#215: CapMetro Built AI So Human Callers Can’t Tell + How Austin Put Data Stewardship Before AI Hype + UTSA’s “Humble, Hungry, Kind” Culture — All With Limited Resources

#215: CapMetro Built AI So Human Callers Can’t Tell + How Austin Put Data Stewardship Before AI Hype + UTSA’s “Humble, Hungry, Kind” Culture — All With Limited Resources [2025 TAGITM]

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Featuring:

Tanya Acevedo, Senior Vice President and CIO, CapMetro

Kendra Ketchum, VP for Information Management & Technology, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)

Kerrica Laake, Chief Information Officer, City of Austin

Chris Stewart, Chief Technology Officer, Freeit Data Solutions (former CIO, City of Austin)

What You’ll Learn:

How Austin's CIO built career pathways from college intern to executive leadership over 33 years, creating high school Shark Tank programs and veteran transition pipelines that solve the government talent crisis

Why CapMetro's paratransit AI agent sounds so human that special needs riders can't tell the difference—and how it already knows their eligibility and service history before they finish speaking

How a simple homeless services app discovered 40% hidden capacity in existing lockers, helping vulnerable citizens store belongings safely during job interviews instead of hiding them in bushes

UTSA's "hungry, humble, kind" framework that transformed 9 out of 11 frustrated leaders into collaborative innovators using Working Genius assessments and intentional failure policies

Why Tanya's team failed twice on the same project before breakthrough success, and how transparent budget conversations about declining sales tax revenue actually strengthened team creativity and resource optimization

How FreeIT Data partners with resource-constrained counties and cities to deliver the same technology solutions that large organizations require, but with creative collaboration that leverages vendor partnerships when budgets are tight

Timestamps

(03:00) From College Intern to CIO: Kerrica's 33-Year Austin Journey

(05:00) Integrity and Accountability Crisis: Rebuilding Trust in Government IT

(08:00) High School Shark Tank: Building Tomorrow's Government Tech Talent

(11:00) Hungry, Humble, Kind: UTSA's Team Transformation Framework

(16:00) 9 of 11 Leaders Frustrated: Working Genius Assessment Breakthrough

(23:00) Austin's First Technology Conference: Breaking Down 30-Year Silos

(26:00) Data Stewardship Before AI: Why Foundation Matters More Than Hype

(33:00) Breaking "Always Done It This Way": Culture vs. Strategy Battle

(36:00) AI Factory Framework: UTSA's Governance-First Automation Approach

(39:00) AI So Human You Can't Tell: CapMetro's Mind-Blowing Paratransit Agent

(44:00) Resource-Constrained Partners