Fuat Aki serves as the Associate Commissioner of Development and Operations and the Chief Technology Officer at the Texas Education Agency, playing a crucial role in the organization's recent IT successes. Known for adeptly handling high-stress situations, Fuat actively engages with his teams to address finer details and find solutions collaboratively. Leading large-scale initiatives, such as the Operational Data Store (ODS) project, Fuat manages complex collaborations with both private and public partners. The ODS project aims to establish a central district-controlled data repository for TSDS.
Fuat's strategic leadership extends to the creation of the Dynamics 365 CRM system, revolutionizing the agency's Help Desk ticketing system. This system overhaul allows for a more comprehensive approach to communication, enabling quick access to profile information and addressing concerns regardless of prior handling. As CTO, Fuat emphasizes communication as a cornerstone for successful initiatives, fostering collaboration and efficient processes.
Under Fuat’s leadership, the IT Operations team successfully navigated complex challenges introduced by recent legislation, driving major technology initiatives that required rapid system development and enhancement. The teams are engaged in critical, law-mandated projects, including a data exchange system for the ESA program (SB2), a redesigned TxVSN platform to support virtual schools (SB569), and integrated early childhood data collection (HB3963). Significant expansions to TSDS, such as new attendance and teacher vacancy reporting under HB2, were also prioritized. These efforts demanded seamless cross-functional collaboration, strategic resource allocation, and accelerated timelines to ensure compliance and statewide readiness.
Recognized for his strategic thinking, effective communication, and collaborative approach, Fuat collaborates closely with internal offices, external vendors, and stakeholders. His executive technology decisions align with the Texas Education Agency's Strategic Plan, which aims to prepare every child for success in college, career, or the military. Fuat's contributions demonstrate his commitment to driving technological advancements that support the agency's overarching goals and initiatives.
Fuat has a Master's degree in Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and has been in Information Technology for 25+ years.

Patricia Avitia is the Chief Information Officer for the Texas Water Development Board, where she provides strategic leadership for the agency’s technology initiatives and operations. With more than two decades of public-sector experience, Patricia has led enterprise technology operations with a particular focus on application development, project management, and financial systems.
Patricia holds a Master of Business Administration from St. Edward’s University, where she concentrated in accounting and business management. She is dedicated to fostering a collaborative and high-performing team culture, promoting innovation, and delivering exceptional customer service across the organization. 

Jessica Ballew is the Chief Information Officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety, leading the agency's technology strategy and operations with a focus on innovation, reliability, and interoperability. Throughout her career at the agency, Jessica has managed multiple programs, including IT Applications, Enterprise Project Management, Procurement & Contract Services, Administration, Infrastructure Operations, and the Innovation and Data Office.
Jessica serves on the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s (IACP) Communications & Technology Committee, Real Time Crime Center and Artificial Intelligence Sub-Committees, and the Artificial Intelligence Workgroup. She has also served multiple terms on the State of Texas Contract Advisory Team, State Agency Coordinating Committee Procurement Sub-Committee, State Agency Coordinating Committee Records and Information Management Sub-Committee, Governor’s Commission for Women State Agency Council, and co-chaired the Texas Association of State Systems for Computing and Communication Special Interest Group in Project Management.
Ballew holds a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Arizona State University and a Master of Science in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas. She is a Certified Texas Contract Manager and Certified Texas Contract Developer, a graduate of the Governor’s Executive Development Program, and a Texas Fiscal Officers’ Academy graduate.

Chris Bunton is a seasoned IT professional with over 20 years of experience and a passion for sharing knowledge.
Chris is a state IT Leader who has been sharing his real-life industry experience with IT professionals for over 20 years. He brings real-life industry and private sector experience, with an in-depth ability to apply technical concepts to reality. During the last 15 years, he has held Infrastructure Director, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), and Chief Information Officer positions for the state. He currently serves as the Chief Information Officer for the Texas Department of Agriculture. He has also served on several advisory panels and committees in Cybersecurity and Technology, including the Technical Advisory Panel for TxDOT, Security Advancement Forum for the Enterprise (SAFE) for DADS, and a member of the Texas Research Innovation Council. He has successfully chaired the 4-year Cybersecurity Degree committee which brought a 4-year degree program to Austin Community College (ACC). He is currently chairing ACC’s Artificial Intelligence Microservices Initiative. Additionally, he has been a part of the IT Leadership Committee, served on the Cybersecurity Counsel, and is a member of the Digital Government Advisor Board. Chris holds a bachelor’s in Computers Science degree and an Associates in Business Administration.
Chris enjoys sharing technical expertise to help people utilize technology for advancement. He has a passion for customer service and helping Texans!

Jorge Cardenas is a technology executive with over 22 years of experience in digital transformation across public and private sectors. As Chief Information Officer for the City of Brownsville, Texas, he leads smart city initiatives, broadband expansion, and digital equity efforts, making Brownsville a model for municipal innovation.
A U.S. Marine veteran, Jorge has modernized IT infrastructure at over 28 military bases worldwide, led multimillion-dollar IT deployments, and built advanced Network and Security Operations Centers. His work aligns technology investments with long-term organizational goals.
Jorge has leveraged over 100 miles of city-owned middle-mile fiber to expand high-speed broadband, drive digital inclusion, and attract economic development in Brownsville. His leadership has enabled transformative projects in public safety, transportation, IoT integration, and citizen engagement.
He holds an MBA from the Jack Welch Management Institute and top industry certifications, including PMP, CISM, and ITIL. Known for bridging technology and mission, Jorge is dedicated to building sustainable, connected, and inclusive futures.

Oscar Gatson is an accomplished Technical Sales Professional and Senior Engineer/Consultant with over two decades of experience delivering innovative, high-impact solutions in telecommunications, IT, and healthcare sectors. Recognized for unparalleled expertise in pre- and post-sales engineering, Oscar specializes in identity and access management (IAM), public key infrastructure (PKI), network engineering and secure managed file transfer (MFT), consistently securing multimillion-dollar contracts and driving enterprise-wide digital transformations. Their ability to align complex technical solutions with strategic business objectives, combined with exceptional customer engagement and deployment proficiency, positions them as a trusted advisor to global organizations. Oscar holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Prairie View A&M University.

Jason Kelley serves as the Managing Partner for the Core Business Applications business globally for IBM Consulting. These key business Practices that make-up nearly half of the IBM Consulting business are those Platform Applications and partners that are core to enterprise innovation, operations, and growth. Prior to establishing the Core Business Applications business, Jason had the privilege to co-found the $12B+Strategic Partner and Ecosystem business in IBM Consulting. He serves on IBM’s CEO’s Executive Performance team, IBM’s Chairman’s Business Acceleration team, and helped establish and chair the IBM Veterans Business Council embracing the most inclusive business resource group across the IBM Company globally.

Angie Lindemann is the Deputy Chief Information Officer at the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). For the last 28 years, she has spent her career serving the children, families and clients of Texas with over 14 years managing the operations of the DFPS technology division to include financial services, procurement and contracts, business development, quality management, and strategic planning. For the last five years, her focus has been on advocating on behalf of her customers to ensure software delivery meets the needs of caseworkers and enable effective change. In her current role, she is partnering with her customers to build a transformational strategy to redefine how technology can better serve the agency, caseworkers, and citizens of Texas. Her focus at this time is leading the agency in a major effort to replace the existing 30 year case management system.

Ms. McConnell is the Deputy Executive and Chief Operating Officer at the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) where she oversees daily operations, including financial administration, grant administration, information technology services, procurement, human resources, facilities, and conference planning.  CPRIT is the state agency responsible for Texas’ $6 billion investment in medical research to develop groundbreaking treatments for and prevention techniques against cancer.  Ms. McConnell joined CPRIT at inception in 2009 as the Chief Operating Officer.
Prior to CPRIT, Ms. McConnell served as a Senior Budget Advisor and an Advisor for Health Services under Governor Rick Perry.  She covered state budget and policy issues on the Medicaid program, Children’s Health Insurance Program, public health disease prevention and control programs, and health care regulation.  Ms. McConnell has also served as a Budget Analyst at the Legislative Budget Board and the Program Manager of the Japan Industry and Management of Technology Program at The University of Texas at Austin’s IC² Institute.
A native of Austin, Texas, Ms. McConnell earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University and a Master of Public Affairs from The University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Drew McGrath is currently serving as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS).  He oversees an Information Technology team consisting of 369 staff and roughly 210 contractors.  Drew has worked in various IT roles for the past 30 years in the private sector, as a contractor, and as an employee of various Texas agencies.  Over this timeframe, he has served in various roles including: software developer/engineer, analyst, tester, database administrator, architect, applications manager, operations manager, technology director, Deputy CIO, and now CIO. He prides himself on not only being a leader and decision-maker, but also a mentor, listener, motivator, and coach for his leadership team and staff as they grow into future leaders and CIOs.
Fun Fact:  Drew and his wife are the happy owners of 9 golden retrievers and 2 great Pyrenees mixes.

John has worked for the past 5 years on the House Appropriations Committee where he is currently senior Budget Analyst covering General Government, Courts, and Public Safety.  Before this, John worked for 5 years at the Legislative Budget Board on General Government budgets as well as contracting and IT oversight.

Derek serves as the Head of Service Management for North America Public Sector at Atlassian. With extensive experience in enterprise solutioning, he specializes in delivering tailored solutions for regulated market customers. Derek brings a wealth of expertise from his 8.5-year tenure at ServiceNow and over 9 years at Adobe Systems, where he supported a diverse range of clients, including DoD, Federal Civilian agencies, the U.S. Intelligence Community, State & Local governments, and Financial Services institutions. His strategic vision and deep industry knowledge drive innovative service management solutions for complex, and highly-regulated environments.

Alicia Ricco is a Dell Technologies strategist with over 20 years’ experience in IT. She specializes in smart city and public safety solutions, building partnerships across sectors and leading teams to drive digital transformation. Actively engaged in industry organizations, Alicia is known for practical innovation, collaboration, and real-world impact.

Tom Schenk Jr. is a researcher and author on applying technology, data, and analytics to make better decisions. He’s currently a managing director at KPMG. He’s authored several publications, including a book on data visualization, book chapters on education research, and academic articles on a variety of subjects. Tom has previously served as Chief Data Officer for the City of Chicago, led education research for the State of Iowa, and has held a variety of positions within academia. Tom is the co-founder of the Civic Analytics Network at Harvard University’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. He also serves on the board for the Federation of American Scientists. His work has been featured in The Economist and Wall Street Journal while he’s been featured in television programs on PBS NewsHour and National Geographic Channel.

Amy Stratmann serves as the Budget Analyst for Articles I, IV, and V for the Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Joan Huffman of Senate District 17. Prior to her time working on the budget, she has served Chair Huffman on various other committees since 2016, including the Senate Committee on State Affairs and the Senate Committee on Mass Violence Prevention & Community Safety. She has also previously served as an Assistant Attorney General and as Assistant General Counsel for Texans for Lawsuit Reform. She graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 2016 (hook ‘em), after obtaining her B.A. in Political Science from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. She’s a proud lifelong Texan and lives in Austin with her husband, Ben, and their white lab, Olive.

[LinkedIn:http://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-tam-3ba34632

Simon is a leader in Deloitte’s State, Local and Higher Education AI and Analytics practice. In this role, he delivers change management, organization redesign and governance, and culture and technology adoption solutions to empower, equip and accompany industry-leading clients on their transformational AI and analytics journey. For the past seven years, Simon has worked with U.S. state government clients to design, develop and implement AI capabilities including intelligent automation, conversational AI, and generative AI solutions with the goal of streamlining internal operations to amplify public service delivery. Nationally, he has worked with client leaders to advise on strategic priorities to align with Federal and State AI policies and guidelines.

Jack Timbrell is an experienced IT leader and public servant with a passion for systems, data integrity, and the real-world impact of technology. As the IT Data & Development Supervisor for the City of Arlington, he provides leadership, expertise, and oversight for the organization’s Enterprise GIS, Data, and Web systems. With 20 years of experience across several North Texas municipalities, Jack brings a collaborative, strategy-driven approach to public sector innovation. He holds a degree in Organizational Leadership and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration, reflecting his ongoing commitment to advancing government technology.

Soledad Antelada Toledano is a Security Advisor within the Google Cloud Office of the CISO, Public Sector, where she provides expert advisory and advocacy to public sector customers on critical security matters through leadership engagement, executive sponsorship, thought leadership, and customer advocacy. Her extensive cybersecurity background includes serving as Deputy CISO for the Harris for President campaign, where she provided national-level security leadership.
Prior to joining Google, Soledad spent several years at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, a prestigious scientific institution, where she made history as the first woman in the Cybersecurity department in a Security Engineering role. Notably, she served as Head of Security for the ACM/IEEE Supercomputing Conference, overseeing the security and network architecture (SCinet) of the world's fastest network for research purposes.
Soledad is the founder of GirlsCanHack, an organization dedicated to empowering women in cybersecurity, and was recognized as one of the 20 Most Influential Latinos in Technology in America in 2016. She enjoys discussing the evolution of cybersecurity and the future of AI within security, and brings unique experience from working with the world's fastest networks and large-scale event security, as well as a deep understanding of research and SecOps needs from her time at Berkeley Lab.
Soledad is also a published author, with her book, Critical Infrastructure Security: Cybersecurity lessons learned from real-world breaches, released in 2024.

Steve Troxel is a Field CTO at SHI International Corp, advising public sector and commercial organizations across the U.S. With over 25 years of experience in IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, and enterprise strategy, he has held executive roles including interim CTO for the Arizona Department of Education and VP of Technology for a national payment card processor. His work bridges public policy, operational execution, and long-term technology planning.

Brady Vaughn currently serves as Chief of Staff to State Senator Charles Schwertner. With nearly two decades of experience in Texas state government, Brady has held key roles in both the House and Senate, including working directly for legislators and on the budget committees of both chambers. His public service also includes positions at the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Information Resources. He returned to the Texas Capitol for the 89th Legislative Session.

Tony Veraldi is a seasoned technology executive and management consultant with over 28 years of experience leading complex, enterprise-wide IT Strategy and transformation programs. As a former CIO of a $260M international public company, he developed and executed the firm’s technology roadmap, including IT governance implementation, data center migration, and outsourcing key IT functions, while managing a $36M budget.
Tony’s deep expertise includes developing strategic plans for information systems, performing application portfolio rationalization, and leading comprehensive cloud and digital finance transformations. During his time at Deloitte Consulting, he scaled practice areas and built the Public Sector pipeline to over $200M for strategic advisory services, consistently ranking in the top 10% of performers. He leverages this history to serve as a trusted advisor to C-level leaders, driving efficiency and value creation. He is currently Founder & CEO of Kingdom Consulting Group.

Cory Wilburn is the Chief Information Officer for the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, where he leads technology strategy, execution, and operations. He and his team deliver solutions that support academic excellence, institutional priorities, and a modern digital experience for students, faculty, and staff.
Cory is a proven technology leader with a record of building high performing teams and fostering strong partnerships across academic, public, and industry communities. Before joining McCombs, he served as CIO for the Texas General Land Office, guiding enterprise governance, project portfolio management, and digital transformation efforts.
With more than 25 years of experience guiding technology teams and initiatives, Cory has deep expertise in enterprise architecture, software engineering, project and program management, and systems analysis across higher education, state government, and related sectors.
He also contributes to the broader technology community, serving as Past President of the Texas Association for Strategic Solutions and Collaboration in Computing (TASSCC) and participating in organizations such as the Society for Information Management, the Texas Association of Government IT Managers, Austin Women in Technology, and the Austin Innovation Advisory Council.