Speakers

Dr. Rich McCormick is a decorated veteran and Emergency Room physician who proudly serves Georgia’s 7th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.

Raised by a single mother, Rich was a paperboy in middle school and eventually worked his way through college, earning a degree from Oregon State University. A firm believer in service before self, McCormick joined the Marine Corps and became a helicopter pilot.

During his two decades of service, Rich deployed to combat zones in Africa, the Persian Gulf, and Afghanistan. As a Marine, he flew helicopters, was Airborne and attached to Army and foreign forces, and taught at Georgia Tech and Morehouse College as the Marine Officer Instructor. In the Navy, Rich earned the rank of Commander and served as Department Head for the Emergency Medicine Department in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Between deployments, Rich earned his Master of Business Administration from National University and medical degree from Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, where he was honored to serve as student body president. He completed residency in Emergency Medicine through Emory while training at Grady Hospital in Atlanta. Most recently, Dr. McCormick served as an Emergency Room physician at Northside Hospital.

In Congress, Rich serves on the House Armed Services, House Foreign Affairs, and Science, Space, and Technology Committees.

Kris is a recognized leader in the United States Army people enterprise, who has spent the past eight years investigating new technologies and analytics, pairing them with teams of talented individuals, partnering with academia and industry to deliver best practices, and attacking the Army’s most pressing challenges in people analytics and talent management.

A university-trained complexity scientist and a self-taught big data analyst and technologist, she has learned to not only leverage her technical skills, but also become versed in the areas of government contracting and acquisition, data governance, Army personnel policy, law, and statute, and the business process of innovation – all the building blocks necessary to take new offices and organizations from 0 to 1 within the immense bureaucracy of the Army and the federal government.

Since she arrived at the Headquarters Department of the Army G-1 in 2016, she established data, analytics, and innovation teams and capabilities for the Army Talent Management Task Force, for the ASA(M&RA)’s People Analytics directorate, for US Army Human Resources Command, and is now designing the Innovation Directorate for US Army Recruiting Command.

As an operations research and systems analyst, Kris has received several analytic awards, including the Wayne P. Hughes award for outstanding junior analyst, has published extensively, and speaks regularly on analytic topics and applications in the human domain.

Chris Niehaus leads strategic growth for Google Cloud's Federal business. He helps customers accelerate mission outcomes through Google's differentiated approach to security, data, and AI. Prior to Google, Chris held technology leadership roles at other major cloud service providers, building global cloud infrastructure and solutions across commercial and public sectors.

Organizational Change Agent & 3x CDO/CDAO

Rob King is an award-winning federal executive with over 20 years of experience, cultivated in both the federal and private sectors, leading data and analytics strategies, IT modernization, and digital transformation across the federal government. As Chief Data Officer at the U.S. Department of Energy and Vice Chair of the Federal CDO Council, Rob has driven agency and federal-wide innovation, shaping national policy and governance frameworks that support mission-critical outcomes.  He has a passion for employing innovation, collaboration, and integration to transform organizations’ operating models and deliver bottom-line business outcomes through a holistic change management approach underpinned by data, AI, and advanced analytics. As a three-time federal CDO, Rob has shaped enterprise-wide policies, guiding $100M+ in programmatic and IT investments, and building collaborative data-driven cultures that unlock mission value and operational efficiencies.

His work has resulted in measurable impact, from deploying advanced analytics and AI/ML frameworks to leading large-scale modernization initiatives that delivered over $500 million in annualized savings. Rob is known for building high-impact teams, fostering data-driven cultures, and delivering measurable value and operational efficiencies across large complex organizations and cabinet-level agencies. As a respected, and sought-after, voice in the data and advanced analytics communities, Rob continues to shape the future of government through strategic leadership, technical expertise, and a deep commitment to public service.