US AIR FORCE
IN OUR SECOND VISIT TO WASHINGTON DC , LAUREN KNAUSENBERGER , CHIEF TRANSFORMATION OFFICER AT THE US AIR FORCE , DISCUSSES CYBERSECURITY STRATEGIES AND A SUPERHERO CULTURE IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
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L auren Knausenberger is the U . S . Air Force ’ s Chief Transformation Officer ( CTO ). Having initially joined as Director of Cyberspace Innovation in 2017 , she assumed her current position in June 2019 , stepping into a newly-created role that reaches across the entire Air Force to drive digital transformation . A Wharton graduate who left her work in the entrepreneurial and investment industry to take on this new challenge in government , she is one of very few senior officials under the age of 40 , and is no stranger to the digital space .
Upon joining the US Air Force , Knausenberger was primed to drive change at the federal government . “ Everyone fails … until they don ’ t !” she quips . “ I think I told you that I joined the Air Force quite by accident . I became so intrigued with one of their problem sets and the next thing I knew a few persuasive generals had me signing up . The thing is – I missed the mission and didn ’ t realize it until these
APRIL 2020