Raj Iyer | |
|---|---|
 Official Portrait, 2020 | |
| Chief Information Officer | |
| In office November 2020 –February 2023 | |
| Deputy | Dr. David Markowitz |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Leonel Garciga |
Raj Iyer (born 1970) is an American business executive who served as the United States Army's first chief information officer from November 2020 to February 2023. [1] He became the highest ranked Indian-American in the United States Army's history,holding a civilian rank equivalent to a three-star General Officer. [2] [3]
Iyer received his bachelor's degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from India's National Institute of Technology in 1992 [4] ,after which he pursued graduate school in the United States. He completed his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington [5] in 1994,and then continued on to receive a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1997 [5] . His research focused on automated recognition of complex features for virtual prototyping. Iyer also received an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in 2009 [6] .
Iyer founded the first Chief Technology Officer office in the Army Materiel Command,co-founded a successful technology startup,and led recovery efforts like Healthcare.gov. Additionally,he holds a patent and has authored numerous peer-reviewed papers. [7]
Iyer spent over 15 years in the private sector. This included co-founding a software startup company, [3] as well as a management consultant for Deloitte Consulting LLP. [7]
Iyer also spent over 12 years in public service. This included a stint of over 9 years at the US Army Materiel Command at both Warren,Michigan and Huntsville,Alabama,and several leadership positions at the US Department of Health and Human Services [3] leading the implementation of Healthcare.gov under the Affordable Care Act.
Iyer was selected as the chief information officer and appointed as a member of the Senior Executive Service by Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy after the former Army CIO/G-6 organization was separated into two new organizations - the Deputy Chief of Staff G-6 and the Office of the Chief Information Officer.
Iyer departed as the Army CIO in February 2023 after the completion of his term in office. His farewell ceremony at the Pentagon was officiated by Undersecretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo. “The Army is very lucky to have had Raj in this role as our first CIO,”said Camarillo. Camarillo commented on understanding the “degree of difficulty”Iyer faced in standing up a new office,creating a new position from scratch and figuring out what works and what doesn't. [8]
As Army CIO,Iyer led more than 15,000 IT professionals and more than 10,000 service members,providing oversight and support to the Army's $18 billion spend on IT and cyber. [8] Iyer led IT reform and digital transformation of the Army. He spearheaded adoption of cloud,information technologies,and data analytics,all of which were designed to help the Army gain digital overmatch. Additionally,these initiatives are changing the workforce and the workplace,making it easier to access critical information. [8]
Iyer established the Army's Digital Transformation Strategy (ADTS) [9] to drive Army-wide transformation. Signed by the secretary of the Army,Christine Wormuth,the strategy directed all Army Commands and units to work with the Office of the CIO to implement the strategy to achieve the Army of 2030. [10] [11] [12]
Iyer led the strategy for the Army's unified network in partnership with the DCS G-6 [13] [14] LTG John Morrison to integrate the Army's tactical,enterprise and mission partner networks. [15] and a transformation of the Army's garrison networks to WiFi and private 5G. [16] [17]
Iyer established a new organization in the Office of the CIO dedicated to the cloud mission called the Enterprise Cloud Management Agency. [18] This field operating agency enabled the OCIO to implement and support a number of Army-wide cloud initiatives under the cARMY program [19] under the new Army Cloud Plan. [20]
The CIO also established a new Army Data Plan [21] in partnership with the Army Chief Data Officer David Markowitz,who also served as his deputy. [22] Under Iyer's leadership,the Army implemented the Vantage Army Data Platform in partnership with Palantir. [23]
Iyer led a complete overhaul of the Army's cybersecurity program through a new Army Cybersecurity Strategy [24] that required the Army to move to a zero trust architecture as mandated by the Department of Defense CIO.
Iyer was best known for the relationships he built internally within the DoD,with the Joint forces,and with allies and partners globally. He was a close partner and advisor to Army units such as the 82d Airborne Division,XVIII Airborne Corps,101st Airborne Division,I Corps,Multi Domain Task Force,US Army Pacific, [25] [26] US Forces Korea,US Army Europe and Africa, [27] and others. He was an active participant in Army exercises such as Forager 21 in Guam, [28] Project Convergence,Defender Europe and others. He also built the foundation for greater collaboration and interoperability with allies in the British Army,Japan Ground Self Defense Forces,NATO,Romania,Italy, [29] Poland,India and others.
Iyer served as tri-chair of the Army Enterprise Business Systems - Convergence (EBS-C) Multi Functional Coordinating Team Executive Committee where he helped shape the technology and acquisition strategy for the Army's modernization of its Enterprise Resource Planning systems. [30] In this role,he championed for divestment of legacy business systems and adoption of a modern "clean core" ERP system. He worked with Army senior leaders to prioritize $1.4 Billion in funding for the program in 2022. [31]
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