Vijay Sharma Takes on Chief AI Officer Role at Education Department

The Department of Education has appointed Chief Technology Officer Vijay Sharma as its chief artificial intelligence officer.

Sharma is also the Education Department’s responsible AI official, a role established by a Trump-era executive order in 2020 to implement foundational principles, FedScoop reported Monday.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Sharma was formerly the department’s enterprise program management office director before being appointed as deputy director and as IT innovation and modernization leader. He served in directorial roles at FedCentric Technologies prior to joining the Education Department. He was appointed as the CTO in 2015.

Sharma’s appointment complies with an executive order recently signed by President Joe Biden that transfers the duties of agencies’ responsible AI officials to chief AI officers.

Chief AI officers are expected to coordinate AI use by their respective organizations and manage risks from its use. Agencies are required to name such leaders within 60 days of the Office of Management and Budget finalizing draft guidance on federal AI use.