Almost two months ago, Michael Wons, a government technology veteran who was the chief technology officer for Illinois, took over as CEO.
His priorities include boosting growth, further development of the company’s technology and embracing data intelligence and artificial intelligence — reflecting a larger trend of AI being used to expand access to government and other services for people with disabilities, or who are neurodivergent.
The company works to “leverage AI to improve workflow,” Wons told Government Technology. “Case management is one of the top gaps in government that has not been modernized.”
Wons said he didn’t have much history working with the neurodivergent population before joining Libera, which has been in business about 30 years and is backed by Tideshift Capital Group, a private equity firm. But his executive experience with public-sector payment services firm PayIt and other gov tech operations convinced Libera’s investors that he was right for the job.
“Mike’s capabilities and past leadership success in leveraging product innovation and developing high-performing sales teams at scale for private, public and not-for-profit enterprise companies aligns well with our investment thesis,” said Himanshu Gandhi, co-founder and managing partner at Tideshift Capital Group, in a statement.
Much of Wons’ attention since taking over as CEO has focused on one of Libera’s newest offerings: The Amazon Web Services-based inFormed, a mobile-first case management platform that offers federal compliance services, advanced analytics, workflow automation, real-time service tracking and other features.
Four states — Michigan, New York, Rhode Island and Wyoming — are using inFormed, and Arizona and Washington, D.C., are about to start, Wons said.
“Being cloud-based enables many key items,” he said. “You have one code base [and] no more custom, one-off systems that create tech debt in the future.”
Not only that, but if one state decides to add features and functions, he said, other states can benefit without incurring additional costs.
“This is the key to government innovation — better solutions for government workers and better serving of our constituents,” Wons said.
