Who’s the SBA’s top tech official? Right now, it’s hard to tell

Marcus Alzona, a technology executive with extensive experience in state Republican politics, may be the new chief information officer of the Small Business Administration. 

Alzona’s LinkedIn profile says he’s held the position “for the Transition” since February, and the website for the CIO Council, which convenes chief information officers from across the federal government, also lists him in the role. 

SBA seems to have removed a reference to Zalona on its CIO Leadership page, while another page refers to him as CIO in one section, but also refers to a predecessor, Steve Kucharski, as the chief information officer, too.

FedScoop asked the Small Business Administration to comment on Alzona and the CIO position on three separate occasions in February but never received a response. Alzona also did not respond to a request for comment from FedScoop last month via LinkedIn. 

Currently, no one is listed under a “Leadership” section of the SBA CIO website, which appears to have been changed several times in recent weeks. On Feb. 8, that page listed Kucharski as the director of the Office of Performance Systems Management, according to a version saved by the Internet Archive. By Feb. 11, the CIO leadership page listed Alzona as the chief information officer and directed viewers to another page describing him as holding the position. But by March 23, the CIO leadership page had removed a reference to Alzona and a URL tied to his name was taken offline. 

Douglas Robertson was listed as the acting deputy CIO on a different part of the SBA website as of publication time. Luis Campudoni, who previously held the role but has since departed the agency, is listed as the deputy chief information officer on a different SBA page. 

Alzona’s LinkedIn says he started the position in February and is responsible for the deputy chief information officer, the chief technology officer, and the chief information security officer. It also states that he serves as SBA’s chief artificial intelligence officer, a position created under the first Trump administration that’s meant to help agencies coalesce their work with the emerging technology. 

Alzona’s LinkedIn states that he’s interested in a variety of technology-focused fields, including blockchain, crypto, and smart cities. According to the profile, he was the founder and chief technologist of a company called Keys Net, did extensive work with the Maryland Republican Party, and provided IT network and security for the second Trump administration’s presidential inauguration committee. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Carnegie Mellon. 

Several new chief information officers have joined federal agencies amid the transition to the new administration, including at the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. At the Energy Department, former SpaceX engineer Ryan Riedel briefly held the top IT role, before Twitter and Google alum Ross Graber took over this month.  

Matt Bracken contributed reporting.