Mastering change in a world that won’t stay still
When you’re in a field that reinvents itself daily, mastering every nuance becomes a beautiful impossibility.
Embracing this is the only way to thrive in the world of technology, said Luke Collins, Brazos River Authority chief technology officer. On a regular basis, he works on a problem, a program, or a project that he’s never done before because it didn’t exist before. Technology rewards adaptability. This is part of what makes it so enticing.
“I cannot know everything,” Collins said. “Intimidation prevents a lot of people from moving forward. They find their niche and stick to it. But it’s all about removing your ego and your fear that, ‘I’m not going to be completely comfortable with this, but I must soldier on,’ because that’s the nature of our industry.”
BRA General Manager/CEO David Collinsworth said that, honestly, there’s one perfect word to describe having Collins on board.
“Blessed, the BRA is simply blessed to have Luke,” Collinsworth said. “Luke has vision, and that vision has allowed him to influence and advance the BRA. He is changing how we work and how we see the future of the water industry. Yes, from a technology perspective, but also from a global business perspective.”
Artificial Intelligence, more commonly referred to as AI, is the next big hurdle in overseeing a company’s cybersecurity. It should make people’s jobs easier, save people time, and raise the standard of living as a supplement, not a replacement, Collins said.
Yet this powerful tool can also embolden would-be hackers, offering them new ways to outsmart systems, Collins said. AI isn’t going anywhere, so the goal is to ensure everyone is safe and strategic with its use. Part of that is ensuring the Brazos River Authority assesses vulnerabilities, develops robust security protocols, and offers employee training to foster a cybersecurity-conscious work environment.
Traditionally, critical infrastructure was not a target for hackers, he said. They were focused on hospitals and banks. But then they started to look at the government, he said. All of a sudden, you started hearing stories about people hacking water treatment or supply operations to turn water off or increase chlorine levels, Collins said. As an organization that treats water and wastewater and operates three dams, the BRA must maintain highly sophisticated cybersecurity tools.
For Collins, that adventure began in 2020, when he left the private sector to join the BRA. Collins, who received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems from Baylor University, said he was seeking a new challenge and wanted a role that made a difference in the world. Working for an organization that develops, manages, and protects water in the Brazos River Basin met that mark. He had been a systems engineer and co-founder of Katana Global Technologies in Houston, training clients in cybersecurity awareness, security mitigation, and prevention. He also served as system administrator for Data Stream Technologies.
He started with the BRA as a cybersecurity administrator, a role that at the time was under the security department. He began developing the BRA’s security protocols alongside Information Technology. He set up email policies to help with spam and audited firewalls and networks. And he saw the need to move BRA employees to a multifactor authentication system. Edward Stern, IT infrastructure manager, was the mastermind who got that in place, Collins said. When he was hired, Collins was the BRA’s only cybersecurity person. Since that time, the team has expanded to include two people dedicated solely to keeping the BRA’s technology and use safe.
Though he wasn’t looking to move into a new role, he was approached, he believes, because of the work he began when first employed by the BRA. He moved into his current position in 2022.
Most people only think of the help desk when they think of IT, Collins said. But he oversees several divisions within information technology at the BRA: cybersecurity, infrastructure, software development, software and project administration, Geographic Information System, security, and, of course, the help desk.
The goal? Make technology work for the BRA.
“I want to increase our efficiency while making us as secure as possible,” Collins said. “I want to make people’s lives better. I want them to see technology as a tool, not as something that slows them down.”
The move to a hybrid workforce after the COVID-19 pandemic, not just at the BRA, but across the country, created a major challenge for the department as it revolutionized how everyone does business, Collins said. Suddenly, someone was hosting a meeting in a conference room, connecting with people virtually, who all use different applications. An infinite number of combinations to run a meeting became available. Collins said they were pitched a large number of ideas, programs, and software from contractors and vendors to make the system work best for the BRA. It took some work, but the BRA ultimately rolled out a system that cut costs to half of what they originally anticipated. Now, employees can easily create secure hybrid meetings in BRA conference rooms to present information or speak with people across the basin.
Some meetings, however, require stricter protocols. There are strict rules and regulations involved in hosting meetings for the BRA Board of Directors and their committee meetings. Individual mics are required; meetings must be recorded in multiple ways; people must be able to present information; and those meetings must be posted online for everyone to access. When the BRA moved board meetings to every other month, it significantly increased that workload.
“The Board room sits so uniquely from the rest of the system,” Collins said. “It has its own dedicated server room. We spend a lot of time optimizing that system to make it fairly simple for people to run the meetings. At the end of the day, it’s a complex, but secure, room.”
Collins said most employees likely didn’t realize how many issues the old system was having because so much of the IT work is done behind the scenes.
The two biggest challenges he faced when he took over the department were its ballooning budget and the slow pace at which it kept up with advanced technology and security. He said they’ve saved upward of $3 million just by migrating some of the system to the Cloud, and that was just one of the changes he implemented.
Software auditing is next on the list. Collins said he plans to review all the software used by the BRA to assess how much of each system is used, the benefits they provide, and whether those factors warrant the cost of each system.
Upon reviewing everything upon his arrival, he set the team to rebuild all of the BRA’s websites and applications, redo the networks, remove old technology, upgrade everyone’s circuits, and get everyone backed up.
“We have a much more stable network. We don’t have outages anymore. We just don't. The last outage we had was at Lake Limestone two years ago. There was a severe storm, and the cellular towers were being struck repeatedly by lightning, which took everything offline. Even then, we got it back up in 24 hours. Ed drove through a flood to get there and get it back up and running. We have a great team. When I tell you there was an outage every other month before that, we just don't have them now. It’s gotten to a point where people forget we exist. The things people are calling the help desk about are like for printer problems.”
Collins said he’s thankful the organization is open to exploring new technologies. And since taking the management role, he’s been brought in on conversations with other managers and General Manager/CEO David Collinsworth about the future. And that has been a privilege.
Collins didn’t just stumble into his career path. He took the scenic route, changing his major at college five times. His spark ignited at home when he started hacking his wireless router to boost its speed and range, that he found his interest.
But ultimately, it comes back to service.
“It’s why I was interested in applying here,” he said. I really wanted to work for the government. I really wanted to feel good about what I was doing. I wanted to be able to give back a little and feel like I’m making a difference in the world.”
For Collins, technology and giving back aren’t just a career but a passion he carries into his free time.
Deeply committed to his community, Collins spends a significant portion of his free time volunteering. When he’s not doing that, he pours himself into music production. Bypassing the trendy wave of AI-generated music, Collins uses technology to create a tune. He built his own home studio equipped with hardware drum machines and synthesizers, where he loses himself in the blend of technology and rhythm.
Collins also deeply enjoys traveling with his wife of 12 years, Lisa Martin.