#cio-turnover

#cio-turnover

One of the things that I'm hoping to do a better job on is getting people from the private sector-who've been in the private sector their whole career-who also spend a couple years in government at some point in their career, and learn something.

What we want to do is make sure that CIOs are fully empowered to be there at the beginning of conversations, that they are part of the formulation of budget and policy from liftoff.

Watching how much the team was able to get done quickly was "astonishing," said Mikey Dickerson, a senior advisor for the Tech Viaduct. Those behind Tech Viaduct say that Elon Musk's team caused harm that will take years to undo, but it also showed how much can get done in government when you have the force of political will behind you.

The post has been without a permanent official since former Deputy Federal CIO Drew Myklegard departed OMB last September, though the website for the CIO Council lists Jay Teitelbaum as holding the position in an acting capacity. Myklegard joined the White House office in January 2022 and was named acting deputy federal CIO that March. The agency then elevated him to the permanent role in October 2022.

Gottumukkala struggled to lead the agency during his tenure as acting director and caused security headaches, including the uploading of sensitive government documents to ChatGPT, according to reports. Staffing at the agency was slashed by one-third. Gottumukkala also reportedly failed a counterintelligence polygraph he took in order to view classified documents, and suspended several career officials in response, including the agency's then-chief security officer.

The role was flagged up last week by the Office of Management and Budget, which highlighted a $198,200-$228,000 salary for the Washington DC-based role. The successful candidate will manage "the Federal Information Technology (IT) portfolio by establishing policies and standards for the use of IT, overseeing agency budgeting and management of IT, and assessing agency information security and cybersecurity policies and practices." The listing is blunt about other aspects of the role.

Too often, IT professionals feel like "order takers" for business groups - told what systems to implement or troubleshoot instead of being asked how technology can solve bigger business problems. Making the leap from support tech to strategic advisor takes time. The people who do it well don't just focus on fixing issues, they learn the business, talk in plain language, focus on results instead of tasks, and look ahead to prevent problems rather than just reacting to them.

Only 38 percent have a dedicated budget for investing in AI development and are struggling to embed the tech into core business processes. Almost every executive surveyed claimed they are developing AI skills in their staff, but the report says most organizations rely on informal or ad hoc approaches such as mentorship or self‐directed online courses.