State Department’s top data and AI official departs

Matthew Graviss led the agency’s implementation of artificial intelligence, including its internal AI chatbot.

February 11, 2025

Listen to this article

0:00

This feature uses an automated voice, which may result in occasional errors in pronunciation, tone, or sentiment.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) and the department's chief data and artificial intelligence Officer, Matthew Graviss (left), spoke to department employees about artificial intelligence capabilities in June. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

Matthew Graviss, the Department of State’s first chief data and artificial intelligence officer, has left the agency, a spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

Graviss began as the department’s chief data officer in 2020 as the first person to hold the full-time role at the agency, in addition to serving as the agency’s top AI official.

In a LinkedIn post about his move, Graviss called his time at the department an “incredible journey” and said he was proud of the work to modernize the agency. “But beyond the technology, I’m most grateful for playing a small role in transforming the culture — helping State embrace the power of tech to drive diplomacy,” Graviss said.

The department’s acting chief data and AI officer is Amy Ritualo, the spokesperson said.

As the department’s top data and AI official, Graviss led State in its efforts to use the technology for its workforce, including the launch of its internal AI chatbot, StateChat.

In an interview with FedScoop last year about the department’s AI uses, Graviss said State was focused on “AI technologies that benefit the workforce,” adding that “in a lot of ways, that’s by gaining them efficiency in their day-to-day work.”

StateChat serves as an internal version of a ChatGPT-like tool that can help State officials around the world draft emails, translate documents, or even brainstorm. Under Graviss’s direction, State also introduced a tool to summarize and analyze news stories, known as Northstar, and another chatbot aimed at helping workers search the Foreign Affairs Manual, called FAM Search.

On a panel about AI with then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken last year, Graviss said that the department’s philosophy with AI was to get it out for people to use, make sure it’s secure, and let the best use cases inevitably rise to the top.

Before his role at the Department of State, Graviss held leadership roles at the Department of Homeland Security, including chief data officer of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and worked in the private sector.