Jack Albright is stepping in again as acting chief information officer (CIO) at the Department of Transportation (DOT), taking over the role from Pavan Pidugu, whose last day is Sept. 4.
DOT updated its website on Sept. 4 to list Albright as the department’s acting chief digital and information officer, as well as the deputy CIO for IT Shared Services. DOT did not respond to multiple requests for comment from MeriTalk.
“Jack is passionate about customer service excellence which is clearly evident in his character and attitude,” DOT’s website says. “He is committed to applying an enterprise approach to all business challenges to ensure technology solutions meet expectations, provide maximum business value, and reduce redundancies and costs.”
Albright previously served as the acting CIO at DOT for a brief stint in the second Trump administration before DOT tapped Pidugu for the job in February 2025. He also served as acting CIO in 2021, before the agency hired Cordell Schachter as its permanent CIO.
Albright first joined DOT’s Office of the Chief Information Officer in March 2016 as the associate CIO for IT Shared Services. Before that, he spent the prior 10 years as the CIO for DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
Pidugu oversaw major modernization efforts during his tenure as DOT CIO, including the launch of Salesforce’s Agentforce to automate operational tasks across the department and DOT’s transition to Google Workspace. Pidugu has not shared where he is headed next.