VA taps Zack Schwartz for OIT’s principal deputy assistant secretary

The Department of Veterans Affairs has tapped former government technology leader Zack Schwartz to serve as the next principal deputy assistant secretary for the agency’s Office of Information and Technology. 

In this role, Schwartz will “oversee technology strategy, daily IT operations, cybersecurity, systems modernization, and service delivery across the department,” VA Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence wrote in a LinkedIn post Monday. 

Schwartz will work under Lawrence, who also serves as the agency’s acting chief information officer and assistant secretary for OIT. 

Schwartz joins the VA with more than a decade of government IT experience, having previously served at the Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau. These roles involved work on modernization and agency-wide transformation initiatives, Lawrence said. 

Schwartz announced the move on LinkedIn Sunday evening, writing that he appreciates “the many colleagues across VA who supported my transition and welcomed me into the role.”

“Honored to serve veterans through secure and reliable technology,” he added. 

Schwartz most recently served as the chief information and technology officer at Events DC, an events hosting company, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has also served as a reserve patrol officer in Washington, D.C., and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and international business from American University. 

He will replace Eddie Pool, who served as acting CIO until last December, when he transitioned to OIT’s acting principal deputy assistant secretary. OIT’s leadership roles have faced uncertainty for several months. Ryan Cote, who previously served as the Transportation Department’s CIO in the first Trump administration, was nominated to serve as the assistant secretary for OIT role last July, but President Donald Trump withdrew it just weeks later.