The Department of War has appointed Gavin Kliger, a former Databricks technical staff member, as chief data officer to help oversee and execute DOW’s artificial intelligence initiatives.
Attend Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 18 to hear from Kliger’s new collaborator in AI innovation at DOW, Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer Cameron Stanley. Register today to secure your spot and join fellow leaders for this timely discussion.
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How Will Kliger Oversee DOW’s AI Strategy?
In a post on X published Friday, DOW said Kliger will focus on aligning and managing the day-to-day execution of the department’s AI initiatives while working with frontier AI labs to support military operations.
He will also help ensure AI projects maintain strategic direction, secure access to critical defense data and accelerate the delivery of advanced capabilities to warfighters.
Kliger said the U.S. is in global competition for military AI leadership and must build on its current capabilities to maintain an advantage over potential adversaries.
“My mission is to integrate the unparalleled innovation of America’s private sector with the Department’s operational expertise to rapidly deliver advanced AI capabilities to our warfighters. By driving pace-setting projects with wartime urgency, we will ensure cutting-edge technology translates into decisive battlefield advantages for the United States,” he added.
In January, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, a 2026 Wash100 winner, issued a memorandum to establish a departmentwide strategy to accelerate AI adoption and experimentation.
Who Is Gavin Kliger?
According to the DOW post, Kliger most recently served on Hegseth’s DOGE DOW team, where he helped launch the department’s enterprise AI platform, GenAI.mil. He also contributed to the department’s Drone Dominance program.
Before joining the Pentagon, he was a senior adviser to the director for technology and delivery at the Office of Personnel Management, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The University of California, Berkeley graduate previously served as a senior software engineer at Databricks.
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