FTC CIO Mark Gray Departs After 6 Years

The Federal Trade Commission’s CIO, Mark Gray, has become the latest agency IT chief to leave the role. Gray joined the FTC in 2020 after serving 26 years in the U.S. Army.

According to the FTC’s public affairs office, Gray “has left the agency,” but it is unclear who will replace him. The FTC website and Gray’s LinkedIn page still list him as the CIO. 

He joins a string of other CIOs who have recently resigned or announced their upcoming departure.

• On Thursday, reports indicated that Pavan Pidugu, CIO of Transportation Department, would leave the role in September. Pidugu, who took over in February 2025, previously served as CTO for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), where he developed an outcome-oriented digital strategy and roadmap to help the agency serve carriers, commercial vehicle drivers and law enforcement agencies responsible for transportation safety.
• On Tuesday, the Office of Management and Budget confirmed that Federal CIO Gregory Barbaccia’s last day will be Aug. 31. Barbaccia became federal CIO in January 2025, soon after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Barbaccia, according to LinkedIn, is a former Army intelligence sergeant with years of experience in the private sector, including at Palantir and Elementus. In February, he was also appointed acting director for Technology Transformation Services (TTS) and senior advisor to the administrator at the General Services Administration, in addition to his CIO role at OMB.
• On Monday, the Interior Department indicated that CIO Paul McInerny, who served as CIO since May 2025, had already left his post. McInerny previously worked at SpaceX where he led the software organization during its formative Dragon and Falcon 9 missions.  

For his part, Gray served concurrently as the FTC’s CIO, CDO and chief AI officer, overseeing initiatives spanning artificial intelligence governance, cloud modernization and zero trust cybersecurity. One of his most significant initiatives was implementing AI governance across the commission.

In response to OMB requirements, the FTC published its AI Compliance Plan and AI Use Case Inventory, documenting how the agency inventories AI applications, evaluates risks and oversees deployment. The agency also established a Data and AI Governance Board to provide cross-functional oversight of AI use cases and policy development. 

Most recently, FTC received a $14.6 million Technology Modernization Fund award to build a cloud-based analytics platform capable of processing large investigative datasets using AI-enabled tools. According to the FTC, the investment is expected to accelerate investigative analysis and improve the agency’s ability to process complex evidence in support of enforcement actions. 

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