Tim Persons, the chief scientist and managing director of Science, Technology Assessment and Analytics team at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), left the agency to join the private sector.
According to a Jan. 12 LinkedIn post, Persons started a new position at PwC as a partner in its Digital Assurance and Transparency business.
“I look forward to partnering with [PwC] to build trust for PwC’s current and future clients – especially to bring assurance in and for artificial intelligence, machine learning, and digital ecosystems,” Persons wrote on his social media post.
In this new role, Persons will help PwC clients across a variety of industries with digital transformation projects, including artificial intelligence, blockchain, and data algorithms.
Persons has worked at GAO since 2008 and on the Federal IT side of government since 2001, with time at the National Security Agency and in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
During his nearly 15 years at the watchdog agency, Persons founded GAO’s first Innovation Lab to conduct cloud IT and cybersecurity research.
Wes Bricker, PwC’s vice chair of Trust Solutions wrote, “Tim brings a wealth of experience in trust building from his time as Chief Scientist at the US Government Accountability Office and I couldn’t be more excited for the knowledge and know-how he’ll bring to our teams.”
GAO told MeriTalk that the agency has instated Karen Howard to serve as the acting chief scientist while they “embark on a nationwide search to fill this important position.”
“We are grateful to Dr. Tim Persons for his years of service to GAO and his contributions to the creation of our Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics team,” GAO said.
They continued, “Our staff includes experts in a wide variety of science & technology fields such as microbiology, chemistry, quantum mechanics, public health, nuclear physics, data analytics, aerospace engineering, and more. We are well positioned to continue providing Congress with support in these and other critical areas.”
