WASHINGTON D.C: The Army’s Civilian Senior Leader Management Office has announced that Dr. Raj Iyer will take over as the new Chief Information Officer after the new position was established by the Pentagon in July 2020.
Dr. Iyer will be the highest ranking Indian-American civilian at the Pentagon equivalent in rank to a three-star general. He will supervise an annual budget of $16 Billion for US Army IT operations and over 15,000 civilians and military personnel in over 100 countries.
In his new role as CIO, Iyer will serve as principal advisor to the Secretary of the Army, setting the strategic direction and objectives for information technology and information management.
Iyer will direct the execution of policies and programs to modernize the US Army to achieve digital overmatch against near peer adversaries such as China and Russia. The Army has committed to leveraging advanced technologies such as cloud computing, robotics and Artificial Intelligence as critical enablers for future war fighting through a concept called Multi Domain Operations.
Iyer was appointed by the Secretary after a nationwide search for a CIO with private sector and Government executive experience.
Previously, Iyer was partner and Managing Director at Deloitte Consulting LLP where he led multiple technology programs supporting Government clients. Over the course of his 26 year career, Iyer has supported a range of defense and commercial clients on a number of complex enterprise transformation challenges including strategy, innovation and modernization.
He has established new organizations, including the first office of the chief technology officer in the Army, cofounded a successful technology startup, and led recovery programs such as Obamacare. He also holds a patent and has published dozens of peer reviewed papers.
Iyer holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington along with multiple master’s degrees, including a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas at Arlington.
Dr Iyer, originally a native of Tiruchi in Tamil Nadu grew up in Bengaluru and had his undergraduate studies at National Institute of Technology Tiruchi before moving to the US. He arrived in the US to pursue higher studies with just enough money to pay for tuition and rent for one semester through his father’s lifetime savings, but was soon able to secure a full fellowship to complete all of his graduate education.
His father Manakkal K Ganesan, an engineer, worked as General Manager at Metallurgical and Engineering Consultants (MECON) was instrumental in showing him a passion for public service and the value of education and hard work. Dr. Iyer is married to Brindha, a healthcare IT program manager in the US Government. They have two sons – Ashwin Iyer, a freshman majoring in Data Science at the University of California at Berkeley, and Abishek Iyer - a 9th grader at Centennial High School in Maryland.
