Educational program provides GovTech change agents with a practical system for shipping software inside government
TAMPA, Fla. – February 17, 2026 – Rise8 today announced the launch of Mission O/S, a free educational video series designed to help government teams break the cycle of delayed, underperforming software programs and start delivering mission-critical outcomes.
For decades, government software programs have consumed time, budget, and talent—yet too often failed to deliver meaningful capability into production. Not because people don’t care. Not because leaders lack urgency. But because the system rewards planning over delivery, compliance over capability, and activity over outcomes.
Now modernization mandates demand speed. Senior leaders are told to move faster, adopt commercial practices and technologies, and embrace AI without a blueprint for shipping secure, mission-ready software at scale.
Mission O/S is built for this moment.
In the Mission O/S series, Rise8 Founder and CEO, Bryon Kroger draws on firsthand experience working with broken government software, co-founding Kessel Run—the Department of War’s first software factory—and later applying those lessons across several programs with Rise8. The series breaks down why software delivery fails in government–and the conditions and executions required to make shipping possible.
“Too many critical missions fail because good people are trapped in a system that makes software delivery unnecessarily hard,” said Kroger. “With Mission O/S, we’re putting our playbook on the table–starting with what actually works inside existing government structures, and how change agents can make ship happen without burning themselves out.”
Episodes 1–4 are available today, with new episodes released every other week.
As part of Mission O/S, Rise8 hosts a bi-weekly series of live discussions, featuring Rise8 leaders and subject matter experts, exploring real-world challenges in GovTech — from acquisition and compliance to culture change and leadership. The sessions are informal, unscripted, and focused on what’s actually happening inside government programs today.
The first livestream will take place February 27 at 11:30 a.m. ET with a conversation between Bryon and Jennifer Pahlka, author of Recoding America.
Visit Rise8.us/resource/hub to begin the course or read more about Mission O/S.
About Rise8
Rise8 develops custom software for critical missions to make govtech work better and create a future where fewer bad things happen because of bad software. Rise8 is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) with headquarters in Tampa, FL, and a fully remote workforce. Learn more at https://www.rise8.us/ and on LinkedIn, and X.
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