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The GIST of Govt IT

The GIST of Govt IT

By: Swish
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Summary

The weekly show that breaks down ideas, innovations and decisions that cut through complexity and offer real insights from the intersection of technology and the mission.

© 2026 The GIST of Govt IT
Economics Management Management & Leadership Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • A New Playbook for Small Businesses and Startups in Federal IT
    May 12 2026

    From a startup consulting shop to a $1.4B IBM acquisition, Octo Consulting Group's story is one of the great growth journeys in government IT. Brian and Sean sit down with Jay Shah, Octo's former COO, who helped guide the company through every inflection point — the pivot to DevSecOps and agile, the move from sub to prime, the strategic (and intentional non-) use of the 8(a) program, the 2019 Arlington Capital investment, four acquisitions, the launch of OLabs, and the IBM exit in December 2022. Jay shares the unvarnished playbook for scaling in the federal market: why diversification matters more than the 8(a) badge, when to be bold with primes (and when to bluff), how to turn billable services into IP, why OLabs only worked because they had base hits first, and what most founders get wrong about working capital. Plus, Brian and Jay geek out on funk master flautist Karl Denson.
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    RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    Featured Guest
    - Jay Shah
    - Octo
    - OLabs

    Capital, Mentorship & Workforce Development
    - Mason Enterprise — APEX Accelerator
    - Veterans Institute for Procurement (VIP)
    - Andreessen Horowitz American Dynamism
    - Pax Ventures

    Books & Frameworks Referenced
    - The Trusted Advisor by David Maister, Charles Green, and Robert Galford
    - The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
    - Westrum Organizational Culture Typology
    - Gene Kim & The Phoenix Project
    - DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment)

    Live Music Worth Checking Out
    - Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
    - The Greyboy Allstars
    - Kenny Rogers

    Jay's Nonprofit Work
    - The Children's Inn at NIH
    - Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
    - Loudoun Hunger Relief

    The Hosts & Show
    - Swish
    - GIST360

    CONNECT WITH US

    Got an idea for a future episode? Want to be a guest? Let us know.

    Brian Lake - blake@swishdata.com

    Sean Applegate - sapplegate@swishdata.com

    Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or gist360.com.


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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Chaos, Change, and Opportunity in Federal IT
    May 12 2026

    "Chaos." "Change." "Opportunity." Three words that surfaced in a room full of federal contractors when asked to describe today's government IT environment. Sean and Brian unpack what's really driving the disruption, from RIFs and FAR overhauls to FedRAMP changes, the Anthropic supply chain risk designation, and the brain drain hitting agencies like NIST. They dig into the structural changes reshaping how government buys and builds technology — OTAs gaining momentum, Golden Dome's six-month IDIQ award turnaround, and CDOs finally getting real budget authority to break down data silos. Then they pivot to where the real opportunity lives: $50B in federal IT contracting in Q4 FY25, $13B for autonomy and AI at the Department of War, mission Genesis investments at DOE, and the massive energy build-out required to keep pace with China. Brian gets smart on Markdown files.

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    RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    Federal AI Policy & Executive Orders
    - OMB M-25-21 — Accelerating Federal Use of AI through Innovation, Governance, and Public Trust
    - OMB M-25-22 — Driving Efficient Acquisition of Artificial Intelligence in Government
    - Executive Order 14179 — Removing Barriers to American Leadership in AI
    - America's AI Action Plan
    - AI.gov

    NIST AI Standards & Frameworks
    - NIST AI Agent Standards Initiative (launched Feb 17, 2026)
    - NIST AI Risk Management Framework
    - NIST AI 600-1 (Generative AI Profile)

    Acquisition Reform & Contract Vehicles
    - FAR Overhaul (Revolutionary FAR Overhaul)
    - GSA SEWP V extension and SEWP VI updates
    - Missile Defense Agency Golden Dome IDIQ
    - Other Transaction Authorities (OTAs) — DAU guide

    Department of War / Defense AI
    - DoD Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO)
    - Defense Innovation Unit

    Department of Energy
    - Mission Genesis

    Workforce & Learning Resources
    - freeCodeCamp
    - Anthropic's Claude documentation (markdown skills & agent files)
    - Model Context Protocol (MCP)

    The Hosts & Show
    - Swish
    - GIST360

    CONNECT WITH US

    Got an idea for a future episode? Want to be a guest? Let us know.

    Brian Lake - blake@swishdata.com

    Sean Applegate - sapplegate@swishdata.com

    Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or gist360.com.


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    42 mins
  • Fighting Fire with Fire to Secure Federal AI Agents
    Apr 27 2026

    There's a workforce inside your agency that nobody hired, no one trained, and nobody is watching. We're talking about AI agents. In Episode 2 of The GIST of Govt IT, Brian and Sean sit down with Elad Schulman, CEO and co-founder of Lasso Security, to unpack what it actually takes to secure an agentic federal enterprise that seemed to arrive on the scene overnight. They dig into AI sprawl, the new attack surface created by autonomous agents, and why traditional security playbooks don't work when the system you're defending is non-deterministic. Elad shares why "intent security" is the new frontier, how agentic red teaming finds vulnerabilities a hundred humans never would, and what happens when an agent goes rogue (hint: it doesn't have to be malicious to cause real damage). Also, what it takes for innovative non-traditional vendors to actually move at the speed the federal government now demands. Finally, if you task an AI agent to keep your house clean, you better make sure to instruct it not to kill your family.

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    RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

    Featured Guest
    - Elad Schulman, CEO & Co-Founder, Lasso Security
    - Lasso Security
    - Lasso Intent Security for AI Agents

    OMB Memos & Executive Orders on Federal AI
    - OMB M-25-21 — Accelerating Federal Use of AI through Innovation, Governance, and Public Trust
    - OMB M-25-22 — Driving Efficient Acquisition of Artificial Intelligence in Government
    - Executive Order 14179 — Removing Barriers to American Leadership in AI
    - America's AI Action Plan

    Federal AI Use Case Inventories
    - 2025 Federal Agency AI Use Case Inventory (GitHub)
    - Federal AI Use Case Repository (Searchable)

    AI Security Frameworks & Standards
    - NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF)
    - OWASP Top 10 for Agentic AI
    - ISO/IEC 42001 — AI Management System Standard

    GIST360 Webinar

    - Securing AI at Scale: Adopting Intelligent and Autonomous Zero Trust Approaches

    Hosts

    - Swish
    - GIST360

    CONNECT WITH US

    Got an idea for a future episode? Want to be a guest? Let us know.

    Brian Lake - blake@swishdata.com

    Sean Applegate - sapplegate@swishdata.com

    Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or gist360.com.


    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
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