How A State CIO Builds Culture, Mentors Leaders, And Keeps Learning with Tim Galuzzi

Ever wonder what it actually takes to keep government technology human, fast, and trustworthy? We sit with Nevada’s CIO, Timothy Galluzi, for a raw, no-prep conversation that moves from school drop-offs and Vegas trips to the real mechanics of growth, leadership, and culture in public sector IT. No scripts, no do-overs—just a candid look at how a state leader stays curious, builds teams, and keeps learning.

Tim shares how he treats discomfort as a signal for opportunity rather than a trigger for imposter syndrome. We talk about iterative self-improvement, staying close enough to the work to tinker and build, and the mindset shifts that help leaders adapt as technology and citizen needs change. You’ll hear how his team stands up a Leadership Academy to fix a common problem—promoting great individual contributors without teaching them to manage—and how a simple book club makes shared language and values stick. The current read, Begin with We, anchors principles like doing the right thing always and building integrity into daily habits.

We also dive into mentorship and trust. Tim’s deputies were once his supervisors, and now they operate as peers. That evolution shows how role changes can strengthen culture when respect runs both ways. Along the way, we tackle lifelong learning, public sector innovation, and practical ways to create psychological safety while shipping reliable systems. 

🎧 If you care about human-centered design, government CIO strategy, leadership development, and turning discomfort into growth, this conversation hits home.

 Ready for more human-centered stories from the leaders shaping our digital world? Subscribe to Humans of Tech on your favorite platform and check out our merch store here: https://humansoftech.axomo.com

Transcript

Hosts Set The Scene

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Ever wonder what tech leaders would say if they had no prep and no redoos? Welcome to Humans of Tech. I'm Caroline. And I'm Kelly. We're keeping humans at the center of technology through quick, authentic conversations with people shaping the industry.

SPEAKER_02 0:15

We've got three rules. No prep, no editing, and one live random question. Our guest never sees coming. For everyone listening, I feel like we definitely need to share that the last two minutes we've spent complaining about our lives. Yes. Always sound so upbeat on this, but like we are also real people.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Oh yes. We are running a million miles a minute. And like I just think it goes to show like our like I get excited for this. Like this is the break in my day. Um, and when we record these, like we get we get so excited. And I feel like it does energize me through for the rest of the day after we record.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

Yes, you're right. It does take energy though, because to have a real conversation, you have to all the things. You have to be present, you have to care, you have to all of that.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

You have to listen, you have to ask the questions. I mean, we have a random one, but we have to, you know, get ready to engage with um some really awesome industry, industry leaders.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

So actually, speaking of that, it's perfect segue. So we have Tim

Why Real Conversations Energise Us

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Galouzzi who's coming. Um the CIO of Nevada. Vegas, baby. Vegas. I wonder if he goes to Vegas often. I wonder what it's like to live in Nevada. Um, gotta secure that city for sure. I know he's super involved. He's like on the board for NASIO. I don't know if you've been. Have you ever been to NASIO? It's a great event if you're having.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

It's the National Association of CIOs.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

No. You got some great people on that. Um yeah, I'm pumped for him to hop on. We've never, I don't think I've ever talked to him in person. We're connected via this like weird world of LinkedIn. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

And that's how we meet some of the best people, you know. Oh coast to coast. I mean, it's so interesting because you know, I'm in Tampa, Caroline's um in Hoboken. And so it's so great to be able to like kind of spread humans of tech across across the country just through a platform that we um believe in, honestly. I mean, we love LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

Remember when we had someone in Europe? Didn't we have two people join?

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

That was a difficult scheduling process.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Yeah, it was it was dark over there while it was

Guest Intro And NASCIO Shoutout

SPEAKER_01 2:30

late here. Um so yeah, I mean, not only coast to coast, but globally. It's been it's been great. And yeah, I mean, I'm excited to see what kind of random question we we pull out for Tim here.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

I was kind of looking through some of the previous ones and I was like, ooh, hello. Hi Tim.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Hello, hello.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Tim, that's a snazzy suit.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Oh, yeah. Thanks. It's summertime.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

So in New Jersey, it feels like it's way in the fall. It is cold.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_02 3:04

I don't know what happened. I'm not ready for this.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

Yeah, we're not quite there yet. Uh, school is in session now. Uh, I believe all the major uh school districts in Nevada um are now in school. My kids just started school this week. So um how many do you have? One we have two, uh, a 10-year-old and a seven-year-old. So uh very exciting times in the losy household.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

Third and fifth.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Oh, fifth and first.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

Fifth and first and first.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Yes, my my six-year-old, she just turns uh seven like next week. So I'm I'm fudging my numbers a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Is that the same school? Because for me, elementary was like K through five, but I feel like they've changed it.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Yep, it's K through five at our elementary school. So they get to share the same school. Yep. At least for at least one year they get to share the same school. So that's so they get to walk to school together.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

Oh, that's so special.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

Um, Tim, I've gotten to a point where I'm scheduled, like I will no longer schedule meetings between now and Labor Day because my daughter doesn't go in until the day after Labor Day.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

Like the final, the final hour where I'm like, I can't handle much more. Like the day I drop her off at school, my calendar's totally booked. I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna be able to breathe.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Yep. I I definitely took a day of annual leave uh for the first day of school, just so I can be my uh wife's emotional support human.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Yes. I can't wait. I'm starting to see all the videos popped up that are like, oh, kids are back off, parents are alive again.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

Yeah. Well, um, thanks for having us on. Before we do our formal, formal

Tim Joins: Family, School, And Vegas

SPEAKER_02 4:45

question, um, we did want to know how often you go to Vegas. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Um, I try to get down there at least every month. Um, you know, sometimes unfortunately, uh work gets busy, so it's every other month. But um I do have a team of approximately 30 folks down there. Um so I try to visit as often as I can.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Just a work trip, you know. A work trip. No, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 5:10

So um, Tim, I don't we've already, before you got here, we kind of already introduced uh introduced you. So um unless you have anything else to say, I'm not sure if you are familiar with our format, but we're just gonna ask you a random personal question. And and what we love is just your candid personal answer.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

I'm here for it. Let's go.

unknown 5:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Awesome. Before before I uh pull the random question, why don't you say yes to coming on? I'm just curious as far as like, you know, we've never met, um, and then you've never met Caroline. So I'm just curious on kind of how your time.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

No, I I I I think it's important be uh to, you know, I just love the concept of humans of tech because especially in government, right? Because um, in government, uh, you know, everybody kind of imagines government as this uh massive bureaucratic machine that is uh totally displaced from the human condition and it it lacks empathy. And your guys' podcast concept of just really breaking through that and and really understanding uh the human nature beside uh behind who's making the decisions on IT policy and and the technology that we all deal with really resonated with me. So I I think it it really combines um you know how I feel about the the the human the human nature behind technology and uh behind government. So um that's that's why I kind of wanted to uh jump on board.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

I love that yeah, and um I feel like that's what like you can it's not related, these aren't tech questions, so it's really easy to relate to a lot of them, which I uh okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

So drum roll, please.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

How do you approach continuous growth both personally and professionally?

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Ooh, that's a really good one. Um I think one of the things that um kind of draws uh technologists to um the field that we're in is that desire um to embrace lifelong learning. Um and I I think that is just an an innate uh piece of who we are. Um I'm I'm constantly learning, I'm constantly reading, I'm constantly surrounding myself uh by people who um are experts in their field and hopefully know more than I do. Um and so that's that that's really how I approach it. Um I'm I have this natural curiosity and I I kind of want to pick people's brains and um I I want to be challenged. Uh I want to I want people to challenge my perception on things and and challenge me to be a uh better leader, uh a better technologist, a better husband, a better father, right? And um I think that

Why Tim Said Yes: Humanising Government Tech

SPEAKER_00 8:15

it it kind of makes sense that I've had the the career path that I have and that I have kind of landed in the technology space because um really what I've been doing without even realizing it is um is really the concept of um that like an iterative self-improvement, right? Um kind of every every opportunity that I've had to um learn more and challenge myself. And every time I feel like I'm getting comfortable, something new happens, um, the the market changes, new technology hits, and it introduces uh a new challenge for me. And and and that's really um what has um excited me and has uh driven me to um you know embrace that challenge. So that that's really how um I have um how I have uh done this. Um it's really looking for those opportunities to be creative. Um I'm still a technologist at heart. Um my my team um they they still allow me some opportunities to be creative. Um and so I still get to build every once in a while and tinker every once in a while. So I I think having that outlet is incredibly important. Um so uh yeah, it's you know, just embracing being a lifelong learner. Um you know, keep reading, uh keep challenging yourself.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

Um I I love that you talk about technologists being drawn to technology because you have to learn consistently, because it's true. It's I think it's one of the few industries, right, that changes so fast that you have to learn how to use something different or look at it in a different way, because if not, it just becomes obsolete so quickly.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Yeah, but the last thing you can do is stagnate.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

I was gonna say like just continuous training, and it is like it

Random Question: Continuous Growth

SPEAKER_01 10:20

also is like that human side, the psychological side, that constant, like learning people and how we're adapting to um agentic AI and versus humans versus like all these different things is exactly like I that's a good point, Caroline. I don't know if there's another field that really is changing as much as lawyers are looking at laws done ages ago. Right.

SPEAKER_02 10:44

Um, the other thing that I was that kind of came to mind is like from a personal perspective, I feel over the last few years I've become a lot more um self-aware. And it's interesting to then tack on being a lifelong learner when you become hyper aware of your own surroundings and like what's happening. So I've noticed this shift of you go through a challenge or you go through a learning curve, but you analyze it once it's over. And now it's almost like in the same process, you know, as it's happening, walking out of a scenario, being like, oh, I'm really uncomfortable right now. Why am I uncomfortable? Okay, because this is happening and that's happening. It's like a little tiring, but um it's interesting to like speed up the process because you're in it simultaneously versus learning after.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Right. And and that and those feelings of being uncomfortable, uh, I think when we when we are growing in our careers, um, we first attribute those feelings of being uncomfortable to imposter syndrome, right? That's you know, I'm not good enough. I, you know, we're waiting for the shoe to drop and people to to find us out for for not being adequate enough. Um, but that's those feelings of being uncomfortable. And and really it's us learning to embrace the challenges of the new role and and embracing those opportunities to learn more. And and I think being able to, with experience, understanding that you know, those aren't feelings of imposter syndrome. It's those are opportunities. Those are opportunities to learn more. That's an opportunities to surround yourself with expertise and and to learn from others. So um that that's that should be an opportunity to be excited.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Yeah. Do you uh do you push this down to your teams? How do you encourage your teams to uh keep that?

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Yeah, it's um you know, one of the one of the things that I've really embraced in our organization um is uh an environment of professional development. Um one of the things that we are terrible at in large technology organizations is um we we generally reward incredible individual contributors with supervisor or manager roles without giving them the tools to be successful as supervisors or managers. Um we set up a leadership academy to really teach those skills on how to be a supervisor and manager, right? Uh, because it's a different skill set than being an amazing individual contributor, uh being an amazing technologist. Um we also uh have kind of an informal book club where we'll we'll figure out what's the next book that we're all reading, and we'll go out and procure that book and share it with everybody else. Um and and we'll have conversations about, you know, what are the what are the lessons, what are the takeaways uh from that book. Um and so it's it's really just embracing that concept of lifelong learning and taking that step away from just being technologists and you know, how can we uh be good leaders, how can we be good mentors, how can we be good humans?

SPEAKER_02 14:08

I love that. Um, is there any book that you'd recommend or that you want to share out there? Either being a better father, I love that you said that being a better husband, being a better father, being a better father.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

Uh one of the books that uh the team is working on right now is Begin with We. It's uh it is 10

Embracing Discomfort Without Imposter Syndrome

SPEAKER_00 14:30

principles for building and sustaining a culture of excellence. Um, it is and and these principles are are relatively basic principles, but it really focuses on um you know basic principles of uh you know uh building a better team, of uh, you know, focusing on integrity. Um you know, uh for instance, the the first we that it focuses on is we do the right things always. And regardless of how difficult the decision might be, um, you know, we always just do the right thing. And um it really just breaks it down in uh breaks down basic leadership fundamentals in a way that's easily consumable um and uh easily repeatable. And that's and that's incredibly important for an organization.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

So I might have to make that as a next recommendation. If not, I'm gonna just go buy it for my trip next week at a country. I'm gonna read it. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

So based on what I heard, you embrace learning from every aspect, whether you're learning from the people directly with you or via a book, you seek it out, but you're also creating an environment for other people to do the same.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

Absolutely. And you know, um, you know, it there's mentors come in in all shapes, sizes, etc. Right. Uh you know, I my deputies, you know, were both my former mentors. And you know, it it's an environment where you know, we we trust each other, we we respect each other. Uh they were both my former supervisors at one point, and and and now they you know we have a different team of dynamic. But um it's it's it's the culture that we've built, the team that we've built that that makes that work. And you know, it's you know, it's a very unique organization. Um I'm just proud to be a part of it.

SPEAKER_02 16:39

Great. Well, Tim, I think we're about to turn off the recording. Um hang tight for a second, but thank you for joining us and having a conversation. Yeah?

SPEAKER_01 16:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Thanks for hanging out with us on Humans of Tech.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

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SPEAKER_02 16:57

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