DOD names officials temporarily helming key tech offices as the Pentagon awaits new leadership

Several familiar faces who steered some of the Pentagon’s major technology and cybersecurity efforts over the last few years are operating in senior-level executive roles in acting capacities, as officials wait to see who the Trump administration will appoint to permanently lead key offices, multiple sources told DefenseScoop.

President Donald Trump has nominated former Fox News host Pete Hegseth to serve as defense secretary, and billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg to be deputy SecDef in his second term. Both men need Senate approval. If confirmed, they and the White House will have the option to name new officials or keep on existing staff for certain top Defense Department positions.

In conversations over email this week, sources revealed who is currently functioning in a few of those key roles between now and the arrival of DOD’s new bosses.

“Acting Chief Information Officer is Ms. Leslie Beavers,” a spokesperson told DefenseScoop late Tuesday.

Beavers, who retired from the Air Force as a reserve brigadier general, was tapped as acting CIO in July 2024 after John Sherman’s departure. She previously served as Sherman’s deputy and helped oversee multiple high-stakes, enterprise IT initiatives inside DOD.

A Pentagon spokesperson also confirmed that Gurpreet Bhatia is temporarily serving in dual-hatted roles as acting deputy CIO for cybersecurity and DOD’s chief information security officer. Before working at the Pentagon, Bhatia led the National Security Agency’s engagements with foreign partners, among other senior government roles.

Defense acquisition expert Radha Plumb assumed the role of DOD’s chief digital and artificial intelligence officer in April 2024. In a recent interview ahead of her planned departure from the department, Plumb told DefenseScoop that Principal Deputy CDAO Margie Palmieri was set to serve as the acting chief of the office in the interim until Trump’s pick is named.

Personnel in the CDAO told DefenseScoop Wednesday that the hub is largely operating as if Palmieri is its director this week. Pentagon spokespersons did not confirm that she’s officially leading the organization.

Separately, sources at the Defense Innovation Unit told DefenseScoop this week that former Apple executive Doug Beck continues to head the organization, where he took the helm in April 2023. Historically, “the DIU director is not a politically appointed role,” one official noted.