68: OPM Director Scott Kupor and NobleReach CEO Arun Gupta on the Urgent Need for the US Tech Force

What does it take to modernize government for the pace of AI?

In this episode of the Washington AI Network Podcast, host Tammy Haddad speaks with Scott Kupor, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, about the launch of the US Tech Force and the push to bring the best technologists into government service. The conversation also features Arun Gupta, CEO of the NobleReach Foundation, a founding partner of US Tech Force; Justin Fanelli, CTO of the U.S. Navy; and Christopher Watkins, CMEIO of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Together, they discussed the urgency of skills-based hiring, early-career pipelines, public-private mobility, and how AI is already reshaping mission-critical decision-making across national security and civilian agencies.

Recorded before a live audience at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center Theater.