Dan Kaufman
DARPA
Dir, Information Innovation Office
Dan Kaufman is a Bay Area technology veteran who is now director of DARPA’s Information Innovation Office (I2O), the office charged with the agency’s software innovations, particularly in cybersecurity and big data analytics. He created the office in August 2010 under then-director Regina Dugan. Dan is responsible for identifying and creating promising new information technologies and developing DARPA programs to exploit these advances for the benefit of national security. Dan is building on the legacy of predecessor offices at DARPA which developed innovative technology such as the Arpanet, now the internet, and Personalized Assistant that Learns, now commercially transitioned and known as Siri on the Apple iPhone. He staffs the Office and works with I2O program managers to develop concepts and plans for new programs and to transition I2O R&D products to end users at various defense and government agencies. Dan believes that “no” is a lazy and safe answer. He is constantly pushing his staff to push the boundaries and make the impossible possible.