The General Services Administration (GSA) added two new hires to its Technology Transformation Services (TTS) organization this week, including a deputy director and a senior advisor for TTS operations, a GSA spokesperson confirmed to MeriTalk.
After a nationwide search, Mukunda Penugonde joined TTS as its new deputy director on April 10. Additionally, GSA Deputy Chief Financial Officer Mehul Parekh moved over on April 10 to serve as the senior advisor for TTS operations.
“Penugonde will focus on strategic initiatives, direction setting, operational frameworks, successful delivery of TTS products and services, and building TTS organizational resilience,” a GSA spokesperson said. “He brings experience driving strategic and business initiatives in high-growth digital product organizations including Hulu/Disney and Sony Interactive Entertainment.”
Most recently, Penugonde served as the director for technical program management at Disney Streaming. Before his time at Disney, he served as the director of business technology and operations at Hulu, as well as the senior director of program management at Sony Interactive Entertainment.
“Mukunda has a strong background in leading and managing organizational change, including driving the introduction and adoption of new frameworks to increase collaboration across products and programs, and creating reliable and sustainable organizational structures for growth and scale,” said TTS Director Ann Lewis, who joined TTS in December.
As for Parekh, he brings experience as a financial executive, having served at GSA since 2018 – first as the director of budget and then as the deputy CFO. Previously, he served as CFO at the National Labor Relations Board, as well as the director of contracts and finance at the Department of Homeland Security.
“Parekh will help TTS continue to develop and implement a stronger internal controls environment,” the GSA spokesperson said.
“Mehul has been recognized for his ability to lead diverse teams and is skilled at assessing and solving problems, optimizing performance, and increasing productivity,” added Director Lewis. “Mehul has supported and worked with TTS many times over the years, including on budgeting, cost models, and appropriations. I know he will be a substantial contributor to the strength and stability of TTS.”
TTS oversees a broad portfolio of programs geared toward helping Federal agencies make faster progress with modernization efforts to build a better digital government.
The six-year-old TTS organization houses five separate programs including 18F – a digital consulting office that partners with agencies to help them build or buy digital services – and the IT Modernization Centers of Excellence – a centralized team of technical experts that accelerate agency-wide IT modernization.
