What are government agencies’ top tech priorities for 2025?
We skipped the speculation and went straight to the real experts – the Federal agency chief information officers (CIO) – for those answers.
MeriTalk surveyed 12 CFO Act agency CIOs, dubbed the “Digital Dozen,” on their top technology priorities for fiscal year (FY) 2025. We then conducted six in-depth interviews with those CIOs to gather additional context and recommendations.
For our inaugural study, “Tech Tonic: FY25 Federal CIO Forecast,” we found that cybersecurity, workforce transformation, and AI rank as the top technology priorities in the Federal government, but that funding and skills gaps are hindering progress in these areas.
The Digital Dozen includes the CIOs from the departments of Labor; Treasury; Justice; Transportation; Defense; and Agriculture; National Science Foundation; Office of Personnel Management; Social Security Administration; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; U.S. Agency for International Development; and the Small Business Administration.
Cybersecurity is dominating Federal CIO agendas, with 67 percent ranking it in their top three areas for concern and attention. According to the report, the CIOs said their FY2025 security goals include improving identity and risk management, modernizing infrastructure, increasing automation, and enhancing the user experience.
“I’m super excited about the progress that the team has made [with our cybersecurity program], so the question is: What are the additional areas that we should focus on and reinforce,” asked Marcela Escobar-Alava, the CIO at the Social Security Administration. “Certainly, leveraging AI and data … and also ensuring that security isn’t just the CISO’s ‘job.’”
Workforce came in second place, followed by AI, with 33 percent of the CIOs ranking each as a top three priority.
The report makes it clear that AI will reshape the Federal government, but many agencies are still in the beginning stages. Seventy-five percent of Federal CIOs expect AI to have a significant impact on government operations over the next five years, but only 17 percent say they regularly use GenAI.
The Digital Dozen said their FY2025 AI goals include continuing to advance strategic frameworks, improving data readiness, identifying low-risk use cases, and investing in secure testbeds.
“We’re being very deliberate about our approach to AI,” said Cordell Schachter, the CIO for the Transportation Department. “In the transportation domains that we operate, people’s lives are literally in our care … so we have to make sure that any new system, whether it’s AI-infused or not, is safe. And if we’re going to do something different, it should be safer than what came before it.”
The CIOs also stressed the importance of workforce transformation to keep pace with rapid developments in cybersecurity and AI.
“From a priorities standpoint, I’ve got [workforce transformation] in two distinct lanes. One is focused on upskilling and reskilling,” said Jason Gray, the CIO at U.S. Agency for International Development. “Technology constantly evolves and changes, and I want to make sure we aren’t losing sight of continual investment in [our workforce] … The second – industry-standard, global certifications.”
Other FY25 priorities include zero trust; digital government and citizen experience; cloud computing; infrastructure modernization; and data management.
The Digital Dozen said their biggest roadblock to successfully implementing their FY2025 technology priorities is budget constraints. The Justice Department’s CIO Melinda Rogers said she needs “consistent funding.”
“It is critical for us to maintain our cybersecurity posture and keep the department secure,” she said. “[We have] a robust program; we have user experience incorporated with security, but now we’re at the juncture where we’d have to turn off defense capabilities if we don’t get sustained funding.”
MeriTalk’s report includes six recommendations for lawmakers and agency leadership, including upping the IT spend, prioritizing workforce development, and supporting legislation for more flexible procurement.
“I welcome this report, which serves as a snapshot of Federal CIOs’ most important priorities,” Rep. Connolly, the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation said in the report’s corresponding press release. “As we empower CIOs with the resources and authorities they need to do their work on behalf of the American people, this feedback is incredibly helpful. It informs our oversight work and helps hold agency leadership accountable to address immediate IT challenges and risk.”
Click here to read the full report and more thoughts directly from the Digital Dozen.
