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Private-Sector Cyber Leader Kirsten Davies Tapped to Lead DoD IT and Security
President Donald Trump has nominated Kirsten Davies to serve as CIO of the Department of Defense – a pivotal role in securing and modernizing the Pentagon’s sprawling digital infrastructure. The nomination was submitted to Congress last week and has been referred to the Committee on Armed Services for consideration.
If confirmed, Davies will become the principal IT adviser to the Secretary of Defense, tasked with overseeing “many national security and defense business systems, managing information resources, and finding efficiencies.” This includes not only the Pentagon’s IT services but also cybersecurity strategy, secure communications, defense business systems, spectrum management and network architecture.
From command-and-control communications in conflict zones to classified intelligence platforms, the DoD CIO is tasked with enforcing cybersecurity best practices while enabling innovation in emerging domains such as artificial intelligence, data science and space operations. It is a highly visible and politically sensitive position: senate-confirmed and often involved in budgetary oversight, vendor negotiations and crisis response.
Unlike many federal technology leaders, Davies has spent much of her career in the private sector, working across industries including manufacturing, finance, energy and telecom. She is the co-founder and CEO of Institute for Cyber, a non-profit for technology and digital safety. She has also worked as CISO at Unilever, The Estée Lauder Companies and Barclays. Davies has also advised on national policy as a member of the National Security Institute’s Cyber and Tech Security Council at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School.
“I’m grateful for the President’s nomination and humbled at the opportunity to serve my beloved country and the incredible men and women in uniform,” she posted on LinkedIn, confirming the nomination.
In a 2023 interaction with Information Security Media Group on the sidelines of the RSA Conference, Davies reflected on her leadership style, describing CISOs as “risk executives” who must be able to “translate very complex topics in the language that our business colleagues can understand.”
“As CISOs, we have an increasing responsibility to be engaging with our business colleagues. We are a business executive at the end of the day. So we must be able to engage on the risk discussions that are there, taking into consideration operations, markets, credit, technology footprints, digital footprints, data everywhere, all of these different types of things,” she said.
The shift from a civilian cybersecurity leader to one of the most consequential cyber governance roles in the U.S. federal government means Davies is expected to drive modernization across the Department’s digital ecosystem, with a special focus on the integration of AI, automation and outcome-driven procurement models. Her private-sector governance experience may influence how the DoD manages risk, vendor relationships and cross-agency coordination.
Her nomination comes at a time of heightened geopolitical tension, where cyberwarfare, AI-driven misinformation and infrastructure sabotage are growing threats. The CIO’s office plays a critical role in supporting the Pentagon’s command and control capability – central to U.S. military operations around the world.
Davies will succeed Katie Arrington, who is currently performing the duties of the DoD CIO, following interim leadership by Leslie Beavers. The last Senate-confirmed CIO, John Sherman, served for most of the Biden administration.