President Biden has announced his intent to nominate Nate Fick as the ambassador at large to lead the State Department’s newly established Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP).
If confirmed by the Senate, Fick will oversee the CDP’s three policy units: International Cyberspace Security, International Information and Communications Policy, and Digital Freedom.
Fick currently leads Elastic’s information security business as vice president of security strategy. He also served as the CEO of Endgame, a cybersecurity software company, for over seven years until its acquisition by Elastic in 2019.
“I am honored by the President’s nomination to serve as the first U.S. ambassador at large for Cyberspace & Digital Policy,” Fick said in a LinkedIn post today. “If confirmed by the Senate, then I look forward to leading the State Department’s new CDP bureau and working to strengthen American diplomacy in these areas.”
The State Department officially launched the CDP on April 4. The bureau aims to “address the national security challenges, economic opportunities, and implications for U.S. values associated with cyberspace, digital technologies, and digital policy.”
Jennifer Bachus, the principal deputy assistant secretary for the CDP, is currently serving as the senior bureau official until an ambassador at large is confirmed.
Prior to his work at Elastic and Endgame, Fick spent nearly a decade as an operating partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, where he helped to build technology businesses.
Fick also spent over five years as the CEO of the Center for a New American Security, where he “launched the center’s program on technology and national security, and oversaw work related to NATO readiness, diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific, and support for veterans and military families,” according to the White House. Fick has also served as a Marine Corps infantry and reconnaissance officer.
