AVP at Kennedy Krieger Institute | How a Healthcare Nonprofit Is Getting AI Right

What does it take to lead a 30-person digital transformation team inside one of America's most respected pediatric health nonprofits — and do it almost entirely remotely? Tara Eckert, Assistant Vice President of Digital Transformation at Kennedy Krieger Institute, joins Tech Teams Today for a candid conversation on building high-performing teams, navigating AI responsibly, and what engineering leadership actually requires in 2026. From building a PMO from scratch to her viral take on remote accountability, Tara brings a grounded, no-fluff perspective that challenges how a lot of leaders think about their teams.

*What you'll learn:*
- Why remote work performance problems are a leadership problem, not an employee problem
- How Tara built a PMO that turned a scrappy data team into a full engineering org of 30 — mostly remote, many out of state
- The "peer supporter" model: why she pairs battle-scarred senior devs with AI-native junior devs on every project
- What the AI hiring arms race actually looks like in practice — and how she uses AI to screen AI-generated resumes
- Why critical thinking, not prompt engineering, is the skill that will matter most as AI matures
- How AI gave her back enough time to get her hands back into technical work — and why she thinks that makes her a better leader
- The biggest mistake engineering leaders are making with AI rollouts (she admits she's making it too)
- Her take on the AI trust gap: "I don't care if it was AI or Bugs Bunny that generated the code. If it passes the tests, I trust it."

*About the guest:*
Tara Eckert is the Assistant Vice President of Digital Transformation at Kennedy Krieger Institute, a world-renowned nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of children and young adults with developmental disabilities. Over her seven years at Kennedy Krieger, she's grown her team from 4 to 30 people, built the organization's first PMO, and is now leading the charge on responsible AI adoption — including chairing the organization's Data Use and Security Committee.

*About Tech Teams Today:*