Department of Defense (DOD) Chief Information Officer (CIO) Kirsten Davies announced on Aug. 25 the appointment of Sonu Shankar to serve as principal deputy CIO (PDCIO).
Under the Trump administration, the DOD was rebranded as the Department of War.
As PDCIO, Shankar will work to advance the Pentagon’s technology priorities, including efforts to improve decision advantage for warfighters and strengthen the department’s technological edge.
“The addition of Mr. Shankar to our team will add additional firepower to our transformation work and the OCIO team,” said Davies. “His decades of experience in cybersecurity and technology, especially his industry experience at the intersection of product innovation, executive leadership, and international business development, will be a tremendous asset to the mission.”
Shankar most recently served as a strategic advisor to DOD as part of the Business Operators for National Defense program.
Before that, Shankar served as president and chief operating officer of Phosphorus Cybersecurity, where he led global operations, corporate strategy, and growth through the company’s acquisition by Dragos. He also held senior roles at Arctic Wolf Networks and Cisco Systems and conducted research at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
“I am very grateful to President Donald J. Trump, Secretary Pete Hegseth and Honorable Kirsten Davies for this opportunity to serve the America’s warfighters and the national security mission,” said Shankar. “The ambitious transformation of the department’s digital ecosystem is a bold and necessary effort to empower our warfighters and maintain a technological edge over our adversaries.”