Advertise on podcast: MeriTalking

In this episode of MeriTalking, MeriTalk’s Gail Emery sits down with Katherine Hennessey of Everpure to examine how agencies can strengthen cyber resilience as data continues to expand across legacy infrastructure, cloud platforms, hybrid environments, and edge locations. They discuss how better data management can help agencies reduce operational risk, recover faster, keep critical services running during disruption, and support future priorities, including AI.

As AI becomes part of federal workflows, applications, and mission systems, agencies need a security operating model that can adjust as quickly as the technology and its uses evolve. Models change, data connections expand, and agents may perform thousands of actions in the time it takes a person to complete one. Agencies therefore need to complement formal authorization with continuous evidence and live enforcement. In this podcast, Anish Patel, head of federal at Cloudflare, will discuss how agencies can progress from point-in-time approvals toward continuous, risk-informed AI security. The discussion will explore how agencies can adjust oversight as AI systems, permissions, and risks change, and how security, technology, data, and mission teams can support the new security operating model together. Patel will also discuss how consistent visibility and policy enforcement can help agencies accelerate appropriate uses of AI while strengthening accountability and resilience.

Federal agencies are working to turn growing volumes of data into trusted insights that can inform decisions and advance mission outcomes. In this episode of MeriTalking, Gail Emery sits down with Patrick McGarry, federal chief data officer at ServiceNow, and Paula Osborn, deputy chief data and AI officer at the U.S. Department of State, to discuss how agencies can connect data strategy to execution. They explore how agencies can build trusted data foundations, embed governance into workflows, address organizational barriers, and put data where it can better inform mission decisions.

The next phase of zero trust modernization requires agencies to think beyond a single network, environment, or use case. Enterprise users, cloud applications, tactical operations, IoT devices, OT systems, and physical security infrastructure are all part of the mission fabric, and all require secure, resilient connectivity. In this episode of MeriTalking, Gail Emery sits down with Rodney Butcher, account manager at ThunderCat Technology, and John McDonald, vice president for federal sales at Versa Networks, to explore how agencies can extend zero trust and modern network security across enterprise, tactical, and operational environments.

In this episode of MeriTalking, MeriTalk’s Gail Emery sits down with Antonella O’Brien, Consultant, CSG Federal Systems Integrators and Channel, Dell Technologies, to discuss what it really takes to enable AI at the desktop in federal environments where agencies are working to boost productivity, speed decisions, and turn AI pilots into repeatable mission outcomes. The conversation explores the workforce use cases that are best suited for on-device AI, how agencies can build trust through security and governance, and what a practical path from pilot to scale can look like.

The biggest threat to state and local governments isn’t one budget gap, it’s compounding uncertainty: shifting funding rules, rising compliance demands, and disruptions that trigger spending now and reimbursement later. In this episode of MeriTalking, Gail Emery sits down with Melissa Moore, chief financial officer of Buncombe County, North Carolina, and James Harris, senior manager at Workday, to unpack what fiscal resilience looks like in practice.

MeriTalk’s Gail Emery speaks with Suril Desai, vice president of engineering at Acalvio, and Ralph Kahn, general manager for federal at Acalvio, about how cyber deception helps agencies detect adversaries earlier. They discuss how deception produces high-fidelity alerts, reduces security operations center alert fatigue, and strengthens zero trust by improving visibility into attacker activity.

In this episode of MeriTalking, Nicole Burdette sits down with ICF’s Kyle Tuberson to discuss how agencies can go from lab to live, supported by a consistent delivery approach in ICF’s Fathom, which bakes in security, governance, and integration with existing systems. They’ll also address the drivers for AI, from efficiency pressures to practical technology maturity, and the common barriers leaders face, from talent to infrastructure and security.

In this episode of MeriTalking, Nicole Burdette sits down with LaRel Rogers, staff product marketing manager for federal at Okta, to discuss the rise of agentic AI and its impact across government. Together, they explore how autonomous AI agents are transforming mission delivery, along with strategies for protecting critical access points and data flows between human users, AI agents, and sensitive government systems.

In this episode of MeriTalking, Gail Emery sits down with Cisco’s JT Clay and Norman St. Laurent to discuss how federal agencies can meet the modernization mandate while improving security and efficiency. Gail and her guests explore how agencies are blocking cyber threats, accelerating mission workflows, and trimming tool sprawl, plus smart tactics for measuring success and staying ahead of evolving mandates.

In this episode of MeriTalking, MeriTalk’s Gail Emery sits down with Bob Kerr, product management leader at Dell Technologies’ Mission Systems, to discuss how federal leaders can evaluate public, hybrid and dedicated wireless choices – and why dedicated federal wireless is so important today. Kerr outlines why and how Dell built a 5G solution tailored specifically for federal missions.

In this episode of MeriTalking, MeriTalk’s Gail Emery sits down with Jeff Brown, Google’s Global Public Sector Workspace Lead, to discuss where modern collaboration, AI, and security intersect for the federal government. They explore how agencies can evolve their collaboration strategies, embrace AI responsibly, and align with zero trust principles – all while overcoming the persistent challenges of outdated processes and fragmented technology.

In this episode of MeriTalking, MeriTalk’s Gail Emery chats with George Teas, Vice President of Solutions Architecture at Elastic, about the Federal zero trust journey. As agencies move from crawl to run, they face mounting challenges with visibility, interoperability, and scalability. Teas shares insights on how agencies can harness data across the five pillars of zero trust to overcome these hurdles—without losing ground on their existing cybersecurity investments.

In this episode of MeriTalking, Gen. Kurt L. Sonntag, a member of the EY U.S. Army Advisory Council, and Joe Blanton, director, strategic initiatives at GDIT discuss key vulnerabilities in global supply chains, the technologies driving logistics capabilities, and the significance of data management in logistics, and more.