Pritzker says Illinois must stay 'somewhere in the ballpark' on incentives or companies won't even consider it. Instead of only writing checks, he offers a concierge to walk companies through permits, which he says cuts bureaucracy without lowering standards and protects state revenue. He says states are competing whether they like it or not.

Pritzker recalls that during COVID Illinois had no statewide system showing available hospital beds by region. His team worked 18-hour days, ran emergency procurement for masks and ventilators, and learned on the fly while building the response organization. He says hiring strong people proved essential.

Pritzker says he starts by asking which decisions only he can make, then forces debate before choosing. He describes himself as 90% sure he's right but 10% likely to be dead wrong, so he hires people stronger than him in areas he doesn't know. He wants input first.

Effective government requires more than just budget and staff ("capacity"). It needs "dynamic capabilities": the agility to pivot, collaborate effectively, and learn from experimentation. Most public sector reform misses this, focusing only on reactive, market-fixing roles rather than proactive, market-shaping ones.

The FDA previously operated as seven distinct centers, each with its own legal and communications teams. This extreme siloing created nightmares for developers of combination products and led to absurd inefficiencies, like employees being unable to email files between centers.

Pritzker says his AI cabinet pairs technical experts with agency leaders and includes emergency management and state police. The goal is to discuss privacy, safety and efficiency together, rather than chasing efficiency alone before the state understands AI's dangers. He deliberately avoids plunging headlong and says experts come from universities.

In siloed government environments, pushing for change fails. The effective strategy is to involve agency leaders directly in the process. By presenting data, establishing a common goal (serving the citizen), and giving them a voice in what gets built, they transition from roadblocks to champions.

Governor Pritzker reflects that his tenure has been defined by relentless crises, including budget emergencies, the COVID pandemic, a migrant crisis, and conflict with the federal government. He calculates that only eight months of his six and a half years in office were "precedented," highlighting that constant crisis management is the new reality for state leaders.

During a crisis, create a "mission control" with key agency partners. This "cabinet mentality" reframes the problem as a unified political campaign with a common enemy, fostering collective ownership and generating cross-disciplinary solutions.