How do you push cutting-edge tech through a political bureaucracy without getting buried?

Former FEMA Chief of IT Management John Binks spent 14 years pushing technology through disaster response and political appointees — then moved to industry at Titan Technologies. He joins me to share battle-tested rules for getting AI and innovation approved when every decision feels like turning a battleship.

We cover:

• The “run to Best Buy and buy me an AI” story every tech leader has lived
• Why government moves slow (budget cycles, 90-day political resets, public visibility)
• Unwritten survival rules: no surprises, pre-wire decisions, bring solutions
• How one AI project automating presidential disaster declarations succeeded because of diplomacy, not just data
• Turning oversight & cyber teams into allies instead of gatekeepers
• Why the next generation of leaders gives him massive hope

If you sell to, work in, or just survive federal bureaucracy — this episode is pure gold.

Grab John’s hilarious book Bots & Bosses: https://a.co/d/avuL9PM

Subscribe for more on AI: @RobotsandRedTapeAI | Host: Nick Schutt