Michael Allen was appointed Deputy Commissioner for Technology of ITS in March 2024. In this role, he serves as the IT leader for the Department of Labor to drive improvements, problem solve and strategize as part of the agency’s leadership team and operate the IT department while ensuring State IT resources and assets are accounted for and managed. Michael first joined NYS government in 2006 as a student assistant in the IT department of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Since then, he has overseen several state agencies business application services departments, leading hiring and training of diverse skillsets, improving customer experience, creating new solutions, all to meet an agencies mission. Michael has a web development and programming degree from Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, NY.

Christian Balcazar is the Vice President of Sales and Customer Success at Portage CyberTech, bringing over 15 years of experience in SaaS, cybersecurity, and cloud infrastructure. He has held key sales and leadership roles at organizations such as Manulife, Insight Canada, and INAP, where he led high-impact initiatives focused on enterprise growth, customer success, and digital transformation.
Known for his strategic approach and strong leadership, Christian has built and scaled sales teams, driven multi-million-dollar public sector and enterprise deals, and consistently exceeded targets—earning multiple President’s Club awards. At Portage, he leads go-to-market strategy and customer engagement across digital identity, e-signature, and trust services, with a focus on delivering measurable value and long-term client success.

Marguerite has been with Westchester County since 2006, initially as Deputy CIO, and became the County’s second-ever CIO in May 2008. After a brief tenure as Director of Information Technology for the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, Ms. Beirne returned to her current role in 2018.
Ms. Beirne oversees a department of 133 full-time positions and manages an annual operating budget of approximately $60 million. Under her leadership, DoIT supports all of the County’s computer systems, network infrastructure, telecommunications, geographic information systems, e-government activities, multi-media services, and the County's records and archives center. Cybersecurity is also one of Ms. Beirne’s top strategic priorities.
Her leadership has helped Westchester County earn recognition as one of the “Top 10 Digital Counties” in the U.S. by The Center for Digital Government and achieve Laureate status in the prestigious Computerworld Honors Program. In 2023, Ms. Beirne was named one of the “Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers” by Government Technology.
Ms. Beirne is also active nationally, serving on various committees of the National Association of Counties (NACo), including the Telecommunications & Technology Policy Steering Committee. She is also a board member of the New York State Local Government Information Technology Directors Association (NYSLGITDA). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems from SUNY Buffalo and an MBA from CUNY Baruch, along with ITIL and PMP certifications.

Bob Besharat is a seasoned technology executive and strategic innovator with over 30 years of leadership experience in cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, and digital transformation. Throughout his career, he has held senior executive roles guiding global organizations through complex technology initiatives and large-scale operational change. Currently serving as Chief Product Officer and Chief Technology Officer at Portage CyberTech, Bob has led transformative programs that have delivered scalable solutions and generated over $400 million in revenue. His leadership is defined by a deep understanding of emerging technologies, business-driven architecture, and operational excellence—empowering organizations to accelerate innovation, reduce risk, and achieve measurable outcomes across diverse industries including finance, healthcare, higher education, and government.

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.

Meghan Cook is Director of the Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) and Assistant Director of the Office of Counter Terrorism (OCT) at the NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (NYS DHSES).
Meghan leads a team of cyber and homeland security professionals providing proactive cybersecurity services (phishing training, pen tests, capability workshops, tabletop exercises, risk assessments, statewide cyber shared services) and incident response for NYS local governments, public authorities, non-executive state agencies, and schools. She also works in partnership with other state leaders to facilitate intergovernmental teams to address statewide governmental challenges.
For 25 years, Meghan was the Program Director for the Center for Technology in Government (CTG), a globally renowned research institute at University at Albany/SUNY as well as Adjunct Professor at Nelson A. Rockefeller College, and Advisor to the NYS Local Government Information Technology Directors Association (NYSLGITDA).
She has published numerous research and practice articles, book chapters, and reports on digital transformation and cybersecurity in local government, including the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Public Managers: Key Questions and Recommended Actions and Cybersecurity Primer for Local Government Leaders.
She is a highly sought speaker and facilitator, having delivered over 400 thought-leadership and strategy development sessions for government leaders all over the world. Meghan has won several awards including SUNY Adirondack’s Trailblazer Award, Excelsior College’s Alumni Achievement Award, and the SUNY Excellence and Chancellor Awards. She holds a BS from Excelsior University and MPA and MS from the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Dr. Matthew Crayne is Associate Professor and Chair of Management at University at Albany Massry School of Business. His research focuses on the intersection of leadership, work values, and social identity, particularly on the role of leaders as organizational sense-makers, the concept of moral injury and its effect on leadership and followership, and issues of ideological and values-based organizing. He is interested in the application of these concepts in both traditional organizational settings and in non-normative contexts such as extremism, terrorism, and political violence, and aims to expand the reach of organizational science to national security and public policy applications. He has received more than $700k in federal funding to study these topics, and his work has been published in leading scientific outlets in psychology and organizational science including American Psychologist, Organizational Research Methods, and the Journal of Business Ethics. Prior to academia, Dr. Crayne was a senior consultant in the human capital consulting practice at PwC.

Chris DeSain has served as New York's Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) since June 2022. In this position, Chris and his team are responsible for monitoring and maintaining the security of the state's information systems and data from cyber intrusion and attack.
Chris brings 24 years of valuable experience in the cybersecurity field to the role, including nearly 20 years in leadership positions across New York State government. He recently served as the Director for the Office of Counter Terrorism Cyber Incident Response team under the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES).
Earlier in his career, he helped build the New York State Police (NYSP) cyber program, crafted the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) regulations, and became the first civilian CJIS Information Security Officer in the nation.
During a previous tenure as Director of NYS ITS Cyber Command, Chris formed the "Red Team" and established proactive threat response to ensure timely remediation of potential threats and vulnerabilities.
Chris has earned his GIAC Security Essentials Certification (GSEC), a professional certification for those seeking to demonstrate technical proficiency in the field of cybersecurity. He was awarded a "Best of New York" award from the Center for Digital Government in 2013 and received the Cyber Security Champion Award from NYS in 2017.

Thierno Diallo is the Manager of Web and Accessibility Services at the DMV Dedicated Support Team where he leads the web & digital accessibility teams and help with initiatives to ensure inclusive design for DMV applications and other digital documents.
With over a decade of experience in web development, project management, and policy implementation, Thierno advocates for integrating accessibility from procurement to deployment. He is passionate about empowering teams through education, sustainable practices, and leadership that puts people first.
A strong advocate for people-first design, Thierno believes that digital inclusion benefits everyone and strengthens public trust in government services. He brings a practical, systems-thinking approach to problem-solving and strives to empower others through mentorship and knowledge-sharing.

Germain Difo leads the development of OGS' strategic direction, manages the development and implementation of the agency's strategic plan, and facilitates major initiatives across divisions to advance strategic priorities. Germain joined OGS from the NYC Department of Buildings, where he served as Executive Director for Risk Management. In that capacity, Germain built a comprehensive, agency-wide risk management program for the agency, which regulates the safe and lawful use of more than 1 million buildings and over 40,000 active construction sites under its jurisdiction. He created and headed the Department of Building's first-ever risk analysis and compliance unit, a team of analysts that performs in-depth subject matter research and statistical analysis on Building Department data to proactively identify internal control gaps and vulnerabilities. He also served as the chief policy advisor to the Commissioner on matters related to internal control monitoring, compliance with internal and external regulations and mandates, and risk mitigation policy and program development. Germain's career has spanned investigative review, risk, oversight, and policy analysis at the NYC Department of Correction, American Security Project, and NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board.
Germain received his BA from the University of Chicago and his MA from Georgetown University.

Gail Galusha serves as the Director of Enterprise AI, Data & Analytics for the New York State Attorney General’s Office. Her experience spans across state agencies, higher education, and K-12 systems. She specializes in the ethical and responsible use of emerging technologies, while maintaining data privacy and integrity. Gail has a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, a master’s degree in Labor and Public Policy, and certificates in Social Policy, Data Privacy and Security Policy, and AI Strategy. She is also a Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP).

Mila Gasco-Hernandez holds a MBA and a Ph. D. in public policy evaluation. She is the Research Director at the Center for Technology in Government as well as an Associate Professor at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, both at the University at Albany – SUNY. Before joining SUNY, Dr. Gasco-Hernandez served as a senior researcher at the Institute of Governance and Public Management (currently known as ESADEgov - Center for Public Governance) and the Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Management, both at ESADE Business & Law School in Spain.
The main general research question at the center of Dr. Gasco-Hernandez’s research agenda is: why and how does technology-driven innovation happen in the public sector? Most of her research in the last six years has focused on the topics of open government, public sector innovation, smart cities and communities, telework, and artificial intelligence in government, which she has addressed using a comparative an international approach. In these areas, she has published six books, more than 45 peer-reviewed articles, 18 peer-reviewed book chapters, and more than 55 peer-reviewed conference papers. She has been invited to deliver more than 70 keynotes worldwide and has been awarded more than 15 grants in external funding competitive calls and more than 25 consultancy/applied research projects.
Dr. Gasco-Hernandez has also considerable consulting experience. In this respect, she has worked for a wide variety of organizations worldwide such as the United Nations Development Program, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, the Latin American Centre on Management for Development, the World E-Governments Organization of Cities and Local Governments, the Inter-American Development Bank, and Google.

J. Ramon Gil-Garcia, Ph.D., is a Full Professor of Public Administration and Policy and the Director of the Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY). In 2009, Dr. Gil-Garcia was considered the most prolific author in the field of digital government research worldwide and in 2018 and 2019 was named “One of the World’s 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government” by Apolitical, from the United Kingdom. More recently, in 2021, Dr. Gil-Garcia was one of the recipients of the two inaugural Digital Government Society (DGS) Fellows Awards, which recognize “distinguished scholarly achievements and sustained accomplishments and contributions to the research or practice of digital government as a field of study.” Currently, Dr. Gil-Garcia is also a professor of Business at Universidad de las Americas Puebla in Mexico, a Faculty Affiliate at the National Center for Digital Government, University of Massachusetts Amherst and an Affiliated Faculty member of the Information Science Doctorate Program at the College of Emergency Management, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, University at Albany.
Dr. Gil-Garcia is the author or co-author of articles in prestigious international journals in Public Administration, Information Systems, and Digital Government and some of his publications are among the most cited in the field of digital government research worldwide. His research interests include collaborative digital government, inter-organizational collaboration and information integration, smart cities and smart governments, data and data analytics for decision making, artificial intelligence in government, adoption and implementation of emergent technologies, digital divide policies, information technologies in the budget process, digital government success factors, and multi-method research approaches. Dr. Gil-Garcia is also a former Fulbright Scholar.
Dr. Gil-Garcia has extensive teaching experience and has collaborated with 12 universities, including departments of Public Administration, Government, Political Science, Social Science, Information Studies, and Management Information Systems. He has lectured on topics such as Public Management, Policy Analysis, Database Applications, Statistics, Web Development, Quantitative Analysis and Modeling, Research Methods, Systems Analysis and Design, Local Government Management, and Information Technologies in the Public Sector. Prior to his academic career, Dr. Gil-Garcia held several government positions, and he also has many years of experience as a consultant for federal, state, and local government agencies. He has been a volunteer and leader of several non-profit organizations and is an active member of professional associations in related fields such as Public Administration, Information Systems, Public Policy, and Political Science.

In June 2025, Jenson Jacob was named Acting Executive Deputy Chief Information Officer for the NYS Office of Information Technology Services (ITS).
Prior to that, he served as the agency’s Chief Digital Transformation Officer. Jenson brings more than 25 years of IT experience working on both private and public sector initiatives that included building a digital strategy using disruptive and enterprise technologies and overseeing an innovation journey across applications and services.
Prior to joining ITS in 2011, Jenson worked for Unisys and HCL Technologies where he served as an enterprise solution and services architect building customer-centric products. Earlier in his career at ITS, he served as the Deputy Chief Technology Officer overseeing business application development for more than 57 executive agency clients as well as managing an 1,800+ strong workforce delivering mission critical services for New Yorkers. In his spare time, he serves as an Adjunct Professor at the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY), where he teaches data computing, networking and cloud computing to undergraduate students. Jenson holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Mumbai in India.

Mathan (Matt) Jebaraj is currently the Deputy Chief Strategy Officer, directing business value development and partnering with dedicated agency teams and ITS Shared Services to deliver products and enterprise solutions. Prior to that, Matt was the Exec Director for ITS PMO / BA Shared Services & Deputy Exec Director for ITS Workforce, Public Service and Housing dedicated IT teams. Matt's previous role at New York State Education Department was Deputy CIO, leading multiple IT areas including Business Solutions. Matt has directed several large and complex programs and delivered enterprise products and has led multiple IT solution implementations in both public and private sector organizations. Balancing risk and innovation and leading in an evolving technical landscape has been a strategic focus in several of the initiatives directed by Matt, and he is passionate about mentoring others in developing leadership skills.

I enjoy taking apart tech problems and reassembling the parts into functional stuff that real humans can use. I'm a strong advocate of usable and accessible design first and fancy complex frameworks last. I believe that the web should be open and inclusive and promote the free and fair sharing of information. I am still fascinated by HTML and that people can just make websites. I'm passionate about accessibility engineering and making positive change in the world through technology. I’m lucky enough to do that currently as the technical director for NY.gov - the official website of New York State.

Suzanne recently joined the Product Development team within the NYS/ITS/DOH Dedicated Support team to manage business analysis activities for all efforts centered around the NYS Department of Health. 
Suzanne has supported other NYS agencies in efforts to build and implement new systems and applications, develop and manage teams of Business Analysts across NYS agencies, oversee Modernization and Cyber Remediation efforts, and acted as an advisor for business analysis activities on the Integrated Eligibility System (IES) Program.
Prior to that she acted as an Analyst for the Office of the Attorney General as part of the NY Matters Case Management development and as an Analyst for the NYMMIS (Medicaid Management Information System) project for the NYS Department of Health.  Suzanne has 25+ years of public and private sector IT Analysis experience including LexisNexis.
Suzanne holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and Economics, and she is currently working on completing an M.A. in Learning with Emerging Technologies.
Suzanne is also an active member of the NYS Forum and has been a co-chair for the Business Analysis and Business Architecture Workgroup since 2019.
Suzanne has moderated previous NY IT Leadership Forums and NY Digital Summit Forums and is dedicated to supporting NYS.

Dr. Nadeem Malik is a Distinguished Engineer and Vice President of AI & ML Technologies at Kyndryl. With over 25 years of R&D experience, he drives the adoption of Generative AI and ML to transform operations across industries. He has filed 116 U.S. patents and authored 30+ publications. A recognized leader, Dr. Malik has held adjunct professorships at UT Austin, SUNY, and Cornell, and serves as a panelist for U.S. government research programs. His innovations span AI/ML, IT automation, security, and microarchitecture design, positioning Kyndryl as a key partner in enterprise modernization.

Jeff accepted an appointment with NYS Information Technology Services (ITS) in January 2016. Jeff has served as an Executive Director for multiple Chief Portfolio Office (CPO) Portfolios since November 2020, most recently as Executive Director for the Public Safety Portfolio. Jeff previously served as Deputy CPO and Director of Project Management Shared Services.
Prior to NYS service, Jeff enjoyed a 28-year career as an IT Consultant, with over 20 years as a certified Project Management Institute (PMI) Project Management Professional (PMP) (7 times recertified). Jeff was part of NTT Data’s Project Office, providing direct oversight, management, supervision and auditing of upwards of 30 NTT Data (Keane) managed multi-year projects with a combined value of nearly $100 million.
In 2019 Jeff retired as a Sergeant Major assigned to Joint Force Headquarters – New York, NYS Division of Military and Naval Affairs, with 34 years of service in the US Army, US Army Reserves, and NY Army National Guard. Jeff deployed to Iraq as a First Sergeant with the 42nd Infantry Division, responsible for the preparation, training, credentialing, deployment, and redeployment of 200 soldiers and over $25 million of unit equipment.

Carrie is known for her out of the box creative thinking, problem solving skills, being an advocate for customer success & driving sales to enable Cities & States to operate more efficiently. As a Breast Cancer Survivor, she never shy’s away from a challenge & focuses on the specific goals of the agencies to provide holistic solutions to prove Dell is the best Technology Partner in the business.

Teri Takai is the Chief Programs Officer for the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. Teri worked for Ford Motor Company for 30 years in global application development and information technology strategic planning. From Ford, she moved to EDS in support of General Motors. A long-time interest in public service led her to the government sector, first as CIO of the State of Michigan, then as CIO of the State of California and, subsequently, the CIO of the U.S. Department of Defense, the first woman appointed to this role. She then served as the CIO for Meridian Health Plan. .
Teri is a member of several industry advisory boards. She has won numerous awards including Governing magazine’s Public Official of the Year, CIO Magazine’s CIO Hall of Fame, Government Technology magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers, the Women in Defense Excellence in Leadership Award and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

Unal Tatar joined the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity (CEHC) at the University at Albany in 2018 and is currently an assistant professor.
Dr. Tatar has been working on cybersecurity since 2004 in several capacities – as an engineer, a researcher and an academic. Most recently, he served as the head of the National Computer Emergency Response Team of Turkey (TR-CERT) where he coordinated national cybersecurity exercises and took part in the creation of the first national cybersecurity strategy.
He started his cybersecurity career at the National Cybersecurity Research Institute (NCRI), an affiliated institution of The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. He also had a chance to work in international organizations and initiatives such as the NATO Center of Excellence Defense Against Terrorism (COE-DAT) as an academic advisor. At NATO COE-DAT, he organized two workshops on cyber terrorism and prepared the curriculum for a course on terrorist use of cyber space. He participated in NATO Cyber Defense Exercises and developed some of the scenarios. Dr. Tatar carried out a research project with NATO Combined Joint Operations from the Sea Centre of Excellence (CJOS-COE) for analyzing the cyber risks in maritime domain.
He is currently one of only two engineers in the 21-member Cyber Terrorism Project, a multidisciplinary, multi-institution project which facilitates debate on core questions relating to cyberterrorism.

Preeti is an EY Principal with more than 24 years of experience delivering results and executing projects at the executive levels for Fortune 500 to mid-size organizations. She specializes in HR/Payroll Strategy, HR/Payroll Transformation, HR/Payroll Service Delivery, Shared Service, Cloud, and Talent Management. She has assisted 50+ organizations with HR/Payroll Transformation projects involving strategy, technical solution selection, business case, benchmarking, roadmap, organizational redesign, business process redesign, implementation, support, and operations optimization.