Chandra Donelson departs as Space Force CDAO

Chandra Donelson, the Space Force's chief data and artificial intelligence officer since 2023, has announced her departure, effective immediately. During her two-year tenure, Donelson oversaw modernization of legacy systems, advanced AI-enabled capabilities, and led the Space Force's adoption of GenAI.mil, the Defense Department's generative AI platform. She previously spent over six years as the Army's deputy chief data officer, where she established the Army Data Literacy program and Army Data Champion program. Donelson did not disclose her next position but committed to "continue to answer our nation's call" in a LinkedIn post Thursday. Her departure leaves a gap in Pentagon leadership during a period of accelerated artificial intelligence integration across the military.