The General Services Administration announced that Anil Cheriyan will be the new director of the agency’s Technology and Transformation Services unit and deputy commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, replacing acting director Kelly Olson in early January.
“I am honored to be a part of the President’s agenda to fundamentally transform and modernize the federal government’s technology,” Cheriyan said.
Cheriyan, formerly the CIO for SunTrust Banks from 2012 to March of this year, has experience with both technology and leadership. He currently serves as chairman of the board of directors for the Technology Business Management Council, and worked at IBM for nearly 10 years before his stint at SunTrust. He has received numerous awards, including being named Enterprise CIO of the Year in 2015 by the Georgia CIO Leadership Association.
“I am pleased that Anil will join GSA and help continue to strengthen the agency’s IT modernization initiatives,” said GSA Administrator Emily Murphy in a statement. “His previous success transforming how businesses leverage technology to better serve customers will be a major asset in helping the federal government improve its service to the American people.”
Coming into TTS, Cheriyan will play a major role in IT modernization efforts across the government, including GSA’s Centers of Excellence initiative. The initiative, currently working within the departments of Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development, aims to spread best practices, improve the citizen experience, and reduce legacy technology costs. Cheriyan will also play a big part in leading 18F and participating in the Presidential Innovation Fellows initiatives, among his other GSA duties.
“The Administration strongly supports the GSA Centers of Excellence, with the objective of building the institutional capacity to deliver meaningful improvements for the public. Anil brings senior leadership experience to his new role and we look forward to the results he will deliver across government,” said Chris Liddell, White House deputy chief of staff for policy coordination.
“Anil has a proven track record of results in the private sector and we are excited to welcome him to public service,” said Jared Kushner, senior advisor to the President.
“It comes as no surprise this work has bipartisan support and is highly valued across the government. I am confident we will make tremendous progress in the years to come and look forward to leading the TTS team and serving the public in this important role,” said Cheriyan.