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AMERICAN SYSTEMS' srinivas Rautwar takes CIO of the Year honors at Chief Officer Awards. Srinivas Rautwar of AMERICAN SYSTEMS has won WashingtonExec's Chief Officer Award for Chief Information Officer of the Year (Private & Public Company). On June 2, WashingtonExec unveiled the winners of the 2026 Chief Officer Awards, its premier recognition of the executives shaping the future of government contracting. This annual can't-miss event celebrates bold, innovative leaders across government and industry. The event took place at The Hilton in McLean, Virginia, where over 500 attendees came together for a memorable in-person luncheon. In his finalist Q and A, Rautwar discusses the year's security and AI milestones, his focus areas going forward, and the advice he gives leaders who want to connect technology to mission. "Technology will keep changing; trust, accountability, and execution do not," he said. Along with the government and industry winners, John G. Edwards, president of the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognizes Edwards for his decades of exceptional service to the nation, marked by transformative leadership at the CIA and an enduring commitment to its people and mission. WashingtonExec extends its gratitude to its silver sponsors, KippsDeSanto & Co. and Morgan Stanley; to its award sponsor, M&T Bank; and to its many table sponsors for their generous support.

For srinivas Rautwar, the priorities are security, AI, data. In 2025, AMERICAN SYSTEMS earned a perfect 110/110 on its CMMC Level 2 assessment and launched ConnectGPT, its enterprise generative AI platform now in daily use across the company. The same year, AMERICAN SYSTEMS integrated Epsilon, Inc., bringing over 400 employees and active federal programs across multiple states into its environment with no downtime, no security incidents, and ahead of schedule. Srinivas Rautwar, chief information officer and chief technology officer of AMERICAN SYSTEMS, is a finalist for WashingtonExec's Chief Officer Awards in the Private & Public Company CIO of the Year category. The event takes place live June 2. Here, he discusses the year's security and AI milestones, his focus areas going forward, and the advice he gives leaders who want to connect technology to mission. What key achievements did you have in 2025/2026? When I look back at 2025, three achievements stand out. First, we earned a perfect 110/110 on our CMMC Level 2 assessment. On paper, it is a compliance milestone; in reality, it represents years of steady, behind-the-scenes work to build security into how we operate every day. By the time the assessment happened, the outcome simply reflected that consistency. Second, we launched ConnectGPT, our enterprise generative AI platform. Moving AI from experimentation into secure, governed, everyday use is not easy in a federal environment, but we are seeing real adoption, and what matters most to me is that people are using it to get meaningful work done more efficiently. Third, we integrated Epsilon, Inc., bringing over 400 employees and active federal programs across multiple states into our environment. We completed that integration with no downtime, no security incidents, and ahead of schedule. Of the three, the Epsilon integration stands out the most because it required tight coordination across teams while keeping the mission front and center. What are your primary focus areas going forward, and why are those so important to the mission? Looking ahead, my focus is on three areas: security, responsible AI, and data. First, we will continue to strengthen a security-first culture. AI-driven phishing, deepfake-based social engineering, and state-sponsored threats are now everyday realities for defense contractors, which means advancing Zero Trust, improving continuous monitoring, and staying ahead of threats before they reach our environment. Second, we will scale responsible AI across the enterprise. We have moved beyond experimentation, and ConnectGPT is in daily use. The next step is expanding AI in a way that is secure, governed, and aligned with regulatory requirements. When we apply agentic AI, advanced analytics, and workflow automation thoughtfully, we create meaningful mission impact. Third, we will treat data as a strategic asset. Stronger data governance and better visibility through dashboards and analytics will help leaders make faster, more informed decisions. These priorities matter because they directly affect our ability to deliver securely, adapt quickly, and maintain the trust of our federal customers in a constantly evolving environment. What is your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps? Stay grounded in the fundamentals. Technology will keep changing; trust, accountability, and execution do not. Take time to understand the mission, not just the technology; the most effective leaders are the ones who can connect what technology does to what the customer needs. Start executing before you feel fully ready: decide with about 70% of the information, own it, and adjust as you go rather than waiting for a perfect plan. Finally, invest in your team; you do not need all the answers, but you do need to create an environment where people can do their best work and succeed.