Air Force Names Chandra Donelson as Acting Chief Data and AI Officer

The Department of the Air Force has appointed Chandra Donelson as its acting chief data and artificial intelligence officer, concurrent with her position as Space Force space data and AI officer, the DAF’s chief information officer announced in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday. Eileen Vidrine, who retired in March, previously held the Air Force CDAO position. 

According to the DAF CIO’s announcement, Donelson will oversee the development and implementation of strategies for artificial intelligence, enterprise data management, analytics and digital transformation to support Air Force missions and operations, DefenseScoop reported Wednesday.

Donelson’s Air Force CDAO team has been specifically tasked to help the service branch become AI-ready by 2025 and AI-competitive by 2027. 

As Space Force space data and AI officer, Donelson’s responsibilities include the development and implementation of AI, data and analytics strategies.

An Air Force reservist, Donelson previously held the position of deputy chief data officer of the Army Headquarters G-2 intelligence directorate. She holds a master’s of science degree in data science and analytics from the University of Missouri-Columbia, as well as a master’s degree in IT from Texas A&M University-Texarkana, according to her LinkedIn profile.