California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday appointed Ayushi Roy as the state’s next chief technology officer (CTO).
According to the announcement, Roy “has an expansive career leading digital services and transformation across the country. She has spent her career building responsible technologies that improve health and economic outcomes for families.”
Roy has worked with 20 states and 10 federal agencies on technology implementation efforts, according to the California Department of Technology. Her work has included advising 23 state secretaries of Labor and Health and Human Services on responsible artificial intelligence deployment, identifying $450 million in unclaimed tax credits across nine states, and streamlining grants infrastructure for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Roy most recently served as chief program officer at New America’s New Practice Lab, where she worked to improve technology-enabled public programs for low-income families and workers. Her work included research and design efforts with 19 state agencies focused on childcare and early education, tax credits, and paid family and medical leave.
At the New Practice Lab, Roy also worked on electronic health record software to support medical certification, advised revenue agencies on data architecture, and designed a parent survey to inform New York City’s rollout of universal childcare. She also authored an independent report to Congress assessing the feasibility of the IRS Direct File program.
Before joining New America, Roy spent three years at the General Services Administration (GSA), beginning in 2019 as a lead product manager at 18F, where she worked to improve how the federal government builds and buys digital services.
In 2022, Roy served as head of investments for the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF), the governmentwide fund administered by GSA that provides financing to federal agencies for IT modernization projects.
“I am pleased to be appointed to serve my home state as State Chief Technology Officer,” Roy said in a statement. “I’ve spent my career advancing digital services and public outcomes for families across the country. I look forward to working with departments and with industry partners to serve the single largest state population of the nation.”
