GSA Emerging Tech Leader Heads to the Private Sector

One of the General Services Administration’s biggest emerging tech advocates is leaving the government for the private sector.

Justin Herman, who leads GSA’s Emerging Citizen Technology Office, announced Monday he was stepping down from his post at the end of the week. On Jan. 14, he will join the cloud communications platform Twilio to head its public sector practice.

“It has been an extraordinary honor for me to serve alongside so many of you in the advancement of new technologies and solutions to improve the public services that help ensure a better American way of life for all,” Herman said in a LinkedIn post.

Since joining GSA in 2012, Herman has pushed agencies to expand their use of robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, blockchain, virtual reality and other innovative tech. He previously oversaw a portfolio of federal efforts to connect with citizens using social media.

Herman was also involved in bringing agencies onboard the Technology Modernization Fund and served on the White House National Science and Technology Council’s machine learning and artificial intelligence subcommittee.

An outspoken foe of unwieldy bureaucracy, Herman advised feds to work together across organizational silos and not get comfortable with the status quo.

“Next time you find yourself faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges, if you could, please give the bureaucratic status quo a little extra Hell, just for me, for old times’ sake,” he said in his post.