Katie Arrington lands in industry as CIO of quantum company IonQ
After leaving her role performing the duties of the chief information officer for the Department of Defense last month, Katie Arrington has taken a new position as CIO at quantum computing company IonQ.
Arrington will step into the role Jan. 19, reporting to the company’s COO and CFO Inder Singh, IonQ announced Wednesday.
Kirsten Davies was nominated by President Donald Trump in May 2025 to be the Defense Department CIO, and it took most of the remainder of 2025 for the Senate to confirm her into the role. She was sworn in just before the Christmas holiday, at which point Arrington stepped away from her service to the Pentagon.
In joining IonQ, Arrington will serve on the company’s executive team.
“Quantum computing is one of the most consequential technologies shaping the future of national defense, economic competitiveness, and global security,” IonQ Chairman and CEO Niccolo de Masi said in a release. “Katie has spent her entire career as a passionate advocate to ensure the United States maintains its technological edge — from strengthening the industrial base to protecting critical systems and capabilities across the Department of War. Her passion for defending the nation and advancing the kind of breakthrough innovation that quantum computing represents will help accelerate IonQ’s growth and impact.”
As CIO, Arrington will continue to support the U.S. military from a different vantage, leading modernization and security of IonQ’s enterprise systems in support of its mission to deliver quantum capabilities to American warfighters.
Before rejoining the Pentagon a year ago, then as deputy CIO for cybersecurity, Arrington had a previous stint as CISO in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, where she was largely responsible for the development of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program.
She also previously ran for U.S. Congress as a Republican in South Carolina’s 1st District, after serving a two-year term in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019.
IonQ on Wednesday also announced the appointment of Leslie Kershaw as its CISO. Kershaw, who has been an employee of the company’s subsidiary IonQ Capella, also has a defense background, holding a previous role as cyber technical director for Space DELTA 6 in the U.S. Space Force.
Arrington was a guest on DefenseScoop’s CTRL + ALT + DEFENSE podcast in the fall. You can watch that episode in its entirety below:
