The Senate has confirmed Kirsten Davies, a technology and cybersecurity leader, as the Department of War’s chief information officer.
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DefenseScoop reported that the upper chamber on Thursday voted 53-43 to confirm Davies for the CIO role. Her nomination was part of a broader slate of federal government nominees approved en bloc by the Senate.
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What Are Kirsten Davies’ Top Priorities as Pentagon CIO?
During her Senate confirmation hearing, Davies said her priorities would include addressing the “tech debt” at DOW; working with other officials to “embed the building blocks of AI supporting data supremacy and decision dominance” for the U.S. military, allies and partners; and advancing a new generation of cyber partnerships with industry, according to DefenseScoop.
President Trump nominated Davies for the position in May.
With her confirmation, Davies will assume responsibilities from Katie Arrington, who currently performs the duties of the DOD CIO. Arrington is a former South Carolina state lawmaker and a previous Wash100 awardee.
Who Is Kirsten Davies?
According to her LinkedIn profile, Davies served as chief information security officer at Unilever. Prior to that, she was senior vice president and CISO at The Estee Lauder Companies.
Her industry career also includes roles as managing director and group chief security officer at Barclays; VP and deputy CISO at Hewlett-Packard; global deputy CISO at Siemens; and senior associate at Booz Allen Hamilton.
In addition to her corporate leadership experience, Davies is the founder and CEO of the Institute for Cyber, a nonprofit organization.
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