- Permanent title, familiar portfolio: Tanner moves from acting to permanent CIO after months in an acting capacity
- $12B+ IT footprint: He now formally owns the DON’s technology investments and data-and-AI strategy execution
- Speaking appearance: POC’s 2026 Navy Summit will mark his first major public appearance carrying the permanent title
Acting Secretary of the Navy and Wash100 Award winner Hung Cao has named Barry Tanner as the permanent chief information officer of the Department of the Navy, the sea service announced Tuesday. Tanner will serve as principal technology advisor to the secretary and oversee a $12 billion-plus information technology portfolio spanning the Navy and Marine Corps.
Government contractors will not have to wait long to hear directly from him in the role. Tanner headlines an afternoon keynote at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Navy Summit on Aug. 27 at the Falls Church Marriott Fairview Park, giving industry its first shot at hearing how the Navy’s newly permanent CIO plans to wield the title, just over a week after taking it on. Register now before tickets sell out!
The appointment closes out a monthslong transition. Tanner began performing the duties of CIO this spring after Jane Rathbun’s departure in December, according to Federal News Network. He had served roughly two years as deputy CIO before that.
What Is Tanner’s Mandate as CIO?
Cao framed the appointment around the Navy’s push to treat data as a warfighting asset.
“Information is a critical weapon system, and Mr. Tanner’s unparalleled experience, both as a veteran naval officer and a cutting-edge digital leader, makes him the ideal choice to spearhead our digital modernization,” Cao said in a statement.
Tanner is charged with driving the DON’s Information Superiority Vision 2.0 and its strategy to weaponize data and artificial intelligence, or AI. His stated focus areas include:
- Standing up artificial intelligence infrastructure across the Navy and Marine Corps enterprise
- Executing zero trust architecture department-wide
- Advancing cryptographic modernization
- Driving cyber readiness across the fleet
“In today’s high-end fight, secure, reliable, and instantaneous data delivery is just as critical to our warfighters as any kinetic weapon system,” Tanner said. “I look forward to working closely with Acting Secretary Cao, Department leaders, and our partners across the industry to accelerate the weaponization of data and AI.”
Acting Secretary Cao will also deliver an in-person keynote the 2026 Navy Summit on Aug. 27. Don’t miss this packed-full day of GovCon insights and usable military technology information!
How Did Tanner Get Here?
As deputy CIO, Tanner evolved Operation Cattle Drive, the Navy’s initiative to consolidate and sunset legacy IT systems, implemented key elements of the Cyber Ready initiative and managed delivery of the Navy’s enterprise networks.
Before that, he served as director of operations for the Navy’s Program Executive Office for Digital and Enterprise Services, or PEO Digital, coordinating more than 300 personnel delivering cloud platforms, digital workplaces and infrastructure. His private-sector résumé includes a decade in Booz Allen Hamilton‘s Strategic Innovation Group, most recently as a senior associate focused on digital technology implementation.
Tanner’s military career spans 31 years of active and reserve service as a Naval officer, retiring at the rank of captain. He served as staff G6 for the Central Corps Advisory Group in Afghanistan supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, and later as assistant chief of staff for communications, or N6, and deputy CIO for U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/Tenth Fleet.
Why Should GovCons Care?
A permanent CIO — rather than an acting or performing-duties official — gives industry a steadier hand to plan against on the DON’s data, AI and cyber priorities, all areas where the department has signaled it wants to move fast and spend accordingly across its multibillion-dollar IT portfolio.
That makes the 2026 Navy Summit essential viewing for anyone chasing DON technology dollars. Tanner’s peer keynote lineup that day also includes Cao, Vice Adm. Brad Skillman (the Navy’s de facto chief financial officer) and Vice Adm. Rob Gaucher (its new head of submarines), with sessions covering autonomy at scale, digital shipbuilding, network modernization and unmanned vehicle partnerships — a full-spectrum look at where the Navy’s IT and data priorities are headed under its new permanent CIO.
Make sure you’re in the room with these powerful decision-makers. Sign up for the Navy Summit now!
