#221: 2026 World Cup, Fusion Teams, AI Wins, Leading Well

#221: Lisa Kent, Melissa Kraft, Derek Williams - 2026 World Cup, Fusion Teams, AI Wins, Leading Well

Featuring

Lisa Kent is the CIO & Director, City of Houston leading IT for America’s fourth-largest city as she prepares for the World Cup, consolidates Houston Police Department IT, and navigates the delicate balance between innovation and risk.

Melissa Kraft is the CIO, City of Frisco managing IT for one of America’s fastest-growing cities (30% population growth) while experimenting with AI deployments on a municipal budget and timeline.

Derek Williams is the Chief Technology and Innovation Strategist at Dell & former Louisiana State CIO who spent two decades in Louisiana state government culminating as State CIO, now bringing his battle tested public sector insights to help State & Local Governments navigate technology decisions—with real empathy for the scrutiny CIOs face daily.

Timestamps

(04:00) How Houston’s network transformation is preparing for the World Cup

(10:15) Fusion teams in action — how Lisa’s approach to embedding IT with business units delivers measurable wins

(12:00) Building systems that last — Derek’s cost allocation model Louisiana still uses a decade later

(14:00) 40% efficiency gains with AI — Frisco’s wins in 911 training and traffic processing

(18:00) The CIO role is transforming — all three guests discuss the shift from control to consultation and what it means for the next decade

(24:00) Why 95% of AI projects fail — and the three critical stumbling blocks Derek sees everywhere

(27:45) What NASA’s 23-year-old moon landing engineer teaches us about trusting younger technologists

(38:45) What public sector teams deserve credit for — Derek’s defense of the hardest working people few appreciate

(41:30) Small bets, big trust — Melissa shares her playbook for incremental innovation that wins department buy-in

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