— Former Microsoft executive Kurt DelBene was confirmed on Thursday by the Senate as the CIO and assistant secretary for information and technology at the Department of Veterans Affairs. He was nominated by President Biden in November.
The former Microsoft Office president, whose recent role included leading the company’s pandemic response, retired from the Seattle-area tech giant earlier this year after more than 27 years across two stints.
DelBene left the company in 2013 and spent seven months as senior advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, appointed by then-President Obama to address problems with the Healthcare.gov web portal.
He then returned to Microsoft in 2015 to lead corporate strategy and coordinate engineering functions across the company, reporting to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
In his new role, DelBene will manage the tech portfolio and cybersecurity for major divisions at the VA, reported FCW.
DelBene was also a venture partner at Seattle’s Madrona Venture Group. He is the husband of U.S. Rep Suzan DelBene, a former Microsoft exec herself whose district includes Redmond, Wash., home of Microsoft.
