A Show & Tell Take on Juliana Slye’s Insights at the Women in Government IT Summit
This is the second in our ongoing series of reflections from the Women in Government IT event—where we’re not just tracking where government technology is headed, but spotlighting the people and priorities shaping that journey.
We’ve all heard it: the government is slow to move. But that old trope doesn’t hold water in 2025. At this session, Juliana Slye, founder and CEO of Government Business Results, broke down what matters most in GovTech today: where the dollars are flowing, what agencies are urgently solving for, and how the policy landscape is being rewritten in real time. According to Juliana, we’re in the middle of one of the most dynamic and demanding moments in government technology history.
The Landscape Is Loud, but the Priorities Are Clear
Let’s start with the numbers: $75.1 billion is earmarked for the 2025 civilian federal IT budget. The focus? Artificial intelligence and citizen experience. But state and local budgets are also booming and more importantly, they’re deploying.
Still, this isn’t a story about spending. It’s a story about speed, stakes, and solving for real operational pain. The four forces reshaping everything?
- Cyber risk is everywhere and urgent. One-third of all ransomware attacks last year hit government entities.
- Citizen experience is now non-negotiable, we expect frictionless, digital-first services, and agencies know it.
- AI is flying fast and not always with a parachute. The rush is real, and the need for structure is growing.
- Workforce constraints are real and tech isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s the only way to scale.
This is not the time for complexity or clutter. As Juliana noted, it’s about clarity and proof of value, of security, and of impact.
Security as Foundation, Not Feature
Zero trust is no longer aspirational. It’s the baseline. And the way agencies evaluate solutions has evolved, they want operational readiness, not theoretical frameworks. They’re hunting threats, not just guarding gates. They’re preparing for quantum computing now, not waiting for the storm.
If your offering isn’t security-forward from the first line of copy to the final deployment metric, you’re not in the conversation.
AI: Past the Hype, Into the Heavy Lifting
Juliana’s take? The federal government may still be piloting, but states are operationalizing AI. Not for headlines but to fix real citizen service pain points. Cookie-cutter capability is the name of the game. Replicable. Reliable. Scalable. If your AI product requires a whitepaper to explain it, it’s already out of date.
Cloud Isn’t the Conversation—It’s the Canvas
FedRAMP may have a new dress on, but it’s still the same dance. The real question is: are you delivering flexible, cloud-native experiences that work for the user and the data, not just the data center?
Procurement Is Getting Agile (Finally)
Federal and state entities alike are modernizing procurement, moving toward outcome-based models and away from the rigid, years-long procurement cycles of the past. This creates room for companies that are nimble, responsive, and results-focused.
But state and local entities? That’s where the true relationship work comes in. Those teams want partners, not vendors. They need to know who’s showing up and that you’ll still be there after the contract is signed.
Not Selling to Government, Just Watching the Women Who Run It
Let’s be clear, we’re not trying to land a FedRAMP authorization or bid on a multi-million-dollar AI framework contract. We’re not vendors. We’re storytellers. Observers. Creators of the narrative behind the narrative.
So while others at this conference were strategizing their GTM playbooks and stacking contract vehicles like a game of federal Jenga, we were watching something else: the women. The ones who aren’t just “in the room”, they’re designing it, staffing it, wiring it for cybersecurity, and piloting generative AI on the roof.
You want a proof point that GovTech is evolving fast? Just look at the leadership.
We met and heard about CIOs, CDOs, and privacy officers who launched AI pilots in U.S. intelligence, rewired Medicare, modernized unemployment systems, linked postal systems to real-time shipping data, and stood up data models that now power some of the country’s most mission-critical services.
These aren’t theoretical trailblazers. They’re operational bulldozers.
Call it what you want, transformation, digitization, modernization but it’s happening, and a significant number of the drivers are women who aren’t waiting for permission or polishing slide decks for consensus. They’re building, launching, securing, measuring, and doing it all under the pressure of national scrutiny and taxpayer accountability.
And in a room full of acronyms, frameworks, and forecasts, that was the real headline.
Marketing & Sales, Meet Your Moment
This is where we (and maybe you) come in. The implications for marketers and communicators serving this space are clear and urgent:
- Outcome over output. Let’s be honest, someone out there still cares about features (possibly Steve in procurement?). But for everyone else? It’s all about impact. If your message doesn’t show how you solve a real problem, it’s just noise.
- Proof, fast. Forget 24-month cycles. State and local want results in weeks, not years.
- Security-first storytelling. Not a slide at the end. Not a footnote. Make it the spine of your value.
- Vertical nuance. Education ≠ healthcare ≠ infrastructure. Your marketing needs to know the difference.
- Daily pipeline hygiene. Things are moving fast. If your message isn’t fresh, it’s forgotten.
- Content that supports the close. Real case studies. Data-backed claims. ROI in black and white.
From Vendor to Vital Partner
We don’t just help tell stories, we help shape them. What we heard loud and clear from this conference is that the future of government tech belongs to companies who lead with listening, deliver with urgency, and communicate with clarity.
So ask yourself: Are you showing up like a one-time pitch or a long-term partner? Because GovTech in 2025 isn’t just about technology. It’s about trust.