{"slug": "nga-official-assumes-top-ai-role-at-cyber-command", "title": "NGA official assumes top AI role at Cyber Command", "summary": "U.S. Cyber Command confirmed Tuesday that Rear Adm. Ronzelle Green is its new Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, succeeding Brig. Gen. Reid Novotny, who was the command's first CAIO starting last November. Green joins from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, where he spent roughly three years and most recently served as director of geospatial intelligence innovation and research, bringing more than 30 years of IT experience in the private sector and intelligence agencies. Novotny had pushed Cyber Command to adopt the best AI capabilities regardless of origin, saying \"To survive anywhere, just in case our operators want an open-source, made-in-China model or something very boutique, we have to create the infrastructure and that ability to be agile — no politics.", "body_md": "# NGA official assumes top AI role at Cyber Command\n\n## Ronzelle Green steps into the chief artificial intelligence officer role previously held by Reid Novotny, who worked to expand the combatant command’s embrace of new AI capabilities regardless of their origins.\n\nU.S. Cyber Command, the Pentagon’s combatant command responsible for planning and conducting military cyberspace operations, has a new artificial intelligence lead, a spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.\n\n“U.S. Cyber Command welcomes Rear Adm. Ronzelle Green as the Command’s new Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer and thanks Brig. Gen. Reid Novotny for his leadership and service,” a representative for the combatant command told *Nextgov/FCW*.\n\nGreen, who has worked at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for roughly three years — most recently as its director of geospatial intelligence innovation and research — is Cyber Command’s second-ever AI head. Novotny was the first official tapped for the position last November and served in a dual role as CAIO and as cyber force generation lead for the Pentagon.\n\nThe Record first [reported](https://therecord.media/cyber-command-ai-leader-ronzelle-green) the news of Green’s new role.\n\nIn a LinkedIn [post](http://linkedin.com/posts/reid-novotny_im-honored-to-share-that-ive-begun-a-new-share-7395968014304620544-iSec/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAACFP-vEByl1gtlMnHgzIv9PIYJPptzfwbpQ) last year announcing his new position, Novotny said “part of my role is embracing AI because like anything new, it is not the technology but yet the culture that is difficult to change.”\n\nNovotny further outlined his approach to adopting AI during an April [conversation](https://www.axios.com/2026/04/28/cyber-command-ai-models-pentagon-anthropic) with Axios, saying that he was solely focused on providing Cyber Command’s personnel with the best AI capabilities, regardless of their origin.\n\n\"To survive anywhere, just in case our operators want an open-source, made-in-China model or something very boutique, we have to create the infrastructure and that ability to be agile — no politics,” he said at the time.\n\nIn addition to his prior work at NGA, Green also brings more than 30 years of IT experience in the private sector and within intelligence community agencies to his new role as Cyber Command’s CAIO. He previously served as the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency’s chief information officer from 2020 until 2022, and has held roles within the Pentagon and National Counterterrorism Center throughout his career. Green is also a senior officer with the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve.\n\nCyber Command is led by Gen. Joshua Rudd, who also serves as head of the National Security Agency in a dual-hatted leadership role. NSA and Cyber Command, however, have taken somewhat differing approaches in their adoption of and focus on AI.\n\nUnder Rudd’s watch, NSA [is in the process](https://www.nextgov.com/modernization/2026/09/nsa-plans-major-reorganization-new-ai-china-and-cyber-centers/415984/) of a major reorganization that would establish five mission centers focused on AI, China, cybersecurity, combat support and global intelligence. The planned creation of the AI-focused center comes after NSA officials have [voiced support](https://www.nextgov.com/artificial-intelligence/2026/09/nsa-looks-ai-help-analysts-sift-through-vast-data-troves/415835/) in recent months for the use of more AI tools to bolster the agency's cyber and intelligence analysis operations.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/nga-official-assumes-top-ai-role-at-cyber-command", "canonical_source": "https://www.nextgov.com/people/2026/09/nga-official-assumes-top-ai-role-cyber-command/416008/", "published_at": "2026-09-15 21:50:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-15 22:05:53.347532+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["U.S. Cyber Command", "Ronzelle Green", "Reid Novotny", "National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency", "National Security Agency", "Joshua Rudd", "Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency", "Pentagon"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/nga-official-assumes-top-ai-role-at-cyber-command", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/nga-official-assumes-top-ai-role-at-cyber-command.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/nga-official-assumes-top-ai-role-at-cyber-command.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/nga-official-assumes-top-ai-role-at-cyber-command.jsonld"}}