How to Fix It with John Avlon S2 Ep73: Tech Broke Democracy With Social Media. AI Is Next. (w/ Josh Tyrangiel)
May 3, 2026
Josh Tyrangiel, journalist and author of AI for Good, explores how AI actually works in government and public services. He recounts real wins from Operation Warp Speed to IRS upgrades and local recycling projects. He explains why those successes are rare, how bureaucracy stalls progress, and how small, transparent pilots could build trust and scale practical AI solutions.
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How Operation Warp Speed Got A Real Time Supply Dashboard
- General Gus Perna used Palantir to build an end-to-end vaccine supply dashboard during Operation Warp Speed.
- Palantir cleaned hundreds of data inputs in 6–8 weeks so managers could see production, storage, delivery, and signatures in real time.
Why Software Breaks Traditional Government Procurement
- Gall's Law: complex systems that work start as simple systems that work, and government procurement assumed visible hardware nouns.
- Software breaks the model because it's invisible, evolving, and politically risky to fund and change.
Palantir Broke Into Washington By Building In The Room
- Alex Karp's Palantir sued the federal government and won access to procurement by proving off‑the‑shelf alternatives weren't equivalent.
- Palantir then beat legacy contractors by coding prototypes live and delivering faster, which opened doors in DOD and OWS.
