Cameron Stanley will serve as the Pentagon’s next chief digital and artificial intelligence officer (CDAO), Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Jan. 12 during an address at SpaceX headquarters in Starbase, Texas.
Hegseth said Stanley assumes the role amid significant Defense Department investments in artificial intelligence (AI) aimed at transforming both warfighting capabilities and back-office operations. The Department of Defense (DOD) has been rebranded as the War Department by the Trump administration.
Stanley most recently served as Amazon Web Services’ national security digital transformation lead, according to his LinkedIn profile.
A U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, Stanley is no stranger to the DOD.
He previously served in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security from late 2021 to early 2024, leading Project Maven and overseeing AI development. He also served as senior science and technology advisor at U.S. Southern Command and as the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s liaison to the United Kingdom, among other positions.
Stanley succeeds Dr. Douglas Matty, who led the office from April to December 2025. Andrew Mapes has been serving as acting CDAO since Matty’s departure.
According to LinkedIn, Matty began a new role as the DOD’s chief technologist in December 2025.