en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Trump administration is considering Palantir Technologies Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar to lead the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters revealed that Sankar has emerged as a leading candidate for the long-vacant position. A White House official later pushed back, stating, "That is not accurate at this time."
Sankar, 44, has worked at Miami-based Palantir for over 20 years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before becoming CTO in 2023, he served as the company's Chief Operating Officer for nearly 17 years.
CISA has lacked a Senate-confirmed director since Jen Easterly resigned in January 2025. Previously nominated Sean Plankey withdrew from consideration in April after key senators blocked a confirmation vote. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin told lawmakers on Wednesday that the administration is close to nominating a candidate. The agency has been led by acting director Nick Andersen since February.
Mullin stated that the administration has identified a candidate and will make a nomination soon, noting that this person has the ability to recruit talent and focus on the agency's existing authorities, expressing hope that CISA will become a leader in cybersecurity. News of Sankar's potential nomination follows the administration's release of an artificial intelligence executive order on Tuesday.
Palantir has deep ties to the Trump administration and is highly focused on artificial intelligence. The big data analytics company has become a major enterprise and defense AI supplier. Government officials are increasingly concerned about cybersecurity threats and opportunities posed by AI, particularly weeks after Anthropic's Mythos platform emerged as a technology capable of detecting and targeting zero-day vulnerabilities without human intervention.
The final version of the executive order was scaled back from an earlier draft, which was pulled at the last minute after former White House AI and cryptocurrency czar David Sacks warned the president it could threaten U.S. competitiveness and innovation. The latest version shortened the voluntary review period from 90 to 30 days. In the executive order, CISA is listed as one of the key agencies responsible for implementing the president's vision. Since Trump began his second term, the agency has faced layoffs and budget cuts and is expected to release a binding operational directive by Friday outlining actions other federal agencies must take to advance the order.
Sankar was previously considered to lead the Pentagon's research and engineering division. In a February op-ed published by Fox News, he wrote that if handled properly, AI could be a blessing for civilization, and that bureaucracy should be eliminated rather than adding more regulations.
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