Start At Zero
Start at Zero is a conversation-first podcast about what it actually takes to modernize technology, build a business from scratch, and make sense of AI without the hype. Episodes range from focused 15-minute interviews with government leaders and tech founders to longer deep dives where I walk through what I'm building in real time - the AI agents, the automation stack, the hard lessons from 20 years of consulting.
The tone is direct and honest. I don't do scripted questions or softball setups. I want the story behind the story - what went wrong, what you'd do differently, what nobody in the room was willing to say. Guests should expect a conversation that feels like two people working through a real problem together, not a performance.
Topics include government technology, AI in the real world, entrepreneurship, consulting, procurement, and the messy intersection of all of them. Some episodes are interviews, some are just me thinking out loud about something I built or broke that week.
If you've got a real story - something you built, something that failed, a lesson that cost you - you'll fit right in here. I'll send a loose topic outline beforehand, but the best episodes happen when we go off-script.
Start At Zero
Responsible AI Governance: How Public Sector Leaders Avoid Costly Mistakes
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AI is already inside your organization — whether you’ve approved it or not.
In this episode of Untangled, we break down what responsible AI governance actually looks like for local government leaders. This isn’t about buying tools. It’s about building structure before scale.
We cover:
• Why AI adoption without governance creates hidden risk
• The four pillars of readiness: data hygiene, strategy alignment, governance, and management capability
• Why traditional monthly IT committees won’t work for AI
• How to balance innovation with public trust and transparency
• What the NIST AI framework means in practical terms
• Why understanding your AI maturity level is the first real step
AI doesn’t remove risk. It multiplies whatever foundation already exists.
If your organization hasn’t defined ownership, decision rights, monitoring, and policy guardrails — AI is already running ahead of you.
This conversation is designed for CIOs, city managers, department heads, and governing bodies who want to deploy AI responsibly — without becoming the next cautionary headline.
#LocalGovernment #GovTech #AIinGovernment #AIGovernance #PublicSectorLeadership #TechnologyGovernance #DigitalTransformation #DataGovernance
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