Rajiv Rao

Chief Technology Officer, New York State Office of Information Technology Services

Rajiv Rao is an IT executive veteran with 23+ years of experience. He was named Chief Technology Officer for the NYS Office of Information Technology Services in December 2015. As Chief Technology Officer, Rajiv is dedicated to leading New York State’s innovative technology solutions and roadmap. He is responsible for the building and operation of all core infrastructure services, engineering, architecture, and advancing standards, as well as exploring long-term technology objectives that deliver enormous value to NYS such as containerization, data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Rajiv was the chief architect of the design and build of New York State’s Excelsior Cloud, the primary consolidated data center located in the largest zero energy, multi-use facility in the world. The Excelsior Cloud provides high levels of resiliency and security. In 2018, Rajiv was awarded the National Association of the State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) State Technology Innovator Award, established to recognize outstanding individuals who have made contributions that advance state technology policy agenda while promoting best practices, adopting new technologies, and advancing service delivery.