Davies sworn in as Pentagon CIO
Kirsten Davies has been formally sworn in as chief information officer at the Defense Department where she’ll oversee a “broad portfolio” of important programs, the Pentagon announced.
Davies took the reins shortly before the Christmas holiday, according to officials, less than a week after she was confirmed by the Senate.
“She brings to the Department two decades of transforming organizations for the digital age, building cyber defenses, tackling tech debt, and innovating at scale,” officials wrote in a post on the Office of the CIO’s LinkedIn page, noting her private sector experience working in top leadership roles for major companies such as Unilever, Estee Lauder Companies, Barclays (Africa Group), Hewlett Packard Enterprises, and Siemens AG.
Her extensive IT and cybersecurity background was previously touted by experts who wrote a letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee in support of her nomination for Pentagon CIO.
In social media posts, DOD officials noted that Davies will be serving under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth while leading digital modernization efforts and “overseeing for him the information enterprise, cybersecurity, technology innovation, and a broad portfolio of national security programs.”
Davies took the helm from Katie Arrington, who has launched and shepherded major initiatives while performing the duties of DOD CIO in a non-Senate-confirmed capacity. Arrington was appointed to that position by Hegseth in March shortly after she returned to the department for another stint as chief information security officer.
To what extent Davies will continue, modify, expand, or cut existing programs remains to be seen.
She previously suggested that she intends to forge a new generation of tech partnerships with industry and “embed the building blocks of AI” at the department to support U.S. military efforts to achieve “data supremacy” and “decision dominance” over adversaries.
Meanwhile, Arrington hasn’t announced what she’s planning to do next now that she’s no longer DOD CIO.
“I pray all the best for [Davies], because it is a huge job. And I have been honored to serve in that role for 10 months, and I’m proud of the work that we did. But like I said in when I very sat in that seat the very first time, change is good, change is coming, and change is needed. And I hope that I was a positive force of change for the time that I was there,” Arrington said in a video posted Jan. 4 on LinkedIn.
In a LinkedIn message posted on Jan. 5, Davies noted that she’s been sworn in as CIO, and thanked her supporters.
“I am grateful beyond words to President Donald J. Trump and Secretary Pete Hegseth for placing their confidence and trust in me to lead the Technology and Cyber Portfolios at DoW in support of our warfighters and America’s national security,” Davies wrote, using an acronym to refer to the Department of War — an alternative name that the Trump administration has been using to refer to the Department of Defense.
She continued: “Special thanks to the cyber security and ICS/OT security community for your unwavering support across the confirmation process, as well as USW R&E Emil Michael, Senator Markwayne Mullin, the TinkerTribe, and so many across the Cyber and ICS/OT security industry who posted, wrote letters to the SASC, and sent encouraging DMs and texts throughout my confirmation process!”
Updated on Jan. 5, 2026, at 2:15 PM: This story has been updated to include new comments from Kirsten Davies and Katie Arrington.
