Vikas Sharma: turning strategy into confident delivery

Public sector organisations are under increasing pressure to turn ambitious strategies into measurable outcomes while navigating changing technology, workforce expectations and governance requirements.

Vikas Sharma is part of RPS’ Management Consulting leadership team in Canberra and has more than 15 years of experience across management consulting and technology advisory. He specialises in strategy planning, enterprise portfolio management office (EPMO) advisory, risk management and governance.

In this Q&A, Vikas explores why alignment is often the missing link between strategy and delivery, what effective capability uplift looks like in practice, why people and culture matter as much as frameworks, and how emerging priorities such as responsible AI are shaping the future of delivery.

Q: What are you seeing across the public sector as organisations respond to priorities such as AI, data uplift and transformation?

It’s a pivotal time for the public sector. With increasing focus on responsible AI, data uplift and transformation, organisations are being asked to modernise systems and ways of working while also bringing their people along on the journey.

Capability uplift and co-design are particularly important. Big shifts such as AI-enabled governance need to be introduced in a way that builds confidence rather than anxiety.

The technology matters, but so does how organisations approach the change around it. Bringing people into the process early and helping them understand the purpose behind the change is critical.

Q: As someone who specialises in Enterprise Portfolio Management Offices, what does effective EPMO advisory mean in practical terms?

In short, it’s about making “strategy to delivery” actually work in practice.

A strong EPMO gives leaders confidence: clear priorities, clear decisions and clear visibility of what’s working and what isn’t.

For me, practical EPMO advisory means designing systems and processes where people trust the data, trust the governance model and trust each other. And now with AI in the mix, that matters more than ever.

Q: Where do organisations typically face challenges moving from strategy to delivery, and how can they close the gap?

In my experience, most organisations don’t struggle with ideas; they struggle with alignment.

Usually, the gap shows up in prioritisation, ownership, governance discipline and team capability. AI adds another wrinkle: teams feel pressure to “do something with AI”, but without clarity, that can create confusion or siloed experiments.

My approach is to anchor everything in transparency and shared purpose. Leaders need to set clear priorities, design governance that encourages disciplined decision-making and invest in the capability of their teams.

Getting everyone on the journey is the real unlock.

Q: You’ve designed and embedded EPMOs and operating models across complex organisations. What makes these models last?

Three things: ownership, culture and continual advocacy.

Fancy frameworks don’t survive unless the people using them feel they helped shape them. Co-design is everything.

And then there’s culture. This means transparency, accountability and a shared idea of what “good” looks like. When leaders reinforce it and teams see value in it, the model becomes part of how the organisation works, not just a document on a shared drive.

Finally, leadership needs to advocate for the EPMO and ensure it is empowered to engage and report independently and impartially across the portfolio. That empowerment helps uncover the gaps and insights senior leaders need and expect to hear.

Q: In your experience, how do culture, coaching and leadership contribute to successful governance and delivery outcomes?

Governance is ultimately about people.

You can design a perfect model, but if leaders aren’t consistent or teams don’t feel confident, it falls apart fast.

Coaching plays a huge role. It builds confidence. Culture builds trust. Leadership creates the psychological safety people need to try new tools like AI without fear of judgement or job insecurity.

I’ve seen teams transform simply because someone took the time to support them, give context and help them build confidence. When leadership sets the tone and culture backs it up, governance becomes a natural part of delivery, not a chore.

Q: How do you approach capability uplift across multidisciplinary teams?

I keep it simple: capability uplift has to be done with people, not to them.

My approach is to demystify whatever is changing, whether it’s a new technology, a new process or a change in strategic direction. The focus should be on the ‘why’, the practical use cases and embedding uplift into real delivery work rather than relying solely on theoretical training.

When teams understand the benefits, feel supported and see early wins, they move from anxiety to curiosity. And once curiosity kicks in, uplift becomes more self-sustaining.

Every organisation has its own language, so I focus on collaboratively developing practical frameworks and approaches, coaching teams through real problems rather than just symptoms, and building confidence over time.

The goal is always the same: help people feel more capable at the end than they did at the start.

Q: What should public sector organisations look for when undertaking complex transformation?

A mix of deep experience and a grounded, hands-on approach is important.

Transformation needs to reflect how public sector teams actually work. Trust, integrity and humility matter because they create the conditions for genuine conversations about what an organisation needs, what it can realistically absorb and how capability can be built over time.

It is also important to bring together the right mix of expertise. Complex government challenges increasingly cut across strategy, digital, data, people, governance and delivery, so the ability to connect those perspectives can make a significant difference.

Q: What industry trends are shaping the future of EPMO and program management?

A few big shifts stand out.

First, organisations want insights, not just reporting. They want real-time data that actually helps them make decisions.

Second, PMOs are shifting from data collectors to insight engines. AI is expected to accelerate analysis, but at the end of the day, people still need to interpret what that information means in the context of the organisation and the decisions being made.

Third, there’s a clear move towards lighter governance and stronger capability uplift. Organisations are investing as much in culture and capability as they are in systems.

Lastly, there is a broader shift towards human-centred transformation. Fear can be one of the biggest barriers to adoption. Organisations that engage early, communicate the ‘why’, have patience and bring people along are better placed to avoid many of the pitfalls that can affect large transformations.

Q: Quickfire question: what is one habit that keeps programs on track, and one pitfall leaders should avoid?

Habit: Ruthless clarity on priorities, owners and decisions. Without context and clarity, people fill the gaps with fear and resistance.

Pitfall: Assuming silence means agreement. If no one is asking questions or providing comments, take a step back and dig deeper or frame your position differently.

Q: For organisations looking to strengthen governance or delivery capability, where should they start?

Start with transparency.

If you don’t have a clear picture of your portfolio, risks or capacity, everything else becomes guesswork.

From there, focus on prioritisation, disciplined decision-making and building capability within your teams. When those foundations are strong, everything else, including budgeting, resourcing and risk management, falls into place much more naturally.

Interested in discussing these challenges further?

Connect with RPS Director – Management Consulting Vikas Sharma to continue the conversation.