“Micky has been a leading expert in our AI work and will provide tremendous expertise and relationships across HHS and externally to guide our efforts in the coming months,” the spokesperson said. “Micky already serves as co-chair of the HHS AI Task Force. He will continue in his role as National Coordinator for Health IT during the search for a permanent Chief AI Officer.”  

Greg Singleton, the previous CAIO, is still part of the agency’s IT workforce, the spokesperson confirmed. But they also noted that the Office of Management and Budget required agencies to designate CAIOs at the executive level in an effort to improve accountability for AI issues. 

HHS didn’t say when the department had named Tripathi as acting CAIO, but the change appears to have been made recently on the agency’s website. Singleton was still listed as CAIO as of at least May 14, per a copy of HHS’s Office of the CAIO webpage archived in the Wayback Machine. According to the webpage at the time of this story, the content was last reviewed on May 24.

Under President Joe Biden’s AI executive order, CAIOs serve as the official in charge of promoting the use of the technology within an agency and managing its risks. The requirement to have such an official went into effect 60 days after OMB’s memo on AI governance, which would have been May 27.

Many agencies moved quickly to designate CAIOs after the order, tapping officials such as chief information, data and technology officers to carry out the role. Other agencies already had a CAIO, including HHS and the Department of Homeland Security. In fact, the position at HHS has been around since 2021 when the agency named Oki Mek as its first CAIO. Singleton replaced Mek as the department’s top AI official in March 2022.

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Charlier’s new role comes as agencies across the federal government have been designating their CAIOs following President Joe Biden’s October AI executive order. That order requires agencies to designate such an official after the corresponding Office of Management and Budget guidance is finalized, but many agencies are getting a head start. 

So far, 14 of the 24 Chief Financial Officer Act agencies have named a CAIO.

As CAIO, Charlier will be responsible for coordinating the department’s use of AI, promoting AI innovations, and managing risks associated with the technology. DOL’s public inventory for AI, which is required of agencies, includes 18 use cases for the technology, including chatbots, document processing, and audio transcription. 

Charlier was already handling the role of responsible AI official, which was required by a Trump administration executive order on AI.

According to his DOL biography, Charlier “has more than 30 years of leadership and transformational experience in the military, private, and public sectors initiating and implementing enterprise-wide, IT capabilities and strategies.” Charlier has been at DOL for more than 17 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Rebecca Heilweil contributed to this article.

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The CFTC announced in late December that Kaouk, who confirmed the move on LinkedIn, would join its Division of Data as its chief data officer and director. John Coughlan, who was already working within the agency, was also promoted and will serve as the CFTC’s first chief data scientist. The chairman of the agency, Rostin Behnam, noted that their new roles came as CFTC upskills its data science staff. 

“The massive shifts in financial markets driven by advances in technology put the CFTC at the center of a new era of financial data, empowering us to more efficiently and effectively execute our mission,” Behnam said in a statement. “With these new critical hires, the CFTC is upskilling our data science staff, and increasing capacity and capability to be at the forefront of market innovations. We now have the team in place to set a strategy with concrete benchmarks and a clear path forward.”

In a posting published to USAJobs, OPM said that the agency’s next chief data officer is expected to serve both as the agency’s chief artificial intelligence officer (CAIO) and its responsible artificial intelligence official (RAIO).

Following the Biden administration’s wide-ranging executive order on artificial intelligence, many federal agencies have begun to appoint people to the new CAIO position, though they don’t need to formally name someone until 60 days after the Office of Management and Budget finalizes guidance for federal agency use of AI. The RAIO role was established under a 2020 Trump administration executive order on AI, though its associated responsibilities are supposed to be subsumed under the CAIO role. 

FedScoop is tracking agencies’ CAIOs as they’re announced here. OPM didn’t respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

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Though some federal agencies previously had CAIOs, the Biden administration’s recent executive order on AI requires many federal agencies to name an official to the position. Agencies are expected to share the name of their CAIOs with the Office of Management of Budget 60 days after it finalizes guidance for government use of technology. A draft version of that guidance was released earlier this month. 

In response to FedScoop reporting, several agencies — including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Education Department — have announced who they’ve appointed to the role. 

While some agencies, like the Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services, have brought their responsible AI officials into the new CAIO role, others have selected their top data and technology leaders. FedScoop is tracking those appointed to the role of CAIO, as well as those previously appointed to the role of responsible AI official, at Chief Financial Officer Act agencies.

Notably, the SSA is already using several forms of artificial intelligence, according to an agency inventory. 

Madison Alder contributed to this article. 

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