David Shive
CIO, General Services Administration
Being the GSA CIO is one of the most rewarding achievements of David Shive’s professional career. “I love being a public servant who gets to work with the skilled tech workforce here in GSA IT,” he said.
While at GSA, Shive has seen major projects like zero trust architecture taken from concept to accomplishment across the agency and become an example for the federal government. Now, with the role of the CIO shifted from a service provider to a strategic partner in delivering products and services to customers, Shive and his team are exploring the pinnacle of innovation with technologies like AI that can deliver better value and savings for customer agencies.
“It’s an exciting time for federal IT,” he said. “We’re focused on turning good to better, and better to best because we’re all public servants, and that’s why we’re here. At GSA specifically, we put lots of time and attention into making incremental improvements, investing incrementally, whether that’s dollars or time or people — into doing things just a little bit better every year. And in the end, you know, you’ve done a lot better.”
Why Watch
In 2025, Shive and his team are heavily focused on:
Tech modernization: Making digital services simpler, more accessible, more equitable and more secure while maintaining core requirements like protecting national security, government assets and personal privacy. With digital tools and data to improve the delivery of public value, Shive and his team will use themselves as a proving ground and then scale those outcomes.
Artificial intelligence: Now that Shive and his team have piloted a few projects, they are moving into deeper exploration informed by previous disruptive technologies, and focusing on a discreet number of projects to invest their resources.
Cybersecurity: GSA is moving from traditional work models and work roles in favor of more team-based approaches to cyber including DevSecOps and Ongoing Authorizations. This strategy is to prioritize — never compromise — on what matters.
“David is a collaborative leader who sparks innovation and excitement on his team and leads by example every day,” said Katy Kale, GSA deputy administrator. “He has established a diverse, high-impact team that successfully tackles major technology challenges. As a result, his team consistently ranks as one of the top IT organizations to work for across government. David is a visionary leader who implements innovative ideas, inspires others, and delivers lasting results.”