Vivek Kundra

In this newly created position, Kundra, 34, is tasked with getting the most from the more than $70 billion the federal government invests annually in information-technology products and services. That's a lot of responsibility compared to the $70 million annual budget he oversaw as the District of Columbia's chief technology officer, where he drew acclaim for his embrace of strategies such as cloud computing and crowd-sourcing. He has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in information technology, both from the University of Maryland (College Park). In Virginia, he earlier served as assistant secretary of commerce and technology under Gov. Tim Kaine. His White House service started with a blip when he was placed on leave after an FBI investigation uncovered corruption at his former office in D.C. Kaine, who is also chairman of the Democratic National Committee, weighed in to get him reinstated. "Everywhere I look, people talk about how the private sector is ahead of the federal government and the federal government can't lead," Kundra says. "I reject that idea."

Search Decision Makers