Leadership Spotlight: Saeed Elnaj
Welcome to RELI Group’s Leadership Spotlight series! In this series, we’ll delve into the background, passions and philosophies of some of Team RELI’s best and brightest minds. Each post includes the same five questions, offering a comprehensive glimpse into the folks that make RELI great.
In today’s Leadership Spotlight, meet Saeed Elnaj, RELI Group’s Chief Innovation Officer. Saeed brings 30 years of experience translating business strategies into digital solutions and leading transformative technology initiatives. Prior to joining RELI Group, he served as a Senior Customer Success Manager at Amazon Web Services. As CIO, Saeed draws on his expertise in AI, cloud technologies, and operational efficiency to strengthen RELI’s digital capabilities and support mission-driven innovation.
Can you share a pivotal moment in your career that influenced your path in public sector consulting?
Early in my career, I worked on a transformative project for the General Services Administration (GSA) involving their Public Buildings Service. At the time, their leasing process was entirely manual, time-consuming and error-prone. My team and I proposed an automated workflow solution built on a workflow engine and a rule engine—years before AI was mainstream. Within 18 months, we developed and deployed a digital system that solved a major business challenge and is still in use today, over two decades later. That experience showed me how powerful technology can be in modernizing government systems and set the course for my journey in public sector innovation.
What drives your passion for working in government contracting?
Government challenges are often massive and complex—and that’s exactly what excites me. There’s a real opportunity to apply emerging technologies to make meaningful impact. Whether it’s improving efficiencies, reducing manual burden or enhancing decision-making, innovation in this space can directly improve people’s lives.
How do you approach leadership and team building?
To me, leadership is what happens when you’re not in the room. My goal is to empower my team with clarity—where we’re headed, what success looks like and how we plan to get there. I’m big on alignment across teams and open communication at all levels. I also believe in trust and verification: I work with a highly capable team, and I trust them to lead, but we also check in regularly to ensure we’re progressing toward our goals. It’s about fostering a culture where accountability, collaboration and transparency drive results.
What innovations or trends in the public sector excite you the most?
Generative AI is at the top of the list—especially in healthcare. We’re already implementing GenAI solutions that help with medical record reviews, code validation and documentation. These tools are dramatically increasing productivity and accuracy while reducing costs. For instance, at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Blue Button data platform holds information for over 60 million Americans. That data, when combined with the right AI tools, holds the potential to simultaneously reduce healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes. It’s a real opportunity to revolutionize healthcare delivery and outcomes—not just a vision, but something we’re seeing happen in real time. Solving high-impact problems like that is what keeps me motivated, and it’s incredibly energizing to be part of that transformation.
Can you discuss a project or initiative you’re particularly proud of?
One of the most impactful projects I’ve been part of was contributing to the first-ever mapping of the human genome. It was an ambitious and highly complex effort that originally had a five-year timeline—but thanks to the dedication of a large and talented team, we completed it in three. Back then, sequencing the human genome cost billions and required massive processing power. Today, that same process can be done for a few hundred dollars. Knowing that I played a part in a project that changed the future of medicine and biotechnology is something I’ll always be proud of.
