IBM

- Leveraging the power of AI and machine learning for better citizen outcomes

- Identifying challenges posed by legacy applications in today's cybersecurity landscape

- Facilitating best practice across government when managing cyber security threats and ensuring widespread understanding of driving factors into state cyber attacks

- How to balance system modernization while managing and securing legacy systems

- Developing strategies for tackling technical debt, security controls, zero-day attacks and fortification

Curtis Clan

Chief Information Security Officer, Department of Finance and Administration, State of Tennessee

Keith Nelson

Head of Public Sector Marketing, OpenText

Stacy Hapgood Facilitator

Partner & Lead Client Partner Tennessee, IBM

Roundtable 1: Technology Solutions to Navigate the Data Driven Landscape, Facilitated by: Simon Woodford, Sales Director US Public Sector, OpenText.

Roundtable 2: Ask Me Anything about AI Security Analytics, Facilitated by: Peter Scheffler, Sr. DevSecOps Architect, F5

Roundtable 3: Bypassing MFA: The Dark Side Stole Your Cookies, Facilitated by: Shana Holt, Sr. Sales Engineer, Public Sector (SLED) Proofpoint.

Roundtable 4: AI Greenlight: How to quickly balance innovation and existing investments to accelerate government efficiency using AI and measure that impact, Facilitated by: Stacy Hapgood, Partner & Lead Client Partner, Tennessee, IBM.

Roundtable 5: Key Considerations for building Generative AI Applications in the Public Sector , Facilitated by: Sanjeev Pulapaka, Principal Solutions Architect, AWS

Roundtable 6: Cloud Enablement: A conversation spanning procurement, migrations, cost management, and talent challenges in the Public Sector Facilitated by: Kevin Berry, Business Development Manager, TEKsystems.

Roundtable 7: AI and Automation in Cybersecurity: A Game-Changer for Customers & Service Providers, Facilitated by: Jeff Sparks, Account Executive Public Sector for TN, KY and WV, Armis.

Roundtable 8: Modernize your AD and get lifecycle defense, Facilitated by: Alexandra Weaver, Senior Solutions Architect, Semperis

• Learn why being “customer focused” and measuring programmatic “evidence” is a priority for state leadership, and why it should be part of your everyday work.  
• How does Tennessee’s leaders prioritize operational efficiency and data-driven decision making, and why this is a good thing for its workforce and for its people?
• Differentiating between the Office of Customer Focused Government and Office of Evidence and Impact - how these offices are using data and metrics to tell the story of Tennessee and enable government to deliver more and provide more impact.

Grant Minchew

Deputy Chief Operating Officer, State of Tennessee

Christin Lotz

Director - Office of Evidence and Impact, Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration

Chris Fears

Director - Customer Focused Government, State of Tennessee

Adam Jarvis Facilitator

Chief of Staff - Department of Finance and Administration, State of Tennessee

Thomas Nisbet

Partner & Public Sector AI Leader, IBM