Gundeep Ahluwalia leaving Department of Labor after 8 years as CIO

Gundeep Ahluwalia is stepping down from his role as Department of Labor CIO after nearly eight years on the job.

In a letter to staff, obtained by FedScoop, Ahluwalia wrote that Friday will be his last day at the department, which he joined in August 2016 as deputy CIO. After roughly two months in that job, he was named CIO in October 2016.

“As I think back over the last eight years, there have been so many successes and milestones that propelled DOL’s digital infrastructure by leaps and bounds above other agencies,” Ahluwalia wrote to staff. “When the team chose the slogan and decided to be the ‘best in federal service’ almost seven years ago, many of us had our doubts, but as the saying goes, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going!’ and that is exactly what happened. Our successes in creating novel funding mechanisms, TMF wins, legendary TechDay, creating resilient infrastructure, websites, applications, mobile applications, data infrastructure, cybersecurity, AI, and emerging technologies are all things I can talk about for days!”

In his note, Ahluwalia called the department’s biggest accomplishment during his time its “ability to attract talent and create leaders.”

“We have a formidable leadership factory,” he said. “I have never seen so many talented, competent, and diverse group of professionals in one place. The team is always thinking of ways to get it done, constantly innovating to improve delivery at a lower cost.”

Ahluwalia, a winner of multiple FedScoop 50 awards, oversaw the Department of Labor’s IT portfolio during a period of major transformation, including the department’s work to modernize unemployment benefits delivery with states during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under his leadership, DOL has also been a frequent winner of Technology Modernization Fund awards — five times in total for projects such as data modernization, cybersecurity, faster processing of permanent labor certifications and streamlining the Integrated Federal Employee Compensation System.

Ahluwalia spoke with FedScoop earlier this year at the 2024 AWS Innovate Day about how new technologies like artificial intelligence could impact Labor’s multi-faceted mission.

“Every time I say gen AI, my team makes me put a dollar in the jar now,” he joked. “But I think AI — and all the other capabilities that we’ve had: [robotic process automation], blockchain — we need to be mission-focused rather than thinking of it from a technology perspective, and that’s what my team is trying to do right now.”

Ahluwalia pointed to examples like worker’s compensation claims and injuries submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as mission areas that can be made more efficient with AI.

Ahluwalia did not reveal what he would do after leaving the Labor Department.

Federal News Network first reported Ahluwalia’s departure.