About Speaker

Ramesh Menon was appointed chief technology officer (CTO), Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), in 2021. He is responsible for technology and strategy planning, experimentation, emerging technology solutions architecture supporting DIA and IC priorities including FVEY partners.

Menon assumed his current position upon his appointment to the SES / DISL-T1. He serves as the CTO and authoritative information technology expert for DIA. He develops a cohesive technological strategy for CIOs, business and mission partner’s capabilities on the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System and in the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Intelligence Information Systems enterprise. Menon serves as the senior DIA technologist and interface to the intelligence community (IC), DOD, military service’s intelligence centers, combatant commands, international partners, national labs, industry and academia. He conducts feasibility assessments of current and future technology trends within the private and public sectors and makes recommendations on adoption that will increase DIA’s decision advantage.

As the CTO, Menon serves as the principal advisor for artificial intelligence to the director and collaborate with other IC and DOD AI leaders. Born in India, Menon earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and an MBA from California State University. He has co-authored three books and has a patent pending for supply chain assurance using blockchain technology.

Menon was previously a CTO in the private sector at IBM and a chief architect at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory leading Artificial Intelligence, cloud, cyber and strategic national security initiatives. He is a member of IEEE congressional delegation on science and technology and an invited frequent guest lecturer on emerging technologies at Johns Hopkins University. Menon was a member of Brookings Institution AI expert panel on autonomous weapon systems and served on space innovation council workgroup along with NASA, SMC and DARPA. He is also a mentor to AFRL catalyst campus, NASA Frontier Development Labs supporting OSINT and EdgeAI to operate in contested spaces.