In April 2022, the CIA decided to appoint Nand Mulchandani as its first Chief Technology Officer. Looks good for the CIA. Mulchandani, who previously served as CTO and acting director of the Defense Department's joint Artificial Intelligence Center, is a rare breed in Washington. Before becoming a public servant, he co-founded and was CEO of Bay Area outfits with almost ridiculous Silicon Valley names: Oblix, Determina, OpenDNS and ScaleXtreme, all of them shot at a tech titan (Oracle, VMWare, Cisco and Citrix, respectively).
Mulchandani may soon be surrounded by founders and technologists as the Trump administration rushes to Washington alongside adviser Elon Musk.
Mulchandani recently spoke about the move and its potential implications — and whether he hopes to be involved. Mulchandani was not hand-picked by the president, as his boss, CIA Director William Burns, is stepping down and will be replaced by John Ratcliffe, a former congressman from Texas, as President-elect Trump's director of national intelligence. During Trump's first term.
The following has been edited for length.
What are they talking about right now before the Trump administration?
The big picture is that no one thinks there will be a big change in technology and China. When director Burns came in, His focus and reorientation and emphasis on this agency is fundamentally based on great power competition. The way we like to talk about it is that kinetic warfare (i.e. conventional warfare) happens all the time in the world, obviously. But the competition of the new generation is the economic competition and the main point of the technological competition. So the way he sets strategic priorities for the agency is basically focusing on China. This again leads to technology. So starting (Two new mission centers In 2021, One focuses on China; (the latter is dedicated to transnational and technological threats) and the creation of the CTO role is one of the major organizational changes he has made. Honestly… these will probably be a priority for the incoming administration…
We've been hearing a lot about DOGE and Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's plans to shrink — or at least offer their suggestions for the size of government. Has anyone in Musk's camp talked to anyone at the CIA? Jared Birchall, head of Musk's family office, reportedly spoke for example. State House candidates.
I can't exactly say presidential transitions across the government. What I can say – DOGE itself will not comment, but one of the main topics we are pushing is the use of technology in government and government processes. . . Use AI and other pieces to bring precision and scale to our operations. So I can't comment on exactly what they are trying to achieve. Is it a cost? Is the technology deployed at scale? Our focus is kind of all of the above. . . . I mean, it's crazy to focus on that and not focus on it in a big way.
In any transition, you have people trying to assess what their priorities should be. What do these priorities say at the CIA?
There are problems that will always be green. One is our focus on data insights, which may sound like buzzword bingo, but especially AI – using it (the right way should be a priority). If we had a whiteboard, what I would draw for you is a funnel of data that exists in the world and is growing. As an intelligence agency; We collect human intelligence; electronics, Very hungry for geospatial data. . . That's the point of intelligence. The problem is that the volume and size and scale of traffic and data is growing every day, and there's always more data to absorb – some good, some bad. Some are garbage. As that trend grows without limit, We need to continually rework our infrastructure and systems and applications. . .
Number 2 is the idea of the growth of defense technology and the disruptive Silicon Valley companies that now rely on military technology and national security to service us with products and services. That trend is important for us to continue to support.
Another of the big (and related) initiatives we're working on is: How do we dramatically lower the bar to enterprise technology adoption? It's called an inbound arc. On the other hand, how do we implement our needs? Therefore, as a spy agency, As an intelligence agency; We have our problems, set of problems They are not culturally aligned to talk externally about initiatives and strategic things. We have traditionally been very quiet or very cold about these things. Obviously we need to categorize our business, but now we're starting next month or investors. There is another initiative to talk directly with VCs and startups (about them, the need). . . Opposed to a tactical focus on acquisitions or acquisitions or other segments only.
Speaking of VCs, what do you think personally like Marc Andreessen? Counseling. Employing President-elect Trump? Obviously, He is very intelligent; But sometimes skill sets are not transferable to other industries.
I mean, it's out of my pay grade. I mean, I know a lot of these people; They are crazy and smart. I'll give you my personal experience – and obviously it's impossible to advise the president directly on non-technical matters. But what is happening is that the former CEO, As a businessman, one of the things I often talk about at our leadership level agency is business models. I hope my CS degree qualifies me for (technology). The other part of the experience that I bring to the table is that I've run these businesses and made business decisions. And my sense is that experience and that perspective are incredibly valuable in Washington. Sometimes it's about business models in government. How to make things really effective How to scale How technology disrupts business models; I feel like we don't often talk about how to open up new business models. A lot of the projects I've brought on or been involved in, I've always tried to open up: How is our business model changing at the CIA? The world of AI as a human intelligence organization in the world of technology; In the world of great power competition, In a world of tough targets to keep our business running, What do the CIA's five business models look like? 10, 20 years How will it change from now on?
You are not a political appointee. If that was an option, would you want to stay or would you be ready to return to Silicon Valley? I know you've been traveling between coasts for the past five years.
It's a conversation I have with my wife and kids almost every day. Actually, I'm in the East Bay (San Francisco) where we live now. My wife has got her career. Our children are doing well. There are relatives nearby. So almost every week I was going to Washington or whatever agency and DOD (before that) sent me or wherever I was needed. And I have to be honest with you. The mileage is now showing. . .
I think the broader issue is that DC doesn't have enough people from the Valley. That's something I'm very worried about. When I look around in DC, It means (they have) deep roots in the valley, and you can count on one hand the number of people in positions like mine. It's a big commitment, especially for those with children and families.
Can we see the day the CIA creates a second hub on the West Coast?
We are now well settled in our headquarters (Langley, Virginia). But who knows if they bring some fresh thinking to this administration and want more people involved in technology.