William McCormick
Executive Mosaic is honored to present Juliane Gallina, chief information officer (CIO) with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient for driving innovation priorities, expanding private-public partnerships and her efforts to launch new resources for the government contracting (GovCon) community.
This marks Gallina’s second consecutive Wash100 Award. She received her 2020 Wash100 Award for her efforts to drive the CIA’s information technology (IT), cloud adoption and reach out across the industry to improve the agency’s success.
“Juliane Gallina has been battle tested as a retired naval commander with over 22 years naval experience, excelled in the realm of information warfare, transition superlatively on the Enterprise-side of technology at IBM, honed her intelligence insights at the NRO and has been a highly visible proponent of public & private partnerships, and how she has embraced the industry in her role as CIO of the CIA,” said Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic and founder of the Wash100 Award.
Throughout 2020 COVID-19 has only heightened the need for innovative solutions that support the digital future. Gallina has spearheaded new modernization initiatives to improve both the digital posture of both the CIA and federal government, as technology transformation exponentially grows.
In early 2020, Gallina stated that artificial intelligence (AI) is meant to be paired with people to augment their capabilities. “I can say in a very general sense that we employ artificial intelligence to do things like augment the work of analysts to improve accuracy and the scale and speed of what they can do, to improve the exploitation of data in all media,†Gallina said.
She noted the role of human language technologies in the translation and triage of foreign language. “We’re also finding there’s a place for human language technologies and assistance technology for people with disabilities in our community. And we’re using it with good effect in cybersecurity and counterintelligence,†Gallina added.
Gallina also shared her views on the newly established directorate of digital innovation, the digital futures organization and on the information technology franchise model, which seeks to provide mission areas more control when it comes to buying and using IT.
“I think the franchise is an area where we do see innovation, because we’re able to work with these mission-focused end users to help them build things that are going to become part of the enterprise,†Gallina added.
Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. intelligence community initiated changes to its work operations to ensure continuity, meet mission needs and safeguard the health of its workforce. The CIA also distributed personal protective equipment to staff and implemented telework and social distancing measures to carry out missions and ensure the health and security of their personnel.
The agency continued to drive modernization efforts to ensure that innovation could continue throughout the challenges of 2020. In September, the CIA inaugurated a new laboratory dedicated to performing research and development (R&D) for national intelligence.
CIA Labs will host in-house science and technology R&D and collaborate with other federal laboratories, industry and academia for various scientific pursuits. The laboratory will also tackle a variety of topics including advanced manufacturing, quantum computing and AI; and will offer opportunities for CIA officers to secure intellectual property patents.
“Some phenomenal innovations have come from CIA over the years, and with CIA Labs, we’re now better positioned to optimize developments and further invest in our scientists and technologists,” said Dawn Meyerriecks, head of the Directorate of Science and Technology at CIA.
Gallina further discussed innovations within the CIA and throughout the federal sector during a keynote speech she delivered during Potomac Officers Club’s CIO Forum 2020. During her address, she covered the importance of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud and secure mobility to the CIA’s future. She also advocated for the agency to improve its communication with industry.
Gallina explained that the IT Enterprise is attempting to shift its mindset and plans to turn over every major contract, including those that are long standing. She described the current level-of-effort contracts like “trying to dig the Grand Canyon a teaspoon at a time.†It’s not an efficient process to deliver massive change and innovate.
Gallina also strongly advocated for mutual cooperation between federal agencies and industry to drive innovation and create major change to the CIA culture and future success. Her argument was that people will be the most important driving force for change and innovation over anything else.
“‘Men mean more than guns,’ according to John Paul Jones of the U.S. Navy. If we adapt that philosophy for today’s use, that means to me that people will always be more important than your technology strategy and any investment plan,†said Gallina.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Juliane Gallina and the CIA on her 2021 Wash100 Award. Gallina’s innovative ideas have greatly influenced modernization priorities, solutions and private-public partnerships, making her one of the most influential leaders in the GovCon sector.
About Wash100
This year represents the eighth annual Wash100 award selection. The Wash100 is the premier group of private and public sector leaders selected by Executive Mosaic’s organizational and editorial leadership as the most influential leaders in the GovCon sector.
These leaders demonstrate skills in leadership, innovation, reliability, achievement, and vision. Visitors to wash100.com can sign in and vote for the executives they believe will have the greatest impact on government contracting in the coming year.
The media team at Executive Mosaic writes individualized articles for each recipient of the Wash100 award, providing a write up on the executive centered around their career history and highlights.
