Nand Mulchandani, an Indian-origin man, has been appointed as the first-ever Chief Technology Officer of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The announcement was made by CIA Director William J Burns in a blog post and was later also shared on the agency’s Twitter handle.
After his appointment, Mulchandani said, “I am honored to join CIA in this role and look forward to working with the Agency’s incredible team of technologists and domain experts who already deliver world-class intelligence and capabilities to help build a comprehensive technology strategy that delivers exciting capabilities working closely with industry and partners.”
#CIA Director William J. Burns appoints Nand Mulchandani as the CIA’s first Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
With more than 25 years of experience, Mr. Mulchandani will ensure the Agency is leveraging cutting-edge innovations to further CIA’s mission.
— CIA (@CIA) April 29, 2022
According to the CIA statement, Mulchandani has an experience of 25 years and will ensure “the Agency is leveraging cutting-edge innovations to further CIA’s mission”.
Mulchandani, who describes himself as a “serial entrepreneur” in his LinkedIn bio, went to Bluebells School International in Delhi. After graduating from the school in 1987, he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Mathematics (1988–91) from Cornell University. He later went on to join Stanford Business School to get a Master of Science degree in Management (2017-18) and then obtained another Masters in Public Administration (2018-19) from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
He was also a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs from 2019 to 2021.
With a “strong background in enterprise infrastructure products, marketing, and sales”, he has so far co-founded and been CEO of multiple startups such as Oblix (acquired by Oracle), Determina (acquired by VMware), OpenDNS (acquired by Cisco), and ScaleXtreme (acquired by Citrix).
Prior to his new role as CIA’s Chief Technology Officer, Mulchandani served as the CTO and Acting Director of DoD’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center.
His LinkedIn profile says: “I pivoted from my career in private industry to serve in the Government by joining the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center at the US Department of Defense where I am driving the DoD’s next-generation AI efforts.”
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