Amanda Crawford is the Executive Director of DIR and serves as the Chief Information Officer for the State of Texas. In this role, she is responsible for the overall leadership, direction, and daily operations of DIR, an agency with an annual fiscal profile of more than $4 billion per year. DIR's responsibilities include protecting the state's data and critical technology infrastructure, managing a multi-billion-dollar cooperative contracts program, and providing strategic technology leadership, solutions, and innovation to all levels of Texas government. Under Mandy’s leadership, DIR led the state’s successful response to the 2019 ransomware attack that affected over 20 local government entities in Texas and secured the transition to the next-generation suite of managed IT services offered through DIR’s Shared Technology Services program.
Prior to leading the team at DIR, Mandy served at the Office of the Attorney General of Texas (OAG) for more than 17 years. She held various positions at the OAG, including ultimately serving for two and a half years as the Deputy Attorney General for Administration and General Counsel. Mandy also served as a faculty member for the National Attorneys General Training Research Institute’s Center for Leadership Development, teaching managerial leadership across the country.
Mandy earned her B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin and her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center. She is a graduate of the Governor’s Center for Executive Development through the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. 

John Hoffman serves as the Deputy State Chief Information Officer and Chief Technology Officer for the Texas Department of Information Resources. John joined the DIR team in 2010 and has held various roles within the agency in network and security. He is responsible for providing comprehensive strategic planning for the state's technology efforts as well as the agency. John oversees DIR's reporting such as the State Strategic Plan for Information Managers, the Biennial Performance Review. John and the CTO team also ensures strategic development of contracts and services which DIR offers including shared technology services, data center services, enterprise architecture, application management, innovation, and technology implementation.
John brings over 30 years of experience in the technology sector. John holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri and a Master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University.

Mr. Blanco is responsible for overseeing the Health and Human Services (HHS) Information Technology (IT) division; directing innovation efforts; determining IT needs; and developing standards and methodologies for the overall strategy of system development and integration of client/server applications.
Utilizing his depth of IT knowledge, an innovative mindset, and the ability to create high-performing teams, Mr. Blanco has delivered key departmental accomplishments since being promoted to the role of Chief Information Officer in August 2019, including consolidation of almost 900 servers into the State’s Data Center Services (DCS) program, standardization of business processes, agency-wide operating system upgrades to Windows 10, transition of all in-scope IT contracts, and development of a 10-Year Modernization Plan.
During COVID, Mr. Blanco’s utilized his experience in emergency response and disaster recovery to define risks, assess priorities, and strategically and efficiently deliver remote working technology solutions to over 40,000+ HHS and DSHS staff, thus enabling the agency to continue their mission of improving the health, safety, and well-being of Texans. This included imaging and distributing over 15k laptops, deploying Microsoft Teams ahead of schedule, and expanding network perimeters and applying more effective security protocols to serve an almost fully remote workforce; cloud-based capabilities to legacy systems for improved data reporting and sharing; implement COVID-critical applications, including Texas Health Trace (THT), Vaccine & Allocation & Ordering System, Client Encounter System (CES), and Infectious Diseases Data Integration (IDDI).
Mr. Blanco practices value-based leadership. His supportive, transparent, and honest approach cultivates an environment of shared goals, while encouraging innovation and allowing room for staff growth and development.

TX Giovanni was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2012 and is serving his sixth term representing District 98 which encompasses all or part of Grapevine, Colleyville, Southlake, Keller, Westlake, and Euless.
Giovanni currently serves as Chairman of the House Committee on Pensions, Investments & Financial Services, the House Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence & Emerging Technologies, and the Innovation & Technology Caucus.  He is also Co-Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council.  As a leader in technology policy that comes before the legislature, Giovanni is looked to for guidance on a multitude of different important topics.  He has passed several key pieces of legislation such as the Texas Cybercrime Act, the Texas Cybersecurity Act, and the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act.  He has also passed legislation creating an Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council, created harsher punishments for doxing, addressed IT workforce shortages, and thoughtfully regulated digital asset service providers.  He has previously chaired several technology-focused committees, such as the Texas Data Privacy Advisory Council, the House Select Committee on Cybersecurity, the Joint Oversight Committee on Investment in IT Improvement and Modernization Projects, and the Appropriations Subcommittee on State Infrastructure, Resiliency, and Investment.  In recognition of his work, Giovanni was awarded the 2023 Texas Association of Business Technology Policy & Innovation Award, the 2023 Technology Champion Award from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, and the 2022 Champion of Innovation Award from TechNet.
Giovanni has been married to his wife Elisa for 23 years, and has three children, two of whom attend Carroll ISD schools, and one who attends Texas A&M University. After receiving his BS in Physics, he pursued his MBA in Finance from Santa Clara University. After school, Giovanni pursued a semiconductor design career in Silicon Valley before going on to work for a DFW-based venture capital/private equity firm.

Mike Driessen is a Vice President for Government Technology and the Publisher for Industry Insider.  He is responsible for managing the strategy and operations for all recurring revenue services including GovTech Industry Navigator, a market and sales intelligence tool for private-sector SLED teams, and GovTech Industry Insider which provides daily news and insights into gov tech markets.   
Mike brings over 30 years of experience in IT consulting and systems integration with firms like Accenture, Grant Thornton and Hitachi Consulting.  His experience covers sales and marketing leadership, advising on digital strategies, and managing enterprise application alliances and implementations.  He has managed both large global teams and led start-ups. Mike lives in Los Angeles, although he grew up in the Midwest, and graduated from Marquette University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Business Administration.

President, e.Republic

Dustin Haisler is the President of e.Republic - the nation's leading state and local government data, media, and events company - and the parent company of Government Technology, Governing, and the Center for Digital Government. He is also active in the academic and research community, serving as co-lead of the Center for Public Sector AI, an Eisenhower Fellow (2019 Zhi-Xing Program), board member of the Good Governance Worldwide Academic Journal, and Program Faculty for the Certified Public Management Program (CPM) at Texas State University.
As the former Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Assistant City Manager for the City of Manor, Texas, Dustin quickly built a reputation as an early innovator in civic tech. He pioneered government use of commercial technologies not previously used in the public sector, including open innovation, Quick-Response (QR) barcodes, crowdsourcing, and gamification. Recognized as one of the nation’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers for government technology, he was also named a Business Transformation 150 Leader by Constellation Research. His work has been featured in Wired, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine, the Today Show on NBC, The Economist, CNN, Fortune, and Citizenville by California Governor Gavin Newsom. Most recently, Dustin has led initiatives to help public sector agencies safely adopt and integrate artificial intelligence technologies through public speaking, research, training, expert testimonies, and the development of AI tools.
Dustin graduated Magna Cum Laude from LeTourneau University with a Bachelor of Business Administration and has conducted research with universities around the globe on incubating next-generation technologies in government, including the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University and the University of Trento, Italy. He is a frequent speaker and expert advisor who collaborates with Fortune 500 companies, investors, government agencies, academia, startups, and non-profits worldwide on the global govtech market, public sector technology trends, and artificial intelligence development.

Heather Hall serves as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). Her 19-year state career includes serving as the Director for Strategic Decision Support at the Health and Human Services Commission, the Project Management Office Director, Deputy CIO and CIO at the Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS); Project Manager at the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts; and other roles within DADS, Department of Human Services, and Office of the Attorney General.
Throughout her career, Heather has volunteered her time and professional skills to several professional organizations including Project Management Institute (PMI), Austin Chapter (President, Vice President of External Services, and Professional Development Day Director); Executive Women in Texas Government (Vice President/Conference Chair and Communications Director); and State Agency Coordinating Committee, IT Subcommittee (Vice Chair and Chair).
Heather is a PMI-certified Project Management Professional and holds a bachelor’s degree in Latin from Baylor University, a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from The University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in Information Science from The University North Texas.

Anh Selissen serves as the Chief Information Officer at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) with a $500 plus million annual information technology portfolio. Anh has served as the Chief Information Officer for TxDOT since September 2019. In this position, Anh serves as a principal technology advisor to TxDOT’s Executive Director and the senior leadership team. She leads the department’s efforts to transform TxDOT by implementing smart technology solutions, promoting innovation, and strengthening TxDOT’s cybersecurity. She is responsible for transforming the agency’s technology services to exceed the expectations of the customers to meet the mission of the agency – Connecting you with Texas.
Anh has led information technology organizations in both the public and private sectors. She previously held positions as Chief Information Officer (CIO) at NuStats Inc., Director of Enterprise Systems at the University of Texas at Austin, and Deputy CIO at the Texas Comptroller’s Office. In each of her leadership roles, Anh has built a diverse range of experience working across the organization to deliver IT services to meet the needs of the organization and customer community. She is passionate about providing strong customer service and strives to work with her team to provide strong support and services to the organization and their customers. This has resulted in improved interactions with the end user communities and positive positioning of the organizations. Among several professional affiliations, Anh is on the AASHTO Transportation Technology Committee. She served two years as President of the Texas Association of State Systems for Computing and Communications, and IT Chair of the State Agency Coordinating Council.
Most recently in April 2023, Anh received a State Leadership of the Year award from StateScoop 50. In 2022, Anh was awarded the Trailblazer Award by the CIO Roundtable 2022. She was named one of the 2021 Boss Ladies by the non-profit, Austin Women in Technology. She received the 2021 IT Executive of the Year Award sponsored by Society of Information Management (SIM) Austin. In 2020 under Anh’s leadership, the Information Technology Division was awarded the TxDOT Grit Award for exemplary performance during the agency’s ransomware event. In 2019, she was the recipient of the Austin Women in Technology - Women in Tech Excellence Award also sponsored by SIM.