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Microsoft hires Oki Mek as CISO for federal civilian sector

Mek was previously chief AI officer at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Oki Mek, HHS; Greg Sisson, DOE
Oki Mek, right, and Greg Sisson participate in a panel discussion June 20, 2019, at Cloud Smart Talks presented by Nutanix and produced by FedScoop (FedScoop)

Microsoft hired Oki Mek as its chief information security officer for the federal civilian sector.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ first chief artificial intelligence officer, Mek departed in February after only a year in the role.

Mek oversaw the release of HHS’s first-ever AI Strategy in 2021 and the launch of its AI website earlier this year, which listed his 2022 priorities including increasing employee skills through the AI Community of Practice and having the AI Council issue guidance on ethical algorithms.

“As a veteran and a lifelong civil servant, I am privileged to be given the opportunity to continue to support the federal government and to help strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity posture,” Mek wrote on his LinkedIn page. “Thank you to everyone at Microsoft for welcoming me to the family.”

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Mek spent 11-and-a-half years at HHS. Before that he worked at the Department of Energy and served in the Army National Guard.

Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

Dave Nyczepir

Written by Dave Nyczepir

Dave Nyczepir is a technology reporter for FedScoop. He was previously the news editor for Route Fifty and, before that, the education reporter for The Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs, California. He covered the 2012 campaign cycle as the staff writer for Campaigns & Elections magazine and Maryland’s 2012 legislative session as the politics reporter for Capital News Service at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he earned his master’s of journalism.

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