"Our North Star is about delivering end business value and not delivering technology for technology’s sake," said Mike Raker, framing a debate that Justice Department CIO Dr. Nikki Collier similarly describes as a balance between modernization and stewardship.
Mike Raker on centering customers and outcomes
Mike Raker, Chief Technology Officer at Maximus, told a WashingtonExec video panel that private-sector technologists measure success by business outcomes rather than feature sets. That perspective, he said, translates into a clear customer focus: in the private sector the customer is central; in government the parallel is the citizen. Raker’s remark — “Our North Star is about delivering end business value and not delivering technology for technology’s sake” — anchors a broader point the panelists returned to repeatedly: investments should be assessed by the value they produce, not the novelty of the tools themselves.
The conversation also touched on contracting and governance themes: outcomes-based contracting, transparency and accountability all featured as mechanisms to ensure procurement and program delivery remain tied to measurable results rather than incremental technical change.
Dr. Nikki Collier on consolidation across 40 departments
Dr. Nikki Collier described complexity inside the Justice Department as a people-and-structure problem as much as a technical one. She said she manages 19 CIOs across the agency’s 40 departments, and is “concentrating on consolidating roles, responsibilities, and tools … I’m ripping off the Band-Aid because we cannot continue to do business as usual.”
In practice, Collier said that effort means identifying duplication in technologies and looking for single-use tools that can be replaced by enterprise-grade licenses. She framed that work as both operational and fiscal: “[agencies] have to be better stewards of taxpayer dollars,” she said, arguing that simplification of roles and tools supports mission delivery while reducing avoidable expense.
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End the scrambleLegacy systems, AI integration, and distributed technology environments
Both panelists agreed federal technology ecosystems are more complex than ever, driven by the collision of legacy systems, new AI capabilities, and heightened cybersecurity demands. The source highlights three things they urged CIOs to know: escalating complexity; the value of trusted private-sector partners; and the necessity of inventorying what exists in an IT environment. The counsel was stark: “Invest time in understanding what’s in your IT environment. When you don’t know what you don’t know, it’s nearly impossible to avoid adding complexity while keeping the mission front and center and delivering exceptional experiences to citizens.”
Raker and Collier pointed to the distributed nature of government technology as a primary operational risk. For Raker, organizational complexity often follows acquisitions; for Collier, it stems from distributed leadership and tools spread across dozens of sub-agencies. The combination of layered, heterogeneous systems and the need to introduce new capabilities such as AI creates pressure on security, integration, and user experience.
Identity management, Zero Trust, and workforce skills
The panel explored identity management’s centrality to cybersecurity as agencies pursue Zero Trust architectures. Collier and Raker discussed the skills and workforce development implications of adopting advanced technologies, noting a gap between the capabilities agencies need and the existing skill mix. As agencies integrate AI and modern identity systems, the panelists highlighted workforce development and skills gaps as items that must be addressed in parallel with technical upgrades.
Transparency and accountability also surfaced as complementary controls: as systems become more capable and complex, outcomes-based measures and clearer procurement frameworks help keep modernization aligned with mission goals and risk tolerances.
What this means for technologists, procurement leaders, and citizens
- Technologists and security teams: Watch identity management and Zero Trust requirements closely; prioritize inventory and consolidation so that AI and new capabilities are layered on a known, manageable foundation rather than on unseen legacy complexity.
- Procurement leaders and program managers: Emphasize outcomes-based contracting, seek trusted private-sector partners who understand federal pressures, and favor enterprise licenses over single-use tools to reduce duplication and cost.
- Citizens and service designers: Expect a shift in focus from technology novelty to customer experience and fiscal stewardship — the panelists repeatedly urged that citizens be placed at the center of design and delivery decisions.
Across the discussion, the through-line was pragmatic: complexity is increasing, but so are the levers to control it — inventory, consolidation, customer-centered outcomes, and partnerships that blend private-sector delivery experience with public-sector stewardship. Collier and Raker framed modernization not as a one-off migration but as an ongoing program of simplification, accountability, and skills development. The next step they left on the table is familiar and concrete: know what you have before you buy what you think you need.
