NASA appoints first chief AI officer as the technology’s importance rises

NASA has appointed David Salvagnini as its first chief AI officer (CAIO) in a move that underlines the expanding role artificial intelligence is expected to play in the agency’s programs.

According to the official release, his role will involve developing the agency’s AI programs in conjunction with academia, industry partners, and other parts of government.

This expands on the chief data officer role he has been performing since he joined NASA in June 2023. Before that, Salvagnini served the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as director and chief architect of the architecture and integration group after a 21-year US Air Force career.

Salvagnini has extensive experience across a range of engineering programs, including those involving AI.

AI and NASA

NASA’s use of AI goes back decades. Indeed, the agency must count as one of its pioneers and can claim to have been an important influence on its evolution over the past 30 years.

However, two issues have elevated the idea that the technology needs a figurehead to take responsibility for its direction within the agency, something that’s being replicated across other US government departments.

The official reason is the mandated appointment of a CAIO as required by President Biden’s Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.

As required by Biden’s executive order, all federal agencies must appoint chief AI officers to not only coordinate the agency’s use of AI but also put safeguards in place to protect human rights and maintain public safety. The US Department of Justice, for example, recently appointed Princeton professor Jonathan Mayer to be its first CAIO.

Another influence is the recent expansion in AI use within NASA. Although popularly seen as an agency that sends people and objects into space, NASA’s day job increasingly involves grappling with huge volumes of data generated by these endeavors.

This comes from multiple sources, including satellites, telescopes, and space missions, as well as monitoring data connected to research on climate change and exoplanet detection.

This comes from multiple sources, including satellites, telescopes, and space missions, as well as monitoring data connected to research on climate change and exoplanet detection.

The CAIO walks among us

Until recently, AI would have been viewed in most organizations as primarily an engineering issue. But the emergence of generative AI in particular has transformed AI into a strategic and business priority. As a result, the job title of CAIO is catching on in government organizations and business boardrooms alike.

According to research by Foundry from late 2023, 11% of midsize organizations had appointed someone to this role with another 21% looking to appoint a CAIO at some point.

That’s despite early evidence that AI can be a difficult role to be tasked with in organizations where the technology often remains unfamiliar or misunderstood.

What’s clear is that Salvagnini has the chance to carve out an important role for himself. In many US agencies, the use of AI is experimental. In NASA, by contrast, it is a fundamental tool without which its work would be hard to imagine.

A critical theme will be security. As AI becomes more embedded in agencies such as NASA, defending it is becoming a job in itself.

“Artificial intelligence has been safely used at NASA for decades, and as this technology expands, it can accelerate the pace of discovery,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

“It’s important that we remain at the forefront of advancement and responsible use. In this new role, David will lead NASA’s efforts to guide our agency’s responsible use of AI in the cosmos and on Earth to benefit all humanity.”