Max Everett

CIO, Department of Energy

Everett was appointed in July 2017 to oversee the Department of Energy’s information technology portfolio and advise the deputy secretary and secretary. Before that, Everett served as managing director of Fortalice Solutions, heading up cybersecurity and risk assessments, and CIO in the Office of Administration in the Obama White House. Good leadership is about taking on measured risks and allowing senior leaders to occasionally fail working toward stretch goals, he said. “As a technology leader, all the largest problems I have encountered were people problems, not technology,” Everett added. “It takes the right people enabled to solve those problems.”