Jane Edwards
Executive Mosaic is honored to introduce Susan Wedge, IBM Consulting‘s managing partner, U.S. federal market, as an inductee into the 2024 Wash100 — an annual list of public and private sector leaders who are at the forefront of trends and events shaping the government contracting activity.
Vote for Wedge as your favorite GovCon leader as part of the 2024 Wash100 popular vote competition! Voting closes on April 30, so visit Wash100.com to cast your ten votes today.
This year marks Wedge’s first Wash100 win, recognizing her efforts in advancing the delivery of innovative technology platforms to public sector customers.
“Susan is a newcomer to our Wash100 list this year, but she is already popular with the GovCon community, making a record-setting jump from the starting line into first place in the popular voting and presently holding on to a hotly contested second place position as of this writing,” remarked Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic and founder of the Wash100 Award. “Susan follows a long line of accomplished and recognized IBM predecessors and has long been a linchpin of IBM’s public sector offerings working alongside many other Wash100 winners. Leading a $2.2 billion portfolio, Susan is a tier one executive and is a driving force in IBM’s mission to deliver innovative technology solutions to government customers. We gladly welcome Susan to the 2024 Wash100 list, and we eagerly anticipate her continued impacts across IBM and the broader GovCon market.”
IBM is committed to building and deploying responsible artificial intelligence tools as it sees an opportunity for AI-based innovation to help government employees make better data-driven decisions.
In a video interview with Federal News Network, Wedge highlighted the importance of understanding the data being used, how it is being used and the source of that data as organizations develop AI tools.
“AI has really been about pattern recognition,” said Wedge. “As we begin to also leverage generative AI, it’s becoming more about pattern and content creation.”
The IBM Consulting executive noted that AI could help make federal operations faster, better and cheaper.
“The most effective application of AI is that integrated workflow that goes from the end consumer of those missions or services all the way through, enabling the operations to be more effective and efficient,” said Wedge. “When I think about the concerns with AI, it really comes down to the ethical use of AI and having transparency around AI.”
In another video interview with FNN, she cited IBM’s AI-related work and how it helps the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Veterans Benefits Administration accelerate claims processing.
“At the same time, VA is seeing productivity benefits where they’ve been able to redeploy north of 500 claims specialists to higher-value work,” she said during the interview. “They’re spending their time on the most impactful tasks as it relates to veterans’ benefits.”
In July, IBM won a spot on the potential seven-year, $2.6 billion Enterprise Development Operations Services contract vehicle, allowing it to support the Internal Revenue Service’s information technology modernization effort.
“The IRS is arguably one of the federal agencies with the most direct and crucial touch points with the American public, and IBM is honored to continue helping its team provide the modern, efficient digital experience that taxpayers expect and deserve,” said Wedge. “This award underscores IBM’s deep understanding of the IRS’ current technology challenges and our company-wide commitment to its vital mission.”
In August, IBM announced that it secured Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program certification for its human resources shared services platform designed to support federal agencies – IBM Federal HR Cloud.
“Technology-enabled shared services delivery can help more federal agencies effectively and efficiently address many of their most pressing HR-related challenges including limited budgets, loss of skilled HR workers and lagging customer service,” remarked Wedge. “And now that our IBM Federal HR Cloud solution has received FedRAMP authorization, federal agencies can take advantage of the solution with the confidence that their HR data are secured and protected.”
IBM Consulting is pushing efforts to address microelectronics supply chain risks. In July, the Defense Microelectronics Activity issued the Trusted Supplier accreditation to the firm’s security services, which work to identify and remediate vulnerabilities in the microelectronics supply chain.
“Our national security, economy and even our way of life are at risk without adequate security and trust in microelectronics manufacturing,” said Wedge.
“It’s critical that microelectronics and related parts are manufactured in properly secured environments and available when and where they’re most needed. This additional accreditation is a demonstration of IBM Consulting’s commitment to continuous innovation in the delivery of security services that help safeguard the ongoing domestic supply of defense-critical microelectronics,” the federal market leader added.
In her current role, Wedge leads IBM Consulting’s U.S public and federal market, which is an over $2.2 billion portfolio supported by more than 4,000 U.S.-based consultants.
Since joining IBM in 2002, she has held roles of increasing responsibility including partners and head of the U.S. federal operational transformation practice, senior partner of the health and civilian aspect of the U.S. federal market business and senior consultant and program manager supporting an Intelligence Community customer.
Before IBM, she spent seven years at American Management Systems, where she served as consultant and senior principal and led financial planning initiatives in support of public sector clients.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Susan Wedge and IBM Consulting for their selection to receive the 2024 Wash100 Award. Don’t forget to vote for Wedge at Wash100.com to help her secure the top spot.
