Douglas Matty is set to become the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and AI Officer starting Monday, according to an unclassified internal email obtained by DefenseScoop. Margie Palmieri, the principal deputy who has been temporarily leading the AI hub pending the Trump administration’s appointment of the new chief, sent the announcement Friday morning to several senior officials. She mentioned that further communications regarding the team’s future direction would be shared once Matty officially takes over next week. Matty previously established the Army AI Integration Center under the Army Futures Command and led it from 2020 to 2022. “We are thrilled to have appointed leadership at the helm of CDAO early in the administration. Prioritizing the top AI and data leadership role in DoD will help the Department accelerate and broaden the adoption of data, analytics, and AI in alignment with the Secretary’s priorities, ” Palmieri stated. Before reaching full operational capability in 2022, the CDAO consolidated and integrated four prior Pentagon technology-focused organizations: the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), Defense Digital Service (DDS), Office of the Chief Data Officer, and the Advana program. Commercial technology executive Craig Martell led the office from its creation until his resignation in early 2024.

Defense acquisition expert Radha Plumb became the second permanent CDAO in April last year and announced her plan to leave in January, revealing this exclusively to DefenseScoop in December. Since her departure, there has been considerable speculation about the CDAO’s direction and who would be the next chief. As the first permanent leader of the office under the new Trump administration, Matty will assume charge during a period when the CDAO plays a key role in multiple DoD-wide efforts aimed at speeding up and delivering data analytics, automation, computer vision, machine learning, and cutting-edge AI technologies for both military and civilian personnel. In Friday’s email, Palmieri highlighted Matty’s “distinguished 30-year career as a commissioned Army officer, ” including assignments such as Operations Research Systems Analyst in HQDA, Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences, work in the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of the Army for Business Transformation, staff roles with the Commander of U. S. Forces Iraq, JS J8, CYBERCOM, and Deputy Director of the Army Artificial Intelligence Task Force. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from West Point and a doctorate in engineering systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Dr. Matty brings extensive knowledge and experience in delivering AI and digital capabilities to both our warfighters and senior decision makers, ” Palmieri added.