The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has tapped Taka Ariga to serve as the agency’s chief data officer (CDO) – his first day was Monday.
Ariga takes over the role after Ted Kaouk, the agency’s CDO since October 2021, moved to the CDO role at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in December 2023.
Previously, Ariga served as the Government Accountability Office’s chief data scientist and inaugural director of the Innovation Lab.
“I am thrilled to begin the next chapter of my civil service as chief data officer for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), leading the work of its Human Capital Data Management and Modernization Directorate,” Ariga wrote in a LinkedIn post on Monday.
“While one is never fully prepared for a new domain, I am ready for the exciting challenge that brings together [data governance], data science, and AI to transform OPM’s role as the preeminent human capital service provider for more than 2 million employees that make up the Federal workforce,” Ariga said.
In his new role at OPM, Ariga will be responsible for human capital data across the Federal enterprise and within OPM. According to the job posting OPM posted in January, the CDO will also serve as the agency’s responsible AI official (RAIO) and chief AI officer (CAIO).
During his time at GAO, Ariga viewed the Innovation Lab as a startup organization, noting in a separate LinkedIn post that it was “nothing short of exhilarating.”
The Innovation Lab aims to bring new digital capabilities, such as AI, and evidence-based policymaking techniques to GAO and Congress. Ariga oversaw multiple AI projects as director, with the lab building its own generative AI models to help solve some of the problems GAO’s mission teams face.
