Veteran technology executive Gary Leikin has joined GovOS as chief business officer.
Leikin told Industry Insider — California that he chose GovOS because he knows the company leaders and has admired the government services firm for years.
“We’ve known each other for years and had stayed in contact,” he said. “When I reconnected with them, it was just a perfect match. I think there’s just an absolutely huge opportunity for them to continue their path of growth.”
“In the U.S., they’ve got almost 1,000 customers between state and local, and they’re on the GovTech 100*,” he said. “I just couldn’t be more excited to join the team there. They, in my estimation, have the most comprehensive end-to-end solution for state and local government — everything from licensing to tax, administering short-term rentals for entire states. They’ve got robust records management capability, so it’s vital in state and local government. It just was an absolute no-brainer.”
Leikin had been chief executive officer for SimpliGov for the last five years, helping to drive its growth. SimpliGov is also a GovTech 100 company.
“For my next step, I really wanted to move to a larger company,” he said. “I was with a fairly large company before SimpliGov and wanted to move back into a larger company. GovOS, which has between 800 and 1,000 government clients, is absolutely on a tear, growing across state and local government nationwide. So that I think was the real move. I’ve always been a fan of the company, always been a fan of the platform, and so when it made sense to start looking for other opportunities, that was the clear choice for me.”
Leikin is a San Francisco resident and “an honorary Sacramento citizen,” he said, because of how much time he’s spent in the capital working with government clients.
In his new role, Leikin said, business development is a top priority — that “and looking for additional market opportunities for GovOS.”
In addition, the company announced this month that founder Michael Crosno has moved to the role of executive chairman, and Matt Coury has been named CEO and president. In the announcement, Coury says: “This is a great time to be joining GovOS. The momentum and excitement around what we are doing is very real and something we want prospective team members to be aware of. The energy our teams bring each day fuels the evolution of where we are going as a company, and we are looking for great people to join us on this exciting journey.”
Leikin said it was that appetite for growth that drew him.
“To use your own figures, there are 80,000 states, cities, counties and municipalities in the U.S., and with nearly 1,000 [clients], there’s still a lot of green space,” Leikin told Industry Insider. “I think when you have a solution that’s ready to go, like GovOS, there’s a lot of opportunity — not just for the West, but for the market. There’s so much digitization that can still happen. So just prioritizing new market opportunities and really helping drive growth within the company is my No. 1 goal. Chief business officer is sort of a holistic role where there’s some element of corporate development, business development, aligning strategies with market opportunities. But in the end, it’s just looking at ways to help speed growth.”
Before his affiliation with SimpliGov, Leikin served as global vice president for Frost & Sullivan, where he led global strategic advisory teams that worked with governments as well as clients ranging from early-stage ventures to Fortune 500, as well as investment firms.
Leikin holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Master of Business Administration from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He has also been a contributor to Industry Insider — California.
*The GovTech 100 is compiled and published by Government Technology, Industry Insider — California’s sister publication.
