Department of Defense Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer Leslie Beavers has joined the Wash100 ranks for the first time in recognition of her work driving information technology modernization and cybersecurity efforts across the DOD.
Vote for Beavers as your favorite Wash100 winner at Wash100.com! The Wash100 popular vote competition is open until April 30, and the winners will be revealed in May.
Leslie Beavers is confirmed to keynote the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual CIO Summit on April 17. Don’t miss your chance to meet and hear from the DOD principal deputy CIO in person! Register here to save your spot.
The prestigious and coveted Wash100 Award annually honors the top 100 executives of consequence working in the federal government and the government contracting industry. Honorees are chosen not only for their proven impact and previous accomplishments, but also for their anticipated ability to shape the future of the GovCon sector in a meaningful way in the coming year and beyond.
“As principal deputy CIO, Leslie is a crucial proponent of the Pentagon’s 5G, cloud, zero trust, IT modernization and software supply chain security efforts, among others,” said Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic and founder of the Wash100 Award. “She has played a pivotal role in the DOD’s customer and user experience initiatives, and she’s well-known for being a changemaker in the department. We’re thrilled to welcome Leslie into the 2024 Wash100 Class for her first year of recognition.”
Beavers stepped into her current role in May 2023. She is responsible for advising the defense secretary on matters relating to IT, information management, information assurance, satellite communications, non-intelligence space systems, telecommunications and more.
Previously, she served as the director of Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Enterprise Capabilities and spearheaded the Defense Intelligence Digital Transformation Campaign Plan known as Project Herald.
Upon her appointment to the role, DOD CIO and fellow Wash100 Award recipient John Sherman said Beavers’ experience with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security “will enable her to hit the ground running on initiatives such as Zero Trust, JWCC, Software Modernization, and EMSO.”
In February, Beavers said she wanted to take cloud “to the next level” in 2024. Outlining four key priorities at a GovCIO event, Beavers explained that the Pentagon is working on expanding cloud capabilities to the tactical edge and to international allies and partners.
She also spoke about how the DOD’s zero trust efforts are moving forward. According to Beavers, the department’s Portfolio Management Office has reviewed 39 zero trust implementation plans from across the enterprise, and now, they’re working on unifying and synchronizing them.
“We’ve got the implementation plans, now we need to start executing,” said Beavers. “We are committed to get there by ‘27 because that’s not a department set objective – that’s an adversary response objective, so we can’t really afford to have it slip.”
Beavers also shared concerns about software supply chain security, which she said will become increasingly important as artificial intelligence models advance.
Meanwhile, Beavers and Sherman established a Customer Experience Officer Portfolio Management Office within the DOD’s CIO Office in January. The new office will focus on improving the delivery of IT products to DOD personnel.
“This office will establish a data-driven approach, informed by network and user device performance data and continuous customer feedback, to improve the DOD’s user experience,” Beavers said.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Leslie Beavers on her inclusion in the 2024 Wash100 list.
