When Lisa Mascolo started her new job last month as CEO of GCOM, a government technology company that had just merged with Oncore Consulting, she remembered her grandfather taking her to New York City as a child in New Jersey. I remember begging him to do so. with him.
This was not what Big Apple tourists wanted.
Rather, it was part of a larger spark that shaped her professional life and led her to the upper echelons of government technology in 2023. This job requires her to integrate her two different corporate cultures.
It was the late 1960s, and her grandfather worked for what is now called the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.As Mascolo said government technologyHe essentially worked as a “311 on foot,” carrying around a “bunch of trouble tickets” and going from address to address to resolve residents’ complaints.
“I certainly got the consulting and problem-solving bug from him,” she said.
Here comes one of the main challenges of her decades of experience as a government engineer. The idea is to have GCOM and OnCore work together as seamlessly as possible while sharpening the digital edge and positioning the new company for further growth in an industry that is catching up with consumers. and the expectations of the people.
The merger, announced in late August, brings together companies with strengths in health and human services, taxes, public safety, economic development, nutrition, community health and other programs run by state and local governments.
While OnCore Consulting focuses on California, GCOM has clients in 32 states, including 13 of the 15 most populous states.
At the time of the merger, the companies said the deal would create “a large national digital software and solutions company focused solely on the public sector market, delivering results-oriented and repeatable software and services.” said.
That probably can’t happen unless the company’s roughly 1,300 employees work as one team. More government technology executives are likely to face this problem in the near future as consolidation increases not only among businesses but also among public agencies.
As Mascolo puts it, OnCore Consulting is “a company that grew organically from the ground up,” while GCOM is “the result of bringing together multiple companies,” and its culture is more of a fusion of those different companies. means that
Despite these potentially obvious differences, Mascolo, who has held leadership roles at IBM and Accenture, believes that blending these two cultures is more important than other areas of the economy. He said the government technology field may be easier.
That’s because OnCore and GCOM employees “share a common commitment to the cause. We help government do better,” she said. “Both teams are going to learn from each other.”
One of Mr. Mascolo’s most high-profile jobs prior to joining GCOM was as Managing Director of IBM GBS US Federal Government, where he worked on technology, cybersecurity and other issues for federal customers. She also served as Managing Director of Accenture’s U.S. Federal Client Services Group and as her CEO of Optimos, a government IT provider.
“I strongly believe in leadership development and am particularly passionate about teaching leadership,” she said.
Mascolo said he wants to set an example of positive leadership at GCOM and encourage new employees to take responsibility for their leaders. Because government technology is typically not directly life-or-death, industry leaders have the “luxury” of listening and learning.
But that doesn’t mean mistakes go unnoticed.
She recalled her experience leading Optimos, a relatively small company compared to other employers, and realized how important her decisions were and how important it was to learn lessons quickly. did.
Because the company could go bankrupt, “if I make a major misjudgment, people might not be able to eat,” she said.
She takes over as CEO because the entire industry, and in fact a large part of the economy, has reached what amounts to an artificial intelligence fever. Everyone seems to be paying attention to her AI. It seems like every new product or service involves her AI.
But the real question for business leaders, including those in government technology, appears to be where to focus valuable focus and resources on AI.
Mascolo said she spent a lot of time in her previous job thinking about taxes and revenue, and more specifically, what she called “the decline in voluntary compliance in this country.”
AI could help reverse this trend, perhaps through mobile services that make tax filing more efficient and less scary, she said.
“We have an opportunity to help the government recover what it is legally owed,” she said, adding that the money could “buy lots of school lunches for young children” or fund similar welfare services. He added that it would be done.
Mascolo said his job is not just about combining two company cultures or building the next great technology tool. It’s about more inclusion.
“Inclusion is a revolution,” she said, adding that more inclusion means more perspectives. “And that could lead to even better outcomes.”
