State of GovTech 2026

Jai Saini (State of North Dakota) and Joseph Cazier (Arizona State University) compare frameworks state and local governments are using to evaluate, pilot, and scale AI adoption — what's working, what's stalling, and how to choose a model that fits your organization's size and risk tolerance.

Jai Saini — Director of AI, GenAI, and Agentic AI, State of North Dakota

JJoseph Cazier — Arizona State University

Kate Garman Burns — Director of State and Local Innovation, Federation of American Scientists

Saf Rabah — Founder & CEO, Govstream.ai

Many CIOs and IT directors rise through deeply technical paths — and never get handed the facilitation and design-thinking skills that make problem-solving actually work. This hands-on session changes that. Participants will sample several fast, high-impact Liberating Structures techniques they can put to work the moment they're back at their desks. Expect to meet the people around you, work in the open exploration stage rather than jumping to solutions, and leave with a toolkit of methods you can run with your own teams, residents, and stakeholders. Come ready to participate.

Susanne Brunhart-Wiggins — Senior Information Technology Specialist, Montgomery County

Mike Sarasti — Co-founder, Rvrwrk

What does a 'Claude-pilled' company actually look like?  Everyone says they're "AI-native." Almost nobody can show you the receipts. Starbridge COO Jordan Kindler and CRO Matt Stinson can — and they're bringing all of them.  Together, the power duo will walk through how they got an 100+ person organization to actually run on AI: the exact integrations, the real prompts, and the tools used every day across GTM, Ops, and Customer Success.  No theory, no hype - just the playbook, including the messy parts of getting a whole team to change how they work.  This is the session people will be quoting in the hallway afterward. Bring questions!

A facilitated peer roundtable— one of two concurrent role-based circles running the same questions. Notes are captured and shared back to all attendees after the event.

A hands-on workshop for suppliers and buyers to discuss and collaborate on better, more efficient contracting. Led by Civic Marketplace and Partners for the Public Good.

Brian Funderburk — Vice President - Agencies, Civic Marketplace

A hands-on workshop on the data foundations that make AI initiatives actually work: data quality and governance, and the newest models and best practices for getting your data AI-ready before you pilot anything.

Johanna Yi — Founder, For People

Taka Ariga — Senior Director, Center for Data Policy

Six rapid-fire ~7-minute talks from practitioners on innovation in action. Includes: 1. TBA speaker on bottom-up, change-management-driven innovation. 2. How smart glasses are helping blind residents navigate cities. 3. David Hall on Emergency Preparedness Planning for Cities 4. Michael Baskin on using AI to run emergency simulations with your teams. 5. Ben Molin on Building SNAP Screener and SNAP payment error rate reductions. 6. Brian Whittaker on Creating Cultures of Public-service Appreciation

David Hall — Disaster Recovery Architect, City of Tulsa

Michael Baskin — Chief Innovation Officer, Montgomery County

Ben Molin — Founder, SNAP Screener

Brian Whittaker — Founder, Humans of Public Service

Live pitches from CivStart's 2026 startup cohort, showcasing new govtech products to a room of government buyers and investors.

Hillary Orr — Deputy Director, Transportation, Alexandria, VA

Rita Reynolds — Director of Public Sector, CAI