Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao has named M. Barry Tanner as the service's permanent chief information officer, handing a 31-year naval veteran control of a $12 billion technology portfolio at a moment when the Pentagon is racing to push artificial intelligence onto the battlefield.

Cao announced the appointment August 18, framing it in blunt warfighting terms. Tanner will advise the acting secretary, oversee the Navy's entire information-technology enterprise, and drive two flagship initiatives: the Department of the Navy's Information Superiority Vision 2.0 and a broader strategy the service calls "weaponizing data and AI."

The appointment lands in a year when the Trump administration has made defense modernization a stated priority, and when the relationship between Silicon Valley's biggest AI firms and the U.S. military is shifting fast. Tanner's mandate is to make sure sailors and Marines get the digital tools they need before the next crisis, not after it.

Cao calls information "a critical weapon system"

In a statement released with the announcement, Cao left no ambiguity about what he expects from his new CIO.

"To win in a contested maritime environment, our Sailors and Marines must have absolute decision superiority. The modern battlefield is defined by data, secure communication and rapid decision-making. Information is a critical weapon system, and Mr. Tanner's unparalleled experience, both as a veteran naval officer and a cutting-edge digital leader, makes him the ideal choice to spearhead our digital modernization."

Cao added that Tanner "will ensure our fleet has the lethal, secure and resilient cyber capabilities needed to defeat any adversary." The language tracks with a broader push across the Defense Department to treat networks, data pipelines, and AI-enabled decision-making as front-line capabilities rather than back-office support functions.

The Navy has been working through significant leadership changes this year. In July, Cao appointed John Cremins, a former Navy SEAL officer, as the new deputy under secretary of the Navy for Intelligence and Security, a civilian post responsible for advising on policy, oversight, and resourcing of intelligence activities. And earlier in August, President Trump announced a round of key military appointments across the Navy and Space Force, including the selection of John D. Saccomando as rear admiral. Saccomando, who had been serving as commander of the Naval Air Force Reserve in San Diego, was assigned as chief of Navy Reserve and commander of Navy Reserve Forces at the Pentagon.

The administration has not been shy about making significant personnel moves across the armed services, and the Tanner appointment fits a pattern of placing people with operational backgrounds into positions that have sometimes been treated as bureaucratic placeholders.

Tanner brings three decades in uniform and a digital portfolio

Tanner is a Jefferson City, Missouri, native and a 1991 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He rose to the rank of captain over a 31-year active and reserve career that included multiple unit command and major staff director assignments. Before his elevation to permanent CIO, he served as deputy CIO and director of operations for the Navy's Program Executive Office for Digital and Enterprise, the office responsible for much of the service's IT modernization work.

That combination of fleet experience and technology management is exactly what the role demands. The Navy's CIO oversees a $12 billion IT portfolio, a figure that reflects not just email servers and office networks but the classified communications, satellite links, cybersecurity architecture, and emerging AI tools that modern naval operations depend on.

Tanner struck a tone that matched his boss's urgency. In his own statement, he said he was "deeply honored to serve the Navy-Marine Corps team as chief information officer" and made clear he views data delivery as a combat function.

"In today's high-end fight, secure, reliable and instantaneous data delivery is just as critical to our war fighters as any kinetic weapon system. I look forward to working closely with Acting Secretary Cao, department leaders and our partners across the industry to accelerate the weaponization of data and AI. Together, we will deliver modern, resilient enterprise services that provide our Sailors and Marines with the digital dominance required to fight and win."

The phrase "weaponization of data and AI" will raise eyebrows in certain corners of the tech world, but inside the Pentagon it reflects a straightforward goal: getting actionable intelligence to the right commander at the right time, faster than the adversary can respond. That is the gap the Navy's Information Superiority Vision 2.0 is designed to close.

AI firms face growing pressure to cooperate with the military

Tanner's appointment arrives against a backdrop of friction between the Defense Department and some of the AI industry's biggest players. In February, President Trump said he would direct federal agencies to stop using technology from Anthropic after the AI developer refused a demand to give the U.S. military full access to its tools. The specifics of that demand, who made it, what level of access was sought, and on what terms, remain unclear, but the administration's response sent a signal: companies that want federal contracts cannot wall off the military.

OpenAI took a different path. In March, the company said it had agreed to changes to a deal with the U.S. government over the use of its technology in classified military operations. The nature of those changes has not been publicly detailed, but the willingness to negotiate stands in contrast to Anthropic's posture.

For Tanner, the practical question is how to build AI structures within the Navy that work regardless of which vendor is in or out of favor. His mandate includes establishing those frameworks, and doing so at a pace that keeps up with adversaries, chiefly China, who are pouring resources into their own military AI programs.

The Navy's relationship with the tech sector has been complicated for years, and the CIO role sits at the intersection of procurement, security, and operational need. Getting it right matters more now than it did a decade ago.

Congress sets ambitious force targets as the Navy grows

The digital push is happening alongside a broader military buildup. The National Defense Authorization Act still being drafted in Congress sets a target of more than 1.3 million total active-duty personnel across all branches, the highest figure since 2023. The Army would grow to 454,000 soldiers, and the Navy would expand to 334,600 sailors.

Meeting those numbers requires more than recruiting slogans. The Navy is already dangling significant money to fill critical billets. A naval administrative message issued July 26 laid out a bonus structure for aviators: up to $37,000 over a two-year obligation or $129,000 over a three-year commitment under certain conditions. Aviators may also qualify for a $10,000 annual Sea Duty Incentive, though those who take the three-year contract face a cap of $7,000 in additional annual sea duty pay, bringing the potential total to $150,000.

Those retention incentives reflect a service that knows it cannot modernize its technology if it cannot keep experienced people in uniform. A $12 billion IT portfolio is only as good as the sailors and Marines trained to use the systems it funds.

The Navy is already weighing billions in other structural investments, and the CIO appointment signals that digital infrastructure will compete for attention alongside ships and aircraft.

Cao's leadership team takes shape

With Tanner in place as permanent CIO and Cremins installed as deputy under secretary for Intelligence and Security, Cao is assembling a leadership bench that leans heavily on operational military backgrounds. Cremins's SEAL pedigree and Tanner's three decades of fleet and staff experience suggest a deliberate preference for people who have worn the uniform over career civilians or political appointees with no service record.

That approach tracks with the broader tone the Trump administration has set for the Defense Department. The emphasis is on readiness, lethality, and speed, not process, not committees, not the kind of risk-averse bureaucratic caution that has historically slowed Pentagon technology adoption by years.

Whether Tanner can deliver on the ambitious language in his and Cao's statements will depend on execution: cutting through procurement red tape, holding vendors accountable, and getting working tools into the hands of the fleet. The Navy has no shortage of high-profile decisions on its plate right now, and the CIO's office will touch most of them.

The administration has also navigated friction within its own defense leadership ranks. Cao's working relationship with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has drawn attention, particularly after public contradictions between the two on policy questions earlier this year. Tanner's appointment, made squarely under Cao's authority, is a reminder that the acting secretary is moving ahead with his own vision for the service.

In a military that talks constantly about great-power competition, the CIO job is no longer a back-office role. It is a warfighting position. Tanner's challenge is to make sure the Navy's digital backbone is as ready as its carrier strike groups, because the next fight will be won or lost on both.