Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed former 18F State and Local Government Technology Director Ayushi Roy as the state’s new CTO.Roy has been a lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School since 2022, while also serving as the chief program officer for the New Practice Lab at New America, a Washington, D.C.–based public-policy think tank.
Before that, Roy was senior adviser for the U.S. Technology Modernization Fund at the U.S. General Services Administration and the White House Office of Management and Budget early in the Biden administration.
Roy shares Biden administration experience with the state's new CIO, Chris Given.
Porat stepped down from the state CTO spot for the same role with the civic technology organization Code for America. Porat had been with CDT since December 2022.
As for Roy’s tenure with 18F — the U.S. General Services Administration’s internal consultancy — she served as the director of state and local government technology from 2020 until 2022.
Roy holds a Master of Science degree in urban studies and planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in human rights and Middle Eastern, South Asian and African studies from Columbia University.
The appointment requires Senate confirmation.
