The U.S. Department of Defense, referred to by the Trump administration as the Department of War, announced Gavin Kliger would assume the position of the chief data officer for the department.
Kliger, previously a senior member of the technical staff at DataBricks, will serve as a key leader in executing the DoW’s AI strategy, and will focus on the day-to-day alignment and execution of the department’s AI projects, working with the country’s AI labs to support troops.
“We are in a global competition for military AI dominance, and America must build on its leadership to extend our advantage over adversaries,” said Kliger. “My mission is to integrate the unparalleled innovation of America’s private sector with the Department’s operational expertise to rapidly deliver advanced AI capabilities to our warfighters. By driving pace-setting projects with wartime urgency, we will ensure cutting-edge technology translates into decisive battlefield advantages for the United States.”
Previously, Kliger served on U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s DOGE DOW team, where he oversaw the launch of GenAI.mil, the department’s official enterprise AI platform. Additionally, he contributed to the Drone Dominance program that focused on rapidly fielding large quantities of American-made, one-way attack drones.
The DoW made the announcement via X, formerly Twitter, on March 6.