Sharing lessons on public-sector delivery, digital transformation, and building institutional capacity at conferences, leadership gatherings, and team events.
Available for virtual and in-person engagements.
I'm available for keynotes, panels, and leadership discussions—both virtually and in person. Sessions typically run 45-60 minutes and can be structured as presentations with Q&A, facilitated conversations, or fireside chats depending on what works best for your audience and context.
When 87% of government technology projects fail to deliver their intended value, the problem isn't lack of oversight—it's that government's traditional approaches actively increase risk rather than reduce it. This talk reframes digital transformation around three interconnected practices that systematically de-risk delivery: user research (understanding real needs before building), lean thinking (starting small to avoid failing big), and agile product management (testing and learning continuously). Drawing on lessons from digital service teams around the world, I discuss why building for resilience requires changing not just how we build software, but how we fund, govern, and measure success. Moving from project thinking to product thinking, from big-bang launches to continuous iteration, and from governing plans to governing working software isn't about accepting more risk—it's about building safety nets at every step.
Best for: Government executives and senior leaders, program directors, IT and digital teams, central agencies (finance, treasury board), procurement and governance functions, anyone responsible for funding or approving digital initiatives
Government digital failures are often policy failures in disguise. This talk challenges the "policy first, delivery second" approach by demonstrating how treating policy as something you can iterate—like code—leads to simpler, faster, and more human services. Drawing on examples like Ontario Digital Service's embedded policy teams and the UK's Universal Credit reset, it makes the case that truly multidisciplinary teams must include policy analysts at the table from day one, not as reviewers but as co-creators. When policy and technology people work side-by-side, asking "what does the resident need?" and "what can we deliver?" simultaneously, complexity shrinks and trust grows.
Best for: Government executives, senior leaders, policy directors, digital service teams, central agencies
Efficiency without effectiveness erodes public trust. This talk reframes design not as decoration but as the core methodology government needs to understand what works, for whom, and under what conditions. It distinguishes between "translation" (putting bureaucracy online with better fonts) and "transformation" (rethinking systems around user needs), using examples like Estonia's proactive services versus traditional benefit portals. The argument: design thinking—whether called digital literacy, systems thinking, or service design—is structured problem-solving for complexity, and it must become foundational infrastructure, not an optional upgrade.
Best for: Public sector leaders across functions, HR and talent teams, governance and oversight roles, digital transformation practitioners
Horizontal leadership roles—coordinating across silos, building trust without authority—are structurally difficult in government. This talk argues that instead of celebrating individual heroics, we must build systems that make confident, resilient leadership sustainable. It outlines what leaders actually need: visible costs of broken systems, permission to experiment safely, incentives aligned around outcomes rather than outputs, and capacity built across government (not just in digital teams). The message: bravery isn't a personal trait—it's enabled by conditions, and those conditions are within reach.
Best for: Government leaders at all levels, civic tech community, vendor partners, policy and operations executives
Interested in having me speak at your event? Let's discuss what would work best for your audience and context.
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