Radha Plumb, currently deputy under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, will take on the role of chief digital and artificial intelligence officer at the Department of Defense on April 8.
She will succeed 2024 Wash100 awardee Craig Martell, who has served as the inaugural CDAO since 2022.
“Plumb’s technical expertise and strategic acumen will enhance the CDAO’s innovative efforts, and help accelerate the DoD’s adoption of data, analytics, and AI to generate decision advantage from the boardroom to the battlefield,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement published Thursday.
Austin, a three-time Wash100 awardee, commended Martell for his contributions advancing data and AI at DOD.
“Craig and the entire CDAO team had a monumental task of bringing together the diverse talents and cultures of four organizations to advance data, AI, and analytics for our national security, and deliver tangible results in a short time,” the secretary said. “Dr. Martell and the CDAO team have delivered on those goals and his work will have a lasting impact on how the Department approaches every data and AI driven task.”
In April 2023, Plumb received Senate confirmation to serve as deputy under secretary for acquisition and sustainment at the Pentagon.
Plumb previously served as chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense.
Prior to DOD, she was director of research and insights for trust and safety at Google with oversight of teams responsible for technical research, data science and business analytics.
She held senior staff positions at the White House National Security Council, DOD and the Department of Energy and was a senior economist at RAND Corp. and global head of policy analysis at Facebook.
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