Hearing former Governors and Chiefs of Staff describe the experience of starting a new term, and the high-stakes decisions they have to make very quickly, is nerve-wracking. It’s also exciting for the people who know what’s possible through digitally-enabled government delivery. We’ve been bringing together those people and their insights to support the incoming teams facing all the hallmarks of a planned crisis of the transition that is about to occur in at least 18 states.
What is Crossroads?
On October 6–8, Tech Talent Project held Crossroads in Salt Lake City, long called the “Crossroads of the West.” The name fit the moment: incoming administrations are at a junction where early choices set the direction for years. With our partners and with support from the Data Funders Collaborative, the summit brought together state leaders, veteran technology and data practitioners, and supporters. We discussed how incoming administrations can use data and technology to improve how state government delivers services, from benefits to permits to emergency response.
Why the timing matters
Thirty-six states hold gubernatorial elections this November, and at least 18 will have new governors in January 2027. During the transition and the first 100 days, these administrations will establish the people, priorities, and systems that determine whether the governor and their team can deliver for millions of residents.
Budgets are tightening, federal funding is shifting, AI is outpacing government capacity, and new federal Medicaid requirements under the 2025 law known as H.R. 1 will already be taking effect when governors take office. To help incoming administrations prepare, Tech Talent Project created the 2026 edition of Memos for a Tech Transition, playbooks of best practices developed with the American Enterprise Institute, the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University, and New America. Contact us for a preview.
What’s in the memos
The nine memos, shaped by 150 government, tech, and nonprofit leaders, lay out concrete first-100-day actions to strengthen states’ service delivery and digital capacity. Three decisions drive everything else:
- Set a small number of clear priorities.
- Put tech-savvy executives in place with the authority and budget to deliver them.
- Build accountability from the start, tied to budget outcomes and the priorities the administration campaigned on.
One pattern holds across all nine memos: before reaching for a technology fix, check user inputs, process bottlenecks, and policy limitations to craft a solution. Then iterate.
The memos cover: Tech Talent, Data, Procurement, Customer Experience, and AI, as well as Benefits, Permitting, Emergency Response and Recovery, and Child Welfare, where the foundations get put to work for residents.
What we heard at Crossroads
People and data are the core of successful service delivery. Participants said administrations serve residents best when they start quickly, put Chief Data and Chief Information Officers at the policy table, and pair a governor’s priorities with leaders who understand how to use technology to effectively deliver government services.
Recoding America author Jen Pahlka and former Chief of Staff in Michigan JoAnne Huls kicked us off with the realities in states and how new teams can change the equation. The attendees discussed state transitions with panelists from a variety of leadership perspectives: Governors, Chiefs of Staff, CIOs, Chief Data Officers, Chief AI Officers, and Cabinet members. All reiterated the importance of the first 100 days. State Spotlights featured successes in states across the country, illustrating themes and highlights from the 2026 Memos for a Tech Transition. Data was a hot topic, from evidence to inform budgets to the foundational element of strong AI.
A breakout on the upcoming federal Medicaid changes also stressed using good data to understand the ripple effects of poor service delivery and communicating plans for fixing broken services openly, even when things aren’t going well. Two former Governors, former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, both well-known for their delivery-focused approach to governing, framed important transition lessons from the Governor’s seat. What it means for residents: when the right people and data are in place early, the services millions of Americans depend on get fixed sooner, rather than inherited as they are.
A room full of doers cannot leave without a set of actions! We focused on providing both near-term and longer-term delivery capacity for states. Stay tuned!
Why hiring comes first
The right tech and tech-fluent leaders, given real authority, largely determine what the rest of an administration’s agenda can deliver for residents. Most incoming administrations arrive without deep expertise in the tradeoffs behind tech leadership, AI adoption, and data infrastructure to deliver on those agendas. The experienced tech leaders who can do the work are available and interested in service, where the opportunity is framed well and the right match is made.
Our track record
Since 2017, Tech Talent Project has matched more than 200 tech and data leaders with government roles, drawn from a network of more than 11,000 technologists, and has placed leaders or provided other support in 30 states, including Maryland, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming.
Working on a state transition?
If you’re preparing for a new administration, contact us at [email protected] to learn more about the Memos and how Tech Talent Project can help your state hire and support the right tech leaders.
