Gary Buonacorsi has nearly two decades of experience in the IT industry as a transformational leader for Government agencies and Fortune 500 companies.  As Unisys’s Public Sector Chief Technology Officer, Gary is responsible for thought leadership in the public sector, State and Local business strategy, and guiding customer security and operations transformations.  Additionally, he will define long-term goals for the State and Local Government vertical, build key customer relationships, identify business opportunities, build capacity for Sales teams to convey Unisys’s Point of View, facilitate conversations with our customers, lead industry discussions, and conduct conference keynotes and seminars.
Gary comes to Unisys with a wide range of experience.  Most recently he served as the Field CTO and Enterprise Architect for ServiceNow SLED vertical.  He has also been the SLED CTO for Tanium and Dell Technologies.  Additionally, Gary’s career includes positions as CIO and CTO in the States of Nevada and Texas.

Kanti Chalasani serves as the Division Director for the Georgia Data Analytics Center (GDAC) at the Office of Planning and Budget (OPB). Kanti played a pivotal role in establishing GDAC’s data cloud from the ground up, managing key aspects like data sharing and governance, data engineering/analytics and data security strategy. Her leadership resulted in the creation of a robust data lake following industry best practices for Georgia.  With over 29 years of experience in IT and management, and hands-on data and analytics experience, she brings an abundance of knowledge. Prior to joining OPB, she worked for various state agencies in Georgia ranging from Senior Business Intelligence Architect for the P20 data warehouse at the Office of Student Achievement to Associate Director/Chief Data Architect at the University System of Georgia Board of Regents as well as Information Systems Manager at the Georgia Department of Education. Kanti started her career after receiving her Master’s in Computer Applications from Osmania University in India in 1995.

Kanti Chalasani serves as the Division Director for the Georgia Data Analytics Center (GDAC) at the Office of Planning and Budget (OPB). With over 25 years of experience in IT and management, and hands-on data warehousing / analytics experience, she brings an abundance of knowledge. Prior to joining OPB, she worked for various state agencies in Georgia ranging from Senior Business Intelligence Architect for the P20 data warehouse at the Office of Student Achievement to Associate Director/Chief Data Architect at the University System of Georgia Board of Regents as well as Information Systems Manager at the Georgia Department of Education. Kanti started her career after receiving her Master’s in Computer Applications from Osmania University in India in 1995.

Sean Choate is an Enterprise Connectivity Solutions Specialist and the leader of the 5G Advanced Network Solutions team for T-Mobile’s SLED sector in the Southeast US.  He is responsible for delivering purpose-built 5G solutions to customers to deliver business outcomes and solve digital transformation initiatives.  Sean brings over 33 years of experience in the telecommunications / technology industry to his engagements.  His consultative solutions approach has made him very successful across multiple disciplines, helping customers deploy IOT for Smart City initiatives, AI enriched video for public safety applications, and purpose-built wired and wireless networking solutions for Enterprise use cases.   His work has spanned Marketing, Operations, Product Management, Business Development, Sales, and Solutions Architecture.   Sean has led highly successful teams within Fortune 500 companies, as well as start-ups.
Sean lives in the Dallas / Fort Worth area but grew up in West Texas.  He graduated from Angelo State University with a BA in Mathematics and a minor in Business Management.  He completed his MBA at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX.  Outside of his role at T-Mobile, Sean’s passions include working on his family ranch in West Texas, watching sunsets, hiking, and just generally being outdoors with his family.  He also volunteers on a local Credit Union’s board of directors.

Monika Davis is currently the Chief Information Officer of DeKalb County School District, which has over 118,000 technology users.  Ms. Davis started her career in the DeKalb County School District as a technology paraprofessional at Murphy Candler Elementary school in 1994.  She has spent all 26 years of her vast career in educational technology working closely with all areas of Information Technology.    Prior to her role as a district leader, Monika held many positions ranging from technician to school technology specialist to district-level instructional technology specialist.
Ms. Davis’s graduate education includes a Master of Science degree in Instructional Technology and a Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership both from Georgia State University as well as an Education Specialist Degree in Instructional Technology from Kennesaw State University.   Her interest in technology started as a student at Redan High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia where she excelled in coding, computer math, and graphics design.  Upon graduation from Redan High School, Ms. Davis attended Georgia Institute of Technology where she studied Computer Science for three years.  As fate would have it, K – 12 education beaconed changing her career and higher education trajectory.
Ms. Davis has worked with local school districts as an employee and consultant including DeKalb County, Fulton County, and Atlanta Public.  She also has industry experience providing technical support and technology-related instructional design for businesses both stateside and abroad.  She has facilitated multiple sessions covering various educational technology topics with collaborative learning groups, such as the Explorer’s Guild, Tech and Learning, and The Learning Counsel.  Ms. Davis is also no novice to the technology conference circuit, having served as presenter, panelist, steering committee member, and keynote speaker for events such as Georgia Educational Technology Conference, International Society of Technology in Education Conference, and RTM CIO Congress. 
Being a life-long learner is critical in a field as dynamic and constantly evolving as information technology.  Ms. Davis embraces this challenge and believes it is her job to empower stakeholders by connecting the dots between information technology and education through leadership, strategic planning and execution, and ongoing advocacy.   Ms. Davis is currently fixated on continuing the district’s digital transformation journey with a focus on enhancing security and operational effectiveness with an intense focus on digital equity that promotes access, use, and design that benefits learning for all students.

Nikhil J. Deshpande is Chief Digital Officer for the state of Georgia. He heads the Office of Digital Services (DSGa) under the Georgia Technology Authority.
Nikhil envisioned and led Georgia’s user-centric digital transition to an enterprise open-source web publishing system, GovHub. Under his direction, Georgia became the first state in the United States to use enterprise Drupal and meet special needs of constituents with a range of disabilities affecting vision, hearing, motion, and cognition, making GovHub Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 AA compliant.
Nikhil strongly advocated and set the framework for the use of social media for Georgia, back when using social media for government was not common. He established a presence for the state on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to quickly address citizens’ questions and concerns.
Prior to his career in digital government, Nikhil worked in advertising and digital media.
Nikhil has two master’s degrees in visual communications and Interaction Design from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB) and the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). He served as adjunct faculty at the Atlanta campus of SCAD for 10 years, where he taught graduate classes in Interaction Design and User Experience.
Nikhil has won several national and international awards and recognition for his work in digital government. He was recently honored with Atlanta’s 40 under 40, an award recognizing 40 accomplished individuals under the age of 40.
Connect with Nikhil on Twitter @nikofthehill

Tommy Gardner is HP’s Chief Technology Officer for HP Federal, spanning the US Federal Agencies, Higher Education, K-12 Education, State and Local government customer segments, as well as Federal Systems Integrators. His current responsibilities include technology leadership, strategic technology plans, product and technology strategies, sales force technical support, and customer and partner relationships.
Previously, Tommy has served as the Chief Technology Officer for Jacobs Engineering, Scitor, and ManTech. Earlier in his career he was a senior technical executive at Raytheon. In the U.S. Navy he served as the Deputy for Science and Technology for the Chief of Naval Research. He oversaw the Navy’s Deep Submergence Program as well as its Advanced Technology Program. He also commanded the nuclear submarine, USS San Juan (SSN 751).
Tommy’s educational background covers multiple disciplines and fields of interest including: cybersecurity, data science, blockchain, quantum information science, artificial intelligence, high performance computing and systems integration.
Tommy holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University, an M.S. in Management of Technology from MIT and a Ph. D. in Energy Economics from George Washington University. He is a Professional Engineer, an ASME Fellow, and serves on the ASME Board of Governors, the ANSI Board of Directors and the U. S. Council on Competitiveness as the Co-chair of the Advanced Computer Roundtable.

Drew Hendrickson is a Director within RSM’s Human Centered Design practice. In this role he leads research and design activities focused on developing solutions, services and software through the lens of the user.
He has held a range of design and creative leadership roles at select agencies, consultancies, campaigns, and manufacturers. With expertise in building interactive experiences for brands like Google, Twilio, Netflix, and Spotify– and for public sector clients like Maryland DOT, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority, Drew brings a blend of technical knowledge, passion for great user experiences, and brand storytelling to the Human-Centered Design practice at RSM. 

Drew Malone is a Solution Engineer on the US Public Sector team at Wiz. Raised in the South, now living in Maryland outside Washington DC, he has twenty years of experience with Government software, security, and IT work. Drew started his career as a civil servant with the DoD, where he cut his teeth on data center & cloud automation and helped support one of the government's first self-service, isolated cloud environments. Since then, he's learned that the best way to make progress in government work is to be empathetic and solve other people's problems. Ask him sometime for the MTU story that cost him three months of his life.

Renee is currently the CIO for DDS.  She has been at DDS since September 1 of 2021 starting as the Deputy Director becoming Interim CIO in February 2023 and becoming official CIO December 1, 2023.  Before then Renee worked at the Department of Human Services as a program manager for about two years.  Before that she was with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Environmental Protection Division (EPD) which she started in November of 2000.  Renee and the CIO at the time developed EPD’s own Information Technology team as EPD is a sub
She was recently married with one daughter and one step daughter. 

Stacey Valrie Peace serves as the State Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator for the State of Georgia. The State ADA Coordinator’s Office is within the Georgia State Financing & Investment Commission. She is responsible for developing and implementing programs and activities to advance and monitor agency compliance with the ADA statewide. Stacey also serves as the ADA Coordinator for the State Properties Commission and the Georgia Building Authority. From 2014-2019, she served as the Chair for the Georgia Emergency Preparedness Coalition for Individuals with Disabilities and Older Adults. The Coalition is comprised of state and federally funded emergency preparedness and service delivery agencies and organizations. Prior to becoming the State ADA Coordinator, Stacey was the Assistant State ADA Coordinator for 13 years. Preceding her employment in state government, Stacey was as an attorney representative for individuals seeking disability benefits from the Social Security Administration.
Ms. Peace is a member of various collaborative groups and organizations including: The National Association of ADA Coordinators, Tools for Life - Advisory Council, National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) Georgia Committee, DBHDD’s Deaf Advisory Group, University System of Georgia’s - Compliance and Risk Management Subgroup, the American Correctional Association, the Georgia Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters, the State Bar of Georgia – Government Attorneys and Employment Law Sections, and the City of Atlanta's Mayor Office's of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion's (MOEDI) 2024 Inclusive Language Guide Advisory Committee. Ms. Peace is a graduate of the Georgia Leadership Institute's Executive Leadership Program. She is a Certified ADA Coordinator with the ADA Coordinator Training Certification Program (ACTCP).
Ms. Peace also holds a B.A. in Psychology from Spelman College, a M.S.W. from Clark Atlanta University and a J.D. from the University of Georgia, School of Law. Ms. Peace is a dedicated member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Jack and Jill of America, Inc.

[LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/pub/clark-rainer/15/a96/38

IT Executive with over 25 years of experience in leading IT operations for public and private organizations. Currently serving as the CIO for Georgia’s Attorney General, Chris Carr. Clark holds his CGCIO, and LGCIO certification from University of Georgia - Carl Vinson Institute for Government, BBA in General Business Administration from Georgia College and State University, and Associate of Arts from Oxford College of Emory University.
Author – How to Build an IT Department from Chaos to Continual System Improvement, copyright © 2018.
Recently, Clark has been a change agent driving digital transformation of City, County, and State Government Agencies serving in the roles of IT Director and CIO. He has developed cyber security programs for the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office and Georgia Office of Attorney General, implementing proven methodologies and frameworks in maturing operational and cyber security posture.
Clark served nine consecutive term as GMIS International Director www.gmis.org, and worked closely with International partners in the formation of LOLA (Linked Organization of Local Authorities – www.lola-ict.org ), and includes executives representing Australia, Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition, Clark served on the Board of Georgia GMIS (president in 2010) for fifteen years.
Clark was awarded the GMIS International Outstanding Professional Award (previously MISAPA) in 2001.
Outside of work, Clark enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends, fishing, horseback riding, and menagerie of animals on his “hobby farm” in rural Butts County, GA.

Johan oversees digital accessibility and user experience (UX) initiatives, including the AccessGA Project. Johan’s background and employment in the areas of disabilities and accessibility include education in a number of fields including previous certifications as an Assistive Technology Instructional Specialist (CATIS), Vision Rehabilitation Therapist (CVRT), Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC), and User Experience Certification (UXC). 

Jason Sankey is a strategic change agent with nearly two decades of executive leadership and experience in operations and technology. He is known for his ability to effectively collaborate across business lines while continuously driving innovation.
He brings his immense experience as a technology leader for the City of Atlanta as the City’s chief information officer (CIO). In this role, he is accountable for delivering strategy, innovation, and results. Jason is widely known for his executive leadership, technology foresight, and thought-provoking strategies in transforming organizations. He strives to balance innovation with a realistic approach to advancing technology while integrating the City’s goals to achieve desired outcomes. He prides himself in building talented, highly accomplished teams that demonstrate excellence.
Recognized as a consummate professional and determined leader who perseveres through challenging times, Jason prides himself on the impact he makes within communities through his work serving as a public service executive. Jason serves on various community boards where he stresses collaboration and seeks enterprise solutions while focusing on maximizing technology through customer experience.

Jessica Simmons serves as Deputy CIO and Executive Director of the Georgia Broadband Program at the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA). Since joining GTA in 2021, she has facilitated over $650 million in grant awards for broadband expansion in Georgia.
Prior to joining GTA, she served as a Deputy Commissioner at the Georgia Department of Revenue where she oversaw the Legal Affairs and Tax Policy Division, the Department’s law enforcement divisions, and the Department’s communications and legislative programs.
She began her career in public service in the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office. After working in Washington, D.C., Simmons returned to Georgia as the Assistant Director of the Georgia Elections Division and later served as Chief of Staff in the Secretary of State’s Office.
Simmons is a native of Marietta and holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Georgia. Simmons and her husband, Matt, live with their two children in Sandy Springs.

Kevin Talbert is a dedicated Senior Solutions Engineer with Cloudera Government Solutions. He comes from an architecture background working with large, distributed data platforms, and designing customer-centric solutions for problems at scale. He provides technical expertise to customers looking to modernize their data stack and builds solutions to integrate Cloudera wherever they are on that journey.

Mike leads a global team of security and cloud experts dedicated to data-centric security. As part of the Varonis Incident Response Team, Thompson regularly assists Varonis clients in defending against insider threats and cyberattacks and advancing their threat detection capabilities. As a Cloud specialist, Thompson has assisted numerous organizations with navigating complex data security challenges as they move away from on-prem data stores and into M365, AWS, Google, and Salesforce. Before joining Varonis in 2015, Thompson worked as a technology consultant with Kraft Kennedy.

Colonel (Retired) Eric Toler joined Augusta University in 2018 as Executive Director of the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center (aka Georgia Cyber Center). Mr. Toler previously served in the U.S. Army as a Military Intelligence Officer, retiring with over 27 years of leadership and national security experience. In addition to seven combat tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Balkans, Mr. Toler was a pioneer in leading and developing cyberspace operations capabilities for the Army and Department of Defense, serving in key positions within Army Cyber Command, U.S. Cyber Command, and the National Security Agency.
In his role as Executive Director of the Georgia Cyber Center, Mr. Toler is responsible for fulfilling the Center’s mission to create an ecosystem of collaboration among government, academia, and private industry partners that helps solve the state and nation’s most challenging cybersecurity problems through innovative education, training, research and development, and practical applications.
In addition to numerous military schools and training, Mr. Toler holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Henderson State University, a Master of Public Administration from the University of Kansas, and a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from National Defense University.
Mr. Toler has numerous military awards and decorations, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and two Bronze Star Medals. In his current role, Mr. Toler has been twice named to Georgia Trend Magazine’s Georgia 500 most influential leaders and three times named in James Magazine as one of Georgia’s most influential men and women.

Bala is a recognized Thought Leader on Data and AI from IBM. He leads Worldwide Solution engineering from IBM Technology Expert Labs to design and deliver solutions around Data Governance, Data Integration, Data Observability, GenAI and AI Governance.
Bala has a proven track record of designing and implementing Data and AI solutions for many State agencies, federal and private organizations in North America and around the world. He has extensive expertise in working with Chief Information Officers (CIOs) Chief Data Officers (CDOs) and CXOs to develop information governance strategy, Data Strategy, and agile implementation roadmaps to successfully adopt the governance journey to meet their regulatory compliance needs as well as to generate business value from the data management landscape. Bala received many awards in IBM including patent application invention achievement award for governed database connectivity through and around data catalog to registered data sources.
Bala lives in Frisco, Texas, and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Purdue University and awarded three University gold medals for his outstanding achievements in bachelor degree (B.Tech) from Anna University, India.