Pentagon chief overhauls Silicon Valley office, will open similar unit in Boston

Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter will overhaul one of his signature efforts, placing new leadership in charge of the Pentagon’s office in Silicon Valley just nine months after it opened and directing the staff there to report directly to him. Sec Carter will also establish a sister unit in Boston (MA), which will also be charged with working with tech companies on concepts with military applications, defense officials said.

Sec Carter announced the changes at the Silicon Valley office, known in the Pentagon as DIUx, short for Defense Innovation Unit Experimental. The office was launched to build new relationships with technology companies, but has experienced mixed results. Among its critics have been corporate officials in Silicon Valley who have voiced frustration at the glacial pace of the federal government, and a congressional subcommittee that recently called for more oversight of how DIUx spends money. The Pentagon chief said that he is replacing the leaders at DIUx and putting in place a flatter leadership structure that includes partners, each of whom has experience in the tech world and the national security world in some capacity. The managing partner will be Raj Shah, who most recently was the senior director of strategy at Palo Alto Networks in Silicon Valley and also has flown F-16 fighters in the Air Force National Guard.