Pentagon CTO Emil Michael becomes acting director of DIU

Emil Michael, undersecretary of defense for researching and engineering and the Pentagon’s CTO, has taken on the role of acting director of the Silicon Valley-headquartered Defense Innovation Unit in the wake of Doug Beck’s resignation, DefenseScoop has learned.

Beck unexpectedly resigned on Monday. The Defense Department has not provided an explanation for his sudden resignation.

“Yesterday, Doug Beck resigned as Director of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). Emil Michael, the Department of Defense’s Chief Technology Officer, has assumed the role of Acting Director, while Michael Dodd has been appointed as the Acting Deputy Director,” a defense official said in a statement to DefenseScoop on Tuesday morning. “Together, both are laser-focused on driving innovation and enhancing the Department’s ability to deliver groundbreaking commercial technologies to empower the American warfighter.”

The official did not say whether a search for a permanent director is underway.

DIU serves as a key bridge between the Defense Department and the commercial tech sector and is helping accelerate U.S. military modernization. Its main focus areas include AI, autonomy, cyber and telecom, emerging technology, energy, human systems and space.

Michael became undersecretary for R&E and Pentagon CTO in May following his Senate confirmation. In that position, he serves as the primary advisor to the secretary of defense and other DOD leaders on tech development and transition, prototyping, experimentation, and management of testing ranges and activities. He’s also in charge of synchronizing science and technology efforts across the department.

The R&E chief previously had a career in the private sector, where he was a business executive, advisor and investor. He told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that he’s been involved with more than 50 different tech companies during his career. Perhaps most notable, from 2013 to 2017, he was chief business officer at Uber.

Dodd has been a principal at DIU since December 2022, according to his LinkedIn bio. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump nominated him to be assistant secretary of defense for critical technologies, which falls under the Pentagon’s R&E directorate. A confirmation hearing was held for him last month and his nomination was reported favorably out of the Senate Armed Services Committee, but a confirmation vote by the full Senate has not been held.