“At a time when [Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth] wants to prioritize the use of AI to modernize the Defense Department, it’s more important than ever to have a highly effective and motivated CDAO team,” a source said Wednesday.

The CDAO achieved full operational capability in 2022 — under the Biden administration — after merging four technology-focused organizations at the Pentagon: the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), Defense Digital Service (DDS), Office of the Chief Data Officer, and the Advana program.

Commercial tech executive Craig Martell initially led the office from its inception until his resignation in early 2024. Defense acquisition expert Radha Plumb served as the second permanent CDAO from April of that year to January 2025. 

Last month, Douglas Matty became the first official to steer the CDAO on a permanent basis under the new Trump administration.

He’s taking the helm as the office is involved in a variety of DOD-wide initiatives that seek to accelerate data analytics, automation, computer vision, machine learning and next-generation AI capabilities for military and civilian personnel — all of which align with the Trump team’s priorities.

Matty’s tenure begins at a time when questions about the defense AI hub’s next chapter continue to swirl. Several officials suggested that government leaders are exploring plans to consolidate CDAO with other DOD organizations, including the Defense Innovation Unit. Simultaneously, the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team is promoting disruptive initiatives to cut what they consider wasteful spending and drastically reduce the size of the U.S. federal workforce.

Officials who DefenseScoop connected with in separate conversations this week said that over the last few months — both before and after Matty came onboard — a noticeable number of key employees have exited or announced plans to leave their positions in the near term. 

Social media posts and public reports have also reflected those recent departures of experienced CDAO officials in high-stakes positions, including former deputy for mission analytics, Garrett Berntsen; former acting deputy for acquisitions and assurance, Bonnie Evangelista; former deputy for advanced C2 acceleration, Jock Padgett; former Global Information Dominance Experiments lead, Matt Strohmeyer; as well as Defense Digital Service director Jennifer Hay and her team.

Replacements for those positions, as well as the office’s algorithmic warfare chief and Advana platform lead have not been named publicly, and leadership roles listed on the CDAO’s official website continue to dwindle.

“The organization is clearly in crisis, with a continued stream of leaders and technical staff departing either through the Trump administration’s workforce reduction efforts, or simply by choice,” one official told DefenseScoop.

They and other sources also said that, over the last week or so, DOGE officials have called current and former staff asking for direct feedback on CDAO leadership, culture and organizational challenges.

A spokesperson for the office did not provide comments by press time on the alleged exodus, or disclose the number of CDAO officials who have opted into the Trump administration’s various accelerated departure options for DOD civilian employees.

“CDAO fully supports the department’s efforts to identify efficiencies while improving our ability to deliver lethality for our warfighters. While we don’t comment on individuals leveraging existing and recently initiated human resource initiatives, many of the personnel actions are aligned to continuous improvements that align human capital to organizational functions. Additionally, these transitions illustrate the high quality of individuals that have added value in government service and continue to have opportunities in the private sector,” a defense official said Wednesday. 

“CDAO continues to execute its mission and process Deferred Resignation Program requests. The department approved approximately 22,000 employees to participate in the OPM DRP (Round 1). The DOD offered its own DRP (Round 2) from April 7 through April 14, 2025, and the department is still collecting and evaluating that data,” they also told DefenseScoop.

Matty is set to testify Thursday on Capitol Hill at a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing on the Pentagon’s current IT and AI posture.

The post CDAO’s future uncertain as slew of top leaders and tech staffers depart appeared first on DefenseScoop.

The principal deputy who has been temporarily leading the AI hub ahead of the Trump administration’s selection for the new chief, Margie Palmieri, sent the announcement to several senior officials Friday morning. In the email, she indicated that more communications on the team’s path ahead would soon follow, once Matty takes the reins next week.

Matty previously founded the Army AI Integration Center under Army Futures Command, which he led between 2020 and 2022.

“We are excited to get appointed leadership at the helm of CDAO so early in the administration. The prioritization on filling the top Al and data related leadership position in DoD will enable the Department to better accelerate and scale the adoption of data, analytics, and Al in line with the Secretary’s priorities,” Palmieri wrote. 

Ahead of reaching full operational capacity in 2022, the CDAO merged and integrated four technology-focused predecessor organizations at the Pentagon: the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), Defense Digital Service (DDS), Office of the Chief Data Officer, and the Advana program. 

Commercial tech executive Craig Martell headed the office from its inception until his resignation in early 2024. Defense acquisition expert Radha Plumb served as the second permanent CDAO beginning in April of last year. In December, she shared her plans to depart in January, exclusively with DefenseScoop.

Questions have swirled about the CDAO’s future — and who would take charge as the next chief — since her exit.

As the first official to steer it on a permanent basis under the new Trump administration, Matty will enter at a time when the CDAO is a major player in a range of DOD-wide initiatives that seek to expedite and deliver data analytics, automation, computer vision, machine learning and next-generation AI capabilities for military and civilian personnel.

In the email Friday, Palmieri noted that Matty has “led a distinguished 30 year career as a commissioned officer in the Army, serving in numerous impactful assignments including as an Operations Research Systems Analyst in HQDA, Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences, in the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of the Army for Business Transformation, on the staff of the Commander of U.S. Forces Iraq, JS J8, CYBERCOM, and as Deputy Director of the Army Artificial Intelligence Task Force.” 

He graduated from West Point with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and earned a doctorate in engineering systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Dr. Matty brings a breadth of knowledge and experience in delivering Al and digital capabilities to both our warfighters and senior decision makers,” Palmieri wrote.

The post Former Army AI leader tapped as Pentagon’s next CDAO appeared first on DefenseScoop.