Five GovCon Executives Specializing in Digital Government Services

The federal government is taking a technology-driven approach to solving some of its long-standing challenges. 

In December 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing agencies to work with the private sector in modernizing their public service delivery and internal processes. The goal is to lower the “time tax” imposed by outdated administrative processes on taxpayers.

Congress also authorized $1 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funding for the Technology Modernization Fund, a program from which agencies can take out loans to finance information technology-related projects.

TMF dollars have been used to accelerate the Office of Management and Budget’s shift to zero trust, improve the Postal Regulatory Commission’s digital experiences and modernize the Selective Service System’s registration, compliance and verification software.

The Potomac Officers Club—a division of Executive Mosaic—features five executives supporting the government’s digital strategies.

Brad Freathy, Vice President of Global Service Operations and Digital Transformation at Verizon

Brad Freathy is the vice president of global service operations and digital transformation at Verizon, working out of the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area in North Carolina. He brings a “unique perspective as a seller, supplier and user of networks and professional services to a wide variety of customers” ranging from Fortune 500 to small-medium businesses, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Freathy’s specialties include strategic leadership, sales, sales engineering, large commercial project implementation, telecom managed services, financial management, data science, machine learning, business process outsourcing, global network operations and managed security services.

Freathy has been leading Verizon’s business group service assurance operations for almost five years. In his current role, he has successfully led a multi-year, back-office transformation effort involving 12,000 personnel with the objective of reducing operating expenses by 10 percent and improving customer experience, his profile reveals.

Before joining his current employer, Freathy was briefly the vice president of enterprise solutions strategic sales at Charter Communications. That role saw him meeting aggressive revenue growth targets to capture market share and expand the role of the company in enterprise information technology. 

Earlier in his career, he served as vice president of enterprise sales, solutions engineering and operations at Bright House Networks. That role saw him leading the company’s enterprise solutions business, delivering 20 percent year-on-year revenue growth.

Freathy earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering degree in digital systems and technology from Florida State University. He later earned his master’s degree in data networking, computing architecture and machine learning from the same institution.

Kathy Conrad, Director of Digital Government at Accenture Federal Services

Kathy Conrad is the director of digital government at Accenture Federal Services. She has been holding her current leadership role since 2015.

She oversees the digital government strategy and growth for AFS and focuses on how the company can deliver emerging technologies to help government customers become more efficient, customer-centric and data-driven. She offers customer experience, digital service transformation, cloud security and service design and innovation expertise, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She was the principal deputy associate administrator for citizen services and innovative technologies/18F at the General Services Administration before joining AFS. In this role, she led programs that accelerate governmentwide adoption of innovative technologies that are designed to improve digital services delivery.

While she was with the GSA, Conrad was involved in several governmentwide initiatives, including the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, the Digital Analytics Program and the establishment of various government websites.

The other positions that Conrad has held include director at aerospace company Praxis, issues analyst at the National Science Foundation, deputy director of government affairs at the National Society of Professional Engineers and legislative assistant at the New England Congressional Institute.

Conrad holds a bachelor’s degree in biology/psychology from Wesleyan University.

Accenture Federal Services offers artificial intelligence, digital innovation, cyber resilience and IT modernization services to federal government clients. It is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, and has an office in San Antonio.

Josh Arbaugh, Digital Innovation Leader at Amazon Web Services

Josh Arbaugh is a digital innovation leader at Amazon Web Services, working out of Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a highly-experienced executive in digital innovation, professional services and customer success who specializes in digital transformation and moving customers to the cloud, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Arbaugh’s other areas of focus include business development, account management, solution sales, cloud operating models, project and program management, resource management, and services practice growth. He has built his career on an ability to lead high-performing teams focused on strategic relationships with customers and partners, his profile reveals.

Arbaugh joined AWS in August 2019. His current role sees him leading customer engagements and shaping the delivery of digital innovation programs while working with AWS’s public sector customers. Additionally, he helps develop the mechanisms for tracking customer impact, using his experience and feedback to help continuously improve the company’s engagement model.

Before joining his current employer, Arbaugh was the vice president of professional services at Informatica. He started with the company in 1999 as a senior consultant performing onsite implementations to solve the customer’s business problems and gradually moved up the ranks. Before he left the company, he was leading its entire professional services group.

Arbaugh earned his bachelor’s degree in systems engineering from the University of Virginia.

Sean Messner, Vice President of Digital Operations and IT Modernization at ASRC Federal

Sean Messner is the vice president of digital operations and information technology modernization at government contractor ASRC Federal. He specializes in enterprise transformation, IT operations and IT investment alignment.

In his current leadership role, he established and led the Digital Operations and IT Modernization Center of Excellence. This organization is composed of 8,000 employees who provide engineering, digital transformation, software development, logistics and operations and maintenance support services within and outside the U.S.

Messner also develops IT solutions for new business opportunities and engages in industry vendor partner programs to work on solutions to drive growth, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The industry veteran was the senior director of digital operations and IT solutions before taking on his current position. He started with the company in 2017 as an IT program director, a role he held for three years.

Messner was a senior IT program manager at the U.S. Department of Agriculture before joining ASRC. In this position, he led IT programs in support of multiple federal agencies. He also implemented new processes to improve underperforming programs.

Other leadership roles that Messner held are program manager at nonprofit organization SourceAmerica and IT leader and detective at the Baltimore Police Department.

Messner holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Baltimore.

ASRC Federal offers digital operations, IT modernization, software, engineering solutions, professional services and infrastructure operations services to various government clients, including those in the defense, intelligence, national security and health sectors. It is headquartered in Laurel, Maryland, and has multiple offices across the U.S.

Jim Hurley, Global Executive of Digital Transformation at KPMG International

Jim Hurley is the global executive of digital transformation for the infrastructure, government and health care sectors at KPMG International, working out of McLean, Virginia. He is a “skilled strategic and analytical thinker” with success in leading large consulting engagements, enterprise resource planning implementation, business process reengineering and building models to mitigate risk, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Hurley has over 10 years of professional experience in project management, finance transformation consulting and business operations. He has led projects to strengthen both federal and commercial clients’ finance operations and business applications by focusing on key priorities such as strategic decision support, efficient operations and strategic growth, his profile states.

Hurley joined KPMG International in August 2021. His current role sees him serving as a project manager on an advisory deal for a large Department of Defense client. He brings to the table his accreditations as a certified project management professional, certified information systems auditor, certified government financial manager and certified defense financial manager.

Previously, Hurley worked as a manager at the federal financial consulting practice of KPMG’s United States subsidiary. For almost seven years, he supported both federal and commercial clients in strengthening their finance operations.

Before joining KPMG, Hurley was a project manager leading ERP implementation projects at auditing firm Deloitte. In that role, he oversaw ERP implementation, business process mapping and optimization, and internal audit initiatives.

Hurley earned his Master in Business Administration degree from Iona College.

ABOUT POTOMAC OFFICERS CLUB

The Potomac Officers Club is owned and operated by Executive Mosaic. Since 2002, Executive Mosaic has been a leader in media and exclusive senior executive networking programs primarily targeted to the U.S. federal government contracting (GovCon) marketplace. In addition to connecting executives of consequence into a fabric of like minded communities, the company’s growing cross-media platform serves as a leading source of news about the people, policies, trends and events shaping the nation’s GovCon sector.

Category: Executive Profiles