Technology company SambaNova Systems has added Retired Colonel Douglas Drakeley, formerly of the Department of Defense Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, to its advisory board.

In his board position, Drakeley will lend knowledge from a diverse, nearly 40-year career in military, hardware and finance, among others, to assist SambaNova with AI and machine learning efforts, the company said in a LinkedIn post on February 19.

Drakeley shared his anticipation for the new opportunity, adding, “Data sets and AI workloads continue to grow in size and complexity. At the same time, they are becoming more important to mission success.”

The retired Colonel feels SambaNova is uniquely equipped to tackle AI and machine learning challenges and thus aid in decision-making practices.

After working for companies such as Microsoft, DST Systems and InfoPros, Drakeley spent 10 years at the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command, where he was director of intelligence. In this position, he notched an achievement as commander of the first intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance group in the AFRC.

In addition, Drakeley oversaw the introduction and intensification of AI throughout the DoD in his most recent job as industry outreach officer for the JAIC. There he liaised with businesses in Silicon Valley in order to help them make inroads in the DoD.

Drakeley has also worked in the manufacturing, telecommunications and broadband industries and is proficient in sales and customer satisfaction. As of February 2022, he is a chief coach at administration development company Always Be Leadership.

SambaNova has announced a wave of new appointments over the last eight months, including Matt Taylor as vice president of strategic sales and partnerships, Prabhdeep Singh as vice president of software development and Poonacha Kongetira as vice president of hardware in September 2021.

Amy Love also joined the company in the newly created role of chief marketing officer and Wade Sheen was appointed an advisory board member, both in July 2021.

The company released a study in January 2022 that, after polling 600 AI professionals, forecasts AI and machine learning as major revenue drivers for the calendar year.

Robert Califf, who served as commissioner of the Food and Drugs Administration from February 2016 to January 2017, officially returned to the agency Thursday as its top official after serving as head of medical strategy at Google’s parent company Alphabet.

The prominent cardiologist was nominated by President Biden to the FDA leadership post in November 2021 and confirmed by the Senate on Feb. 15 through a 50-46 vote.

“The FDA is one of our nation’s most critical public health agencies and having a commissioner with Dr. Califf’s experience and expertise will ensure we are well positioned to combat COVID-19, the opioid crisis, and many other public health challenges,” Xavier Becerra, HHS secretary and previous Wash100 Award recipient, said in a statement released Thursday.

Califf initially led the agency under the Obama administration and was the agency’s deputy commissioner of medical products and tobacco before his promotion.

He joined Alphabet in November 2019 from his prior role as vice chancellor for clinical and translational research at Duke University, where he also taught medicine as an adjunct professor.

A clinical trial specialist, Califf has more than 1,300 biomedical science publications in the peer-reviewed literature.

Maj. Gen. Matt Easley, who most recently served as director of cybersecurity and chief information security officer at the U.S. Army, has taken on a new assignment as deputy principal information operations adviser at the Department of Defense.

Easley will work in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and advise Defense Secretary and 2022 Wash100 Award  recipient Lloyd Austin on IO-related matters.

Raj Iyer, CIO of the Army and a Wash100 awardee, announced Easley’s move in a LinkedIn post Tuesday.

“Matt has set us up on an awesome path to zero trust for both IT and Operational Technology. The Army’s FISMA scorecard under his leadership is the best across the entire DoD,” Iyer wrote.

Easley assumed the CISO role at the service branch in September 2020 and received promotion to the rank of major general in December of the same year.

He delivered a closing keynote address to the Potomac Officers Club’s “The Cost of AI” event on Nov. 9, 2021, and spoke about the challenges defense agencies face as they strive to implement enterprise-level, AI-based technology. Visit the POC Events page to hear his full speech on-demand.

Wayne Kinsel, a former civil engineer and commander with the U.S. Air Force, has joined Woolpert to lead its team responsible for designing aviation systems.

Kinsel brings to his new role experience in managing Air Force organizations, personnel and infrastructure worth more than $3.9 billion, and expertise in resource and facilities management, strategic planning and transportation, Woolpert said Tuesday.

The retired lieutenant colonel previously held top military roles at the squadron, group, major command, field operating agency and headquarters air staff levels, including as commander of the 628th Civil Engineer Squadron. He left the service branch in July.

A certified project management professional, Kinsel most recently worked as director of facilities and operations at Sylvania Schools in northwest Ohio.

“Wayne has held multiple project and people management roles throughout his outstanding career with the Air Force, where he excelled and inspired success at every level,” said Tom Less, Woolpert’s infrastructure discipline leader.