- Federal chief AI officers are quickly becoming some of the most powerful decision-makers in government
- These public servants are influencing compliance requirements, cloud standards and many more key technologies
- Hear directly from top federal chief AI officers like these at the 2026 Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 18!
Federal chief artificial intelligence officers are fast becoming some of the most influential decision-makers in government. They are shaping how AI is adopted, governed and scaled across federal agencies.
From the White House and intelligence community to civilian agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Treasury, these leaders are creating policy for responsible AI use while aggressively pushing mission-driven innovation. Their strategies influence everything from compliance requirements and cloud standards to workforce development, pilot programs and acquisition priorities.
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Why Do Chief AI Officers Matter for GovCons?
For GovCons, these officials matter because they define trusted, secure and deployable AI at the federal level. Understanding their priorities—risk management, transparency, data readiness and real-world impact—gives contractors a clearer view of where opportunities are emerging and how to align offerings with the government’s evolving AI agenda.
Let’s dive into the backgrounds of these top federal AI officers and how they’re defining technological excellence.
Note: This is part one of an ongoing series. Over the next couple of months, we’ll be sharing further iterations and will link to them here.
Be part of the federal AI conversation at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 18! Get the latest business opportunities directly from top federal officials and industry experts. Check out cutting-edge panel discussions including Integrating AI into Legacy Federal Systems: Architectural Patterns That Work and Does Your AI Play Well With Others? Position your GovCon firm organization for what’s next in federal AI. Secure your seat now!
Who Are the Top AI Officers in Government?
David Sacks
AI and Crypto Czar, White House
Sacks has been the leading influential force behind President Trump’s AI initiatives. He mostly wrote Trump’s December executive order limiting states from regulating AI, according to Politico.
Sacks in July said the White House’s AI Action Plan provided a path for the U.S. to lead the world in AI through global partnerships, innovation and infrastructure. Sacks has also advocated for a free market approach to federal funding for AI startups, CNBC reported.
Jeremy Walsh
Chief AI Officer, Food and Drug Administration
Walsh became the FDA’s first AI chief in 2025. He has more than 10 years of experience as a chief technologist at Booz Allen where he championed the development, production and delivery of revolutionary AI and cloud services for the healthcare industry, according to Chief Data Officer Magazine.
Walsh in 2025 coordinated a proactive timeline to internally scale use of AI in all FDA centers after a new generative AI pilot for scientific reviewers was completed. The GenAI tools allowed agency scientists and professionals to reduce time spent on manual tasks that often bogged down the review process.
Gregory Barbaccia
Federal CIO, Office of Management and Budget
Barbaccia serves as the federal chief information officer, supervising the integration of secure and reliable technology in the federal government. He won a coveted Wash100 Award in 2025, recognizing his excellence and innovation in serving both the public and private sectors.
He was part of an Office of Personnel Management effort in 2025 called Tech Force to better recruit premier technologists to the federal government and advance AI adoption. Barbaccia in May called on government CIOs to build trust by being transparent with colleagues, other federal agencies and the public.
Lakshmi Raman
AI Director, CIAs the CIA’s AI director, Raman is pioneering innovative AI use at the spy agency. She said in June that she’s excited about agentic AI, where agents take action for an operator, according to FedScoop.
Raman has been at the CIA for nearly 24 years, starting as a software developer. She’s led critical efforts in analytics, data science and intelligence integration across the intelligence community.
In a 2024 CIA podcast, Raman discussed how integrating large language models in generative AI was crucial to the agency’s open source mission. The CIA, she said, has a collection of AI professionals, engineers and data scientists helping the agency ensure its data is AI ready. It is also incorporating the technology into applications it uses regularly.
Scott Flanders
CIO, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Flanders became CIO with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2024 after serving as acting CIO and deputy CIO. As deputy CIO, he strategized and supervised the delivery of IT and information services critical to the NRC’s mission, according to OrangeSlices.ai.
Flanders in September developed an AI Compliance Plan for the NRC, with a goal of delivering trustworthy and compliant access to software tools. The plan specifically emphasizes utilizing enterprise-licensed services, FedRAMP-approved cloud environments and NRC-certified commercial AI properties.
AI is emerging as an essential capability across the federal government. Hear the newest requirements from top federal AI officials like these at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 18! Get your pressing questions answered during Q&A sessions. Spark collaborations with other GovCon titans and score that big contract. Don’t wait—buy your ticket today!
Helena Fu
Office of Critical and Emerging Technologies Director, Department of Energy
Fu is leading the DOE’s exploration of emerging technologies such as AI, biotechnology and quantum computing to fight national security threats and improve access to clean and affordable energy. She told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in September 2024 that the agency designed, developed and operates two of the world’s fastest super computers with a third in development.
This advancement in supercomputing capabilities has helped the DOE become the top producer of unclassified and classified scientific data, which propels AI models. Fu said the agency has been performing other advanced AI work including performing “red-teaming” exercises to examine how AI could be misused for chemical, biological and nuclear threats.
Paras Malik
Chief AI Officer, Department of Treasury
Malik joined the Department of Treasury in June to lead the agency’s strategic use of AI. Malik in September drafted an AI strategy that focused on AI use cases including financial detection and risk analysis. It also covers economic forecasting, market monitoring, and procurement spending and oversight.
As part of a focus on AI learning and risk management, the Department of Treasury has launched a small pilot of a secure AI-based chat service with a goal of helping staffers better learn the practical applications of AI tools across a variety of functions. For more challenging workloads, the agency’s AI Sandbox allows experimentation in more secure environments while allowing offices and divisions to test and evaluate AI systems.
Charles Worthington
Chief Technology Officer, Department of Veterans Affairs
Worthington is leading the VA’s effort to “capitalize” on AI to help it overcome hurdles in providing cost-effective and timely care. He told lawmakers in late 2025 that the VA was leveraging machine learning in workflows and in clinical operations for faster disease detection, according to FedScoop. Worthington said the VA is also utilizing AI to better find veterans at greater risk for suicide or drug overdoses.
Worthington sees other use cases for AI at the VA. These include imaging, decision support and natural language processing. The VA has issued research in the medical device realm on the usefulness of AI imaging. Known as GI Genius, the agency has integrated the capability at more than 100 facilities, according to Healthcare IT News.
Niki Maslin
Chief AI Officer, Environmental Protection Agency
Maslin in October authored both the EPA AI Compliance Plan and its AI Strategy. The Compliance Plan describes how the EPA will meet federal regulations for responsible AI use by improving governance, creating a yearly AI use case repository and delivering on risk management practices. The Compliance Plan rates EPA’s AI maturity level as a two out of five and has a goal of helping the agency eventually reach a level of three or four.
The EPA AI Strategy outlines an approach to broaden AI use in the agency by bolstering infrastructure and employee readiness with a big focus on risk management and compliance with federal rules. It details how the EPA plans to fill a few positions to create an agency-wide AI Digital Services Consulting Team, which will provide technical consulting and lead in the development and procurement of applied AI workforce learning systems.
Valerie Szczepanik
Chief AI Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission
Szczepanik is leading a newly-formed AI task force at the SEC to spur innovation and improve efficiency of the organization’s operations, Reuters reported in August. This unit will consolidate agency-wide efforts and encourage interdepartmental teamwork to navigate the AI lifecycle.
She was previously director of the SEC’s Strategic Innovation and Financial Technology Office. Szcepanik has also served as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
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