The Future of AI in New York Government Session
Meet the Panelists
Panelist
Germain Difo
Deputy Commissioner for Strategic Initiatives
Office of General Services
Germain Difo leads the development of OGS' strategic direction, manages the development and implementation of the agency's strategic plan, and facilitates major initiatives across divisions to advance strategic priorities. Germain joined OGS from the NYC Department of Buildings, where he served as Executive Director for Risk Management. In that capacity, Germain built a comprehensive, agency-wide risk management program for the agency, which regulates the safe and lawful use of more than 1 million buildings and over 40,000 active construction sites under its jurisdiction. He created and headed the Department of Building's first-ever risk analysis and compliance unit, a team of analysts that performs in-depth subject matter research and statistical analysis on Building Department data to proactively identify internal control gaps and vulnerabilities. He also served as the chief policy advisor to the Commissioner on matters related to internal control monitoring, compliance with internal and external regulations and mandates, and risk mitigation policy and program development. Germain's career has spanned investigative review, risk, oversight, and policy analysis at the NYC Department of Correction, American Security Project, and NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board. Germain received his BA from the University of Chicago and his MA from Georgetown University.
Panelist
G. Brian Burke
Managing Director
State University of New York (SUNY) Albany Center for Technology in Government
G. Brian Burke is managing director at the Center for Technology in Government at the University at Albany (CTG). Brian joined CTG in 2003 as a program associate after working as a contractor in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense and serving as an officer in the United States Air Force. Currently he is responsible for operational support of CTG's mission and the strategic goals of the University at Albany. Brian also develops and leads CTG’s applied research projects. He collaborates with researchers and students and partners with governments at all levels to help develop policies, management practices, and apply information and communication technologies to help improve government performance and public services.
Panelist
Eleonore Fournier-Tombs
Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer
NYS Office of Information Technology Services
Dr. Fournier-Tombs brings more than 15 years of global AI, data governance, technology innovation and digital transformation experience to this important role. Most recently, she served as Head of Anticipatory Action and Innovation and Senior Researcher for United Nations University, where she founded and led the UN’s first AI policy research lab and directed governance and lifecycle management of predictive analytics and AI systems to support crisis forecasting.
Panelist
Jenson Jacob
Acting Chief Information Officer
NYS Office of Information Technology Services
In September 2026, Jenson Jacob was named Acting Chief Information Officer for the NYS Office of Information Technology Services (ITS).
Prior to that, he served as the agency’s Executive Deputy Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Transformation Officer. Jenson brings more than 25 years of IT experience working on both private and public sector initiatives that included building a digital strategy using disruptive and enterprise technologies and overseeing an innovation journey across applications and services.
Prior to joining ITS in 2011, Jenson worked for Unisys and HCL Technologies where he served as an enterprise solution and services architect building customer-centric products. Earlier in his career at ITS, he served as the Deputy Chief Technology Officer overseeing business application development for more than 57 executive agency clients as well as managing an 1,800+ strong workforce delivering mission critical services for New Yorkers. In his spare time, he serves as an Adjunct Professor at the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY), where he teaches data computing, networking and cloud computing to undergraduate students. Jenson holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Mumbai in India.