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Brandon Ragle

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Brandon Ragle

State Chief Information Officer & Secretary, Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT)

Brings deep expertise in enterprise-scale AI governance, identity and data infrastructure, cybersecurity, and public-sector technology leadership across an entire state.

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On AI in Chicago

Brandon Ragle — Responsible AI Scaling With Illinois State CIO and Secretary of the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology
Ep 7 · March 9, 2026 · 44 minutes

Responsible AI Scaling With Illinois State CIO and Secretary of the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology

In this episode, host Khullani Abdullahi speaks with Brandon Ragle, Illinois State Chief Information Officer and Secretary of the Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT). They discuss what it takes to operate AI responsibly across an entire state—identity, data governance, cybersecurity, foundations over hype, and preparing the public-sector workforce for AI.

What Illinois' State CIO Taught Me About Scaling AI Responsibly
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What Illinois' State CIO Taught Me About Scaling AI Responsibly

Brandon Ragle, Illinois State CIO and Secretary of the Department of Innovation & Technology, leads 1,800+ technologists serving 13 million residents. His lesson for anyone adopting AI: the organizations getting it right aren't the fastest, they're the ones with the strongest foundations.