Newsroom

January 4, 2026

California’s Digital Future Demands Service Leadership

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – It is wonderful to see a full house for today’s summit. Before we begin, I want to recognize everyone who made today’s event possible: ServiceNow, today’s presenters, and the amazing staff working behind the scenes. 

Together, the leaders in this room are shaping how California experiences technology through effective services, efficient government, and engaged partnerships. 

By a show of hands, how many of you would describe yourself as a servant leader, someone who serves a mission bigger than yourself? An adaptive leader, someone who does not cling to a plan when reality changes the game? A transformational leader, someone who delivers results and is recognized as a change maker? 

I believe service leadership is all of these traits rolled into one “superpower.” 

When I look out at this audience, I see people who have the heart, the responsibility, and the privilege to lead. They summon the courage to use emerging technologies to engage each other in new and innovative ways. They use the power of IT Service Management to bring order and efficiencies to processes, reduce risk, and make data-informed decisions. 

Today, I will share how I embraced service leadership to help evolve the government technology landscape over a 30-plus year career. I’ll highlight how in 2025 California led the nation in digital services on behalf of its residents—regardless of geography, immigration status, or income—and demonstrate how we are leveraging emerging technologies, like generative AI, to elevate the public’s experience. 

Obviously, I did not start my career as the State Chief Information Officer. In fact, this July I will celebrate my 38th year of public service. I encourage all of us to remember our humble beginnings, because from little acorns great oaks will grow. 

In my mid-20s, I was a help desk analyst at the Department of Social Services. I went on to manage service and help desks at the State Controller’s Office and the Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency, and later led governance, risk, compliance, and cybersecurity at CalPERS. In all of these roles, I relied on service leadership—experiences that elevated my career from the tape room to the board room. 

Those experiences shaped my leadership style. In the early years of my career, I learned to listen first to truly understand the concern; to never forget there is a person behind every request; and to build trust by never leaving the customer’s side until the incident or request is resolved. 

Because I spent most of my career on the front lines delivering people-first services, I know as State CIO that service is not a ticket—it is a promise. Government IT systems do not just support work—they support people. People experience their government through the very digital services we implement and maintain daily. 

Leadership is easy when times are good and seas are calm—when budgets are stable, systems are working, and the pressure is low. Real leadership shows up when things get difficult. 

For example, when I was the CalPERS Chief Health Director, leading the second-largest public health purchasing program in the nation, our mission was to improve our members’ health through advanced benefit designs and affordable healthcare. At CalPERS, we managed a tremendous amount of anonymized diagnosis and billing data. By using the power of our data warehouse and business intelligence technologies, we found that patients were being charged vastly different amounts for the same procedures. In some cases, patients were paying $100,000 more for the same hip and knee replacements, cataract surgeries, and colonoscopies, with the same efficacy and patient safety. 

We said, “Enough is enough.” The industry told us we could never negotiate fixed-price procedures. But service leaders do not take “no” as a final answer when they serve a calling bigger than themselves. When they know the status quo is no longer viable, they transform how they do business. 

That is exactly what we did. CalPERS pioneered reference-based pricing for key procedures. No more variable costs for common procedures. Not only did we save CalPERS members’ out-of-pocket costs, we shifted the entire market. 

When things get hard, service leaders do not point fingers. We lead. We raise all boats. We build better access and equity. We protect the trust we have earned. For us, service leadership is a strategy, not a slogan. It is how California turns big challenges into progress. 

You can see this clearly in Envision 2026, California government’s technology strategy—a plan built around how we stay focused on people, adapt when challenges hit, and transform how we deliver government services. At the core of Envision 2026 is a simple idea: technology must serve people—not the other way around. It breaks down into the values that guide everything we do. 

Today, California government technology is building practical, responsible capabilities. Let’s start with generative AI. Governor Newsom’s GenAI executive order had us reflect on three simple questions: What problems are we solving? What services are we improving? What risks are we introducing? 

One of the clearest examples of GenAI use in state government is Poppy, California’s Digital Assistant tuned to CA.gov websites. State employees now have access to information from trusted sources of truth—not the open internet. As of January 20, 58 departments and 2,348 state employees have access to the Poppy pilot, with more being added each day. With Poppy, we put knowledge in the state’s workforce’s hands faster and more completely. 

We can all agree that 2025 tested California government. When the LA fires erupted, it reminded us that our ability to lead in the face of a crisis defines us. When a crisis hits, service leadership is vital. Within hours after the fire started, California ensured critical residential services were available and made sure residents had a place to go for help and information, both physically and digitally 

A more recent California accomplishment you may have read about: on January 1 of this year, the California Privacy Protection Agency released the Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform, better known as DROP. California is leading the nation in protecting its residents’ privacy rights from data brokers who are profiting from their information. DROP is the first-in-the-nation tool that requires data brokers to delete Californians’ data. Californians can submit a single deletion request to registered data brokers through the accessible and people-centric DROP portal. Using the California Department of Technology’s Identity Gateway, DROP quickly verifies the user’s California residency and then transmits the deletion request to the data brokers. Under the Delete Act, data brokers must start deleting data beginning this August. 

As we look toward 2026 and beyond, one thing rings true: tomorrow will demand even more of us and of our technology. Public expectations are increasing, and they are not slowing down. Complexity is growing, and we cannot respond to the future with outdated models. 

Industry leaders are projecting what is to come. Jamie Garcia, IBM’s Director of Strategic Growth and Quantum Partnerships, publicly stated that 2026 will mark the first time a quantum computer will be able to outperform a classical computer—bringing breakthroughs in drug development, materials science, and more. Kevin Chung, Chief Strategy Officer, states that in 2026 AI agents will shift from personal assistants to AI-orchestrated teams. ServiceNow projects that 2026 will be a year of accelerated transformation, where AI becomes the default ecosystem, not just an add-on. 

We need service leadership now more than ever—where we serve, adapt, and transform. 

In 2026, the State of California will launch CalSecure 2.0, the updated California Security Roadmap. We will continue to empower the state workforce through high-value emerging technologies by increasing the number of large language models in Poppy, negotiating centralized AI contracts, and enabling AI marketplaces with existing contracts. California will continue lighting up unserved and underserved communities in support of the Governor’s Broadband for All priority; continue modernizing the state’s IT procurement process; and increase residents’ privacy, security, and access to digital services through the state’s Digital Identity Gateway. And this is just the beginning. 

In closing, I will leave you with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that embodies service leadership: “Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve.” 

That is what this moment demands of us—serve, adapt, and transform with purpose. My call to action to everyone in this room is to continue becoming the service leader your organization and your customers deserve.