Ann Dunkin currently serves as Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she manages the Department’s information technology (IT) portfolio and modernization; oversees the Department’s cybersecurity efforts; leads technology innovation and digital transformation; and enables collaboration across the Department. She served in the Obama Administration as CIO of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Prior roles include Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Dell Technologies; CIO, County of Santa Clara, CA; CTO, Palo Alto Unified School District, California; and various leadership roles at Hewlett Packard focused on engineering, research and development, IT, manufacturing engineering, software quality, and operations.
Ann is a published author, most recently of the book Industrial Digital Transformation, and a frequent speaker on topics such as government technology modernization, digital transformation, and organizational development. Ann was recently named to the Forbes CIO Next list 2024. She also received the 2024 Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering (IISE) Captains of Industry Award and the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology’s 2024 Pinnacle Award. She has been given a range of previous awards, including a 2024 Fed 100 Award, the 2022 Capital CIO Large Enterprise ORBIE Award, DC’s Top 50 Women in Technology for 2015 and 2016, ComputerWorld’s Premier 100 Technology Leaders for 2016, StateScoop’s Top 50 Women in Technology list for 2017, FedScoop’s Golden Gov Executive of the Year in 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023,and 2024 and FedScoop’s Best Bosses in Federal IT 2022. She was also named to Washington Exec’s Ones to Watch list for 2023.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with CIO Magazine, Ann shared her professional trajectory, insights on the evolution of CIO role over the last few years, the major takeways from her latest book, future plans, words of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
How did you first become interested in technology and what propelled you into it?
I’ve been interested in technology for as long as I can remember. Both my parents were involved in technology in some way as well as both of my uncles. It was just natural for me to study engineering at Georgia Tech (Go Jackets!). After college I was lucky enough to join one of the companies that founded Silicon Valley, Hewlett Packard. That really cemented my career in technology.
What do you love the most about your current role?
What’s not to love about being the CIO of the Department of Energy? We have a great mission, leading the clean energy transition, protecting national security, providing power to over half the country and delivering cutting edge innovation to the world through our national labs. I also get to work with a great team both in IT and across DOE. We have some of the smartest, most dedicated people in the world at DOE.
How have you seen the role of the CIO change in the last 5-10 years, and what changes do you see on the horizon in the years ahead?
In the last decade, the role of the CIO has become increasingly complex and increasingly focused on risk management and resilience. Ten years ago, I spent much of my time thinking about IT modernization and user experience. While those things are still critically important, I’m now also thinking even more about cybersecurity. Data has become more important than ever and now both AI and quantum are concerns as well.
Looking ahead security concerns are going to continue to escalate. As AI improves and quantum becomes accessible, at least to large, well-funded, organizations, it will be increasingly difficult to secure our enterprises, especially from social engineering. We will need to focus on leveraging AI, quantum computing and whatever the next emerging technology is to keep up with the bad guys, who will most certainly be using those technologies, and keep them out. At the same time, the emergence of quantum computing will enable us to solve more and more computationally intensive problems, helping us find solutions that we once thought were out of reach due to their large computational requirements.
What do you think are the new technologies and cultures/methodologies which will define the future workplace, and what do you think is the role of the CIO in helping design and deliver these?
I think the vast majority of technologies that will define the workplace of the next decade are with us now. While telepresence, virtual reality and augmented reality have some limited workplace applications today, I don’t see them redefining the workplace anytime soon, as they are still too expensive and awkward for broad deployment.
The defining technologies of the workplace of the next decade will continue to be mobile devices and wireless connectivity that allow us to work anywhere, as well as video conferencing and collaboration tools, which make that work productive. We continue to see improvements at the margins in these tools, integrating productivity suites to provide a more seamless experience and camera solutions that improve the user experience for remote users in hybrid meetings. These incremental improvements will continue.
Our workplace cultures will continue to adjust, with most organizations landing on some sort of hybrid work arrangements that recognize both the value of in person connections and the flexibility to work remotely, enabling work/life balance.
Please share the major takeways from your latest book, ‘Industrial Digital Transformation’.
The book is a complete guide to digital transformation with resources for everyone from novice to expert. I don’t want to share any spoilers for those who haven’t read the book, but I will say that those who read the book will be able to evaluate themselves and their team for their readiness to undertake a digital transformation and will learn the keys to delivering a successful transformation. They’ll learn about everything from culture to methodologies to technologies that are necessary for a transformation.
Is there a particular person you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are?
There isn’t any one particular person. But there were a number of people along the way who leant a helping hand, most often by referring me for a role that I wouldn’t have been considered for otherwise. And this may sound counterintuitive, but I’m equally grateful for the handful of people who set out to make me utterly miserable. While I always wondered what I’d done to deserve their wrath, every time it happened, I came out stronger and more successful for the challenge. Adversity really is our best teacher. Adversity also reminds me that there are orders of magnitude more people who want to help me than who want to hold me back.
What does the term authentic leadership mean to you?
While it’s not a term that I’m in the habit of using, authentic leadership is easy to define. Authentic leadership means that what you see is what you get. An authentic leader acts in accordance with their values and because of that, their behavior is predictable. Authentic leaders don’t surprise people with their actions because they are consistent and grounded in positive values.
What are some of your passions outside of work? What do you like to do in your time off?
I don’t have a lot of time these days, but I love to travel. We take several trips a year both to new places and familiar ones. I also like to watch Formula One and Georgia Tech football. I have lots of other interests, but no time to pursue them at the moment, so I’ll stop here.
Which technology are you investing in now to prepare for the future?
At DOE we invest in every technology. We lead the world in innovation!
What is your biggest goal? Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
I’ve been lucky enough to have a career that exceeded my expectations. I never expected to work for a President. I’ve been honored to serve in two administrations. I’m looking forward to pursuing a portfolio of activities, including corporate boards, advising and writing another book. I’ll also continue mentoring students and serving on non-profit boards. On the other hand, someone may turn up with an amazing opportunity and five years from now you may find me in a C-Suite role in the private sector.
What advice would you give to aspiring technology leaders who aim to make a positive impact in their organizations and the industry as a whole?
My advice is two-fold. First, to quote Carl Buecher “people may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” Be a leader that makes people feel good. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do the hard things, but no matter what you need to do or tell people, you can be kind and compassionate while doing it. Second, don’t get too comfortable. Take positions that are scary and that stretch you because that’s the only way you grow.