The General Services Administration (GSA) announced on Thursday the launch of the 2026 class of Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF), who will begin year-long assignments at 10 federal agencies to help them with technology projects.
GSA said there will be 17 technology experts in the 2026 PIF cohort, adding that they come from top tech companies, startups, and organizations across the country.
“We are driving President Trump’s mandate to deliver the most skilled technology workforce in the history of the U.S. government,” GSA Administrator Edward Forst said in a press release.
“To achieve high-impact work that advances administration priorities, we are embedding strong technical leaders who can perform with discipline and speed, filling critical skills gaps across our partner agencies and preparing them to meet the demands of the future,” Forst said.
GSA did not disclose the name of the fellows, but it said they will be embedded at the following agencies:
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
- Department of Energy
- Department of State
- Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
- Executive Office of the President
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- U.S. Coast Guard
GSA said the fellows will help work on a variety of solutions including developing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools to accelerate the permitting of new infrastructure projects, establishing an AI-ready workforce, and automation initiatives at the VA.
GSA also said the fellows will also help work on the implementation of the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRICA), which will require covered organizations to report major cyber incidents to CISA within 72 hours and ransomware payments within 24 hours.
CISA is tasked with implementing CIRICA, but the agency said last month that the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown will likely delay the enactment of the final rule.
“This class of PIFs represents the highest standard of technical talent in the federal government,” said Federal Chief Information Officer Greg Barbaccia, who is also serving as the acting director of GSA’s Technology Transformation Services. “Their advanced expertise will advise our partner agencies on how they can best scale, secure, and transform the technologies that power our government.”
According to GSA, the PIF program is just one way the agency is looking to build federal technology talent. The agency said it also recently hired technologists to drive impact across GSA programs such as Login.gov and USAi.
The PIF program – part of GSA’s Technology Transformation Services – is a highly competitive fellowship that has paired talented, diverse technologists and innovators with top civil servants to be innovation catalysts for over a decade.
The program was founded by the White House Office of Science and Technology in 2012, but GSA has housed it since 2013.