At last week’s National Association of State Chief Information Officers conference in Philadelphia, Sauerhoff talked with GovTech about what’s on his agenda.
Video Transcript:
Question: What brought you to state IT?
What brought me to state IT? You know, I've been in IT for about 30, almost 33 years now, and started my career in the Air Force, in the military in 1993. And so have always been in IT and did some time in the military and public sector, private sector, federal government. And about four, four-and-a-half years ago, I've been with the state for about four-and-a-half years. And that was an opportunity that seemed like a good fit at the time. And it's really just that. I mentioned I did spend some time in the private sector, in the integrator field, and I've learned that the mission-focused work is something that suits me better. And so I've found that I've been happier and more satisfied in my time in the federal government and now state government.
I've been thinking of that a little differently as the head of DIR and, and what that means. My leadership approach is, is a lot just based on who I am, and it's one of, one of collaboration. It's based on trust and, and open communication and really with our … I think about our DIR’s customers in Texas, our agency customers in Texas. You know, the idea I mentioned that I did spend some time in the integrator world and for a good part of my career. You know, when a customer needs help, and if you don't provide it, then, then they will go somewhere else, right? And, so I've always had the mindset and still do in government and in this role, that just because our customers might not have the ability to go somewhere else and choose another provider, we should treat them like they do. And so that's my approach as I come into this role.
What's the hardest thing to modernize?
It's not the technology, it's the people. It's modernizing how government works, right? For us, it's the people and culture. It's policies and processes that have been in place for years and years. It's statutes and rules that might need a new look. I use the word reimagining a lot. With new technologies that we have today, you know, like AI, we really have to rethink and reimagine how we do things in government.
What roles in your organization have the most potential for change?
I just mentioned AI. I think that's the technology that I think will have, you know, the biggest impact on role changes. But I think there'll be changes. I don't think there'll be role replacement or role eliminations, at least not in the foreseeable future for us. But it'll be those roles that are document heavy, if you will: data redaction and contract reviews and proposal reviews and legislation analysis and things like that. And you know, AI is, is going to be a force multiplier in those areas — not a force replacer in those areas, I don't think. And again, not for the foreseeable future. We have way more work than we have folks to do it already. So new technologies are going to help our folks that already do those jobs, to do those jobs better and more efficiently.
What are the biggest challenges ahead of you as state CIO?
I think, it's that modernization/digital transformation, which today a lot of, often usually means AI, something related to AI and implementing new technologies and finding and gaining those efficiencies that are expected to come from that. I also want to focus on doing more. And we have a lot of small and medium-sized agencies. They don't have the resources to do a lot of what they need to do. And we can do more centrally, in a shared way from DIR to provide more of those services to a good number of small and medium-sized agencies. So I'm looking to expand. I'm hoping that we can expand what we do and what we're able to offer. There are a lot of efficiencies to be gained there, doing a lot of those things once instead of 50 times. I think another — I won't call it a challenge, but a priority that I think about right now is working with Cyber Command, the Texas Cyber Command, a new agency. We've been working a lot with them … we've transitioned our cyber folks over to them recently. And, we'll be working closely with them for the foreseeable future as they stand up the new agency there in Texas.
