Securing AI for Government: Zero Trust in an AI-Driven World

Senior Advisor to the CIO

Mr. Ajay Phogat brings decades of extensive technical, managerial, and executive leadership experience from the private sector to his distinguished career at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). He has been an integral part of CBP’s Office of Information and Technology (OIT) for 20 years. Mr. Phogat currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the CBP Chief Information Officer (CIO) in the areas of Cybersecurity, Emerging Technologies, Strategy and Governance.

Mr. Phogat leads and advises on several CIO priority items and continues to provide guidance and leadership to OIT programs. Prior to his current role, Mr. Phogat led the modernization of the ACE Portal to a cloud Platform. Additionally, he used his deep expertise in both the Legacy Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and the modernized ACE to ensure the Disaster Recovery and Resiliency of these critical systems. He led the creation of a standardized DevSecOps pipeline for cloud migration using Gitlab, spearheading Robotic Process Automation (RPA) bot innovation, and managing multiple application development teams.

His innovative work on the “Tuna bot” earned him the DHS Secretary’s Award for Innovation in 2022. He is a strong advocate for national and international trusted partnerships, actively engaging with agencies such as the FDA, USDA, DOE, IRS, and B5M5. His leadership and impact were recognized when he was named one of the 50 trailblazers in DHS for 2024. Under the guidance of CBP Assistant Commissioner and Chief Information Officer Sonny Bhagowalia, Mr. Phogat was key in formalizing a Center of Excellence (COE) structure to enhance government delivery efficiency for key focus areas for the agency.

Mr. Phogat’s academic background is exceptionally comprehensive, including a Master of Science Degree in Strategic Information and Cyberspace Studies from the National Defense University. He also holds a Master of Business Administration Degree from Olin School of Business, Washington University in St. Louis, and a Master’s Degree in Information Management (specializing in Information Resource Management) from Henry Edwin Sever School of Engineering and Applied Science, Washington University in St. Louis. Further degrees include a Law Degree from the University of Delhi, a Master’s Degree in English from Maharishi Dayanand University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Science from the University of Pune, India.

His commitment to professional development is evident through his 2019 Fellowship from the Excellence in Government Fellowship Program by the Partnership for Public Service. He is also a 2020 graduate of the prestigious Chief Information Officer (CIO) Certificate program and holds a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Certificate, both from the National Defense University (NDU).

In his personal time, Mr. Phogat enjoys reading, spending time with his family, and volunteering within his community, including service in the DHS Volunteer Force.