Sophia Elliott 
- Yvette Cesario will lead OpenAI’s engagement with the intelligence community
- Former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll joined as senior counselor for national security modernization
- OpenAI for Government onboarded 50 new agencies in September and October
OpenAI has hired former Amazon Web Services and Oracle executives, along with the founder of George Mason University’s National Security Institute, for senior roles on its government team, Nextgov/FCW reported Wednesday.
The October hires came alongside the company’s appointment of former U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll as senior counselor for national security modernization.
Who Are OpenAI’s New Government Leaders?
Yvette Cesario is OpenAI’s new head of national security and will lead the company’s engagement with the intelligence community. She previously worked at AWS, where she was managing director for national security and a founding member of the company’s national security team.
Peter Guerra is taking on the role of head of tech success, focusing on moving agencies from generative artificial intelligence pilots into mission deployments. He was previously Oracle’s group vice president for data and AI for government, defense and intelligence, and earlier held roles at Microsoft, Accenture and Booz Allen Hamilton.
Jamil Jaffer is OpenAI’s new head of global government cyber. Jaffer founded the National Security Institute and the AI & Innovation Institute at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School and previously served as a venture partner and strategic adviser at defense technology investor Paladin Capital Group. He has also held national security roles in the House, the Senate and the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
“Yvette, Peter and Jamil bring deep experience with the missions our government partners carry out every day,” said Katrina Mulligan, head of national security partnerships for OpenAI for Government.
OpenAI also hired Megha Bhattacharya as public sector lead on its policy communications team. She previously worked in the White House press office and at the Department of State during the Biden administration.
What Will Driscoll Do at OpenAI?
In his new role, Driscoll will advise OpenAI’s leadership on policy and strategy for applying AI to national security, working with governments, industry, academia and allied institutions, according to the company. The position builds on Daybreak, OpenAI’s cyber resilience program.
Driscoll served as the 26th secretary of the Army beginning in February 2025 and also served as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“National security requirements are changing faster than at any time in the past fifty years,” Driscoll said.
How Is OpenAI Growing Its Federal Business?
More than 1 million federal employees gained access to ChatGPT over the past year. In September, OpenAI for Government announced a new multiyear OneGov agreement with the General Services Administration that, beginning Oct. 1, removed monthly platform fees and offered a 50 percent discount on token-based usage of its ChatGPT models. It followed an August 2025 OneGov deal that made OpenAI one of the first companies to offer GSA-negotiated software discounts to agencies.
OpenAI for Government said it onboarded 50 new government agencies in September and October. Over the same period, OpenAI received government contracts with a combined potential value of more than $550 million, according to GovTribe data, led by a Department of the Treasury award with a potential value of $487 million.
This summer, the Pentagon also made a version of ChatGPT available on its GenAI.mil platform, which gives up to 3 million military and civilian users access to tools from Google, OpenAI and xAI.
Which Companies Has OpenAI Partnered With?
OpenAI has partnered with several companies serving the government this year. In October, TurbineOne said it would integrate OpenAI models into the secure networks service members use during missions. General Dynamics Information Technology partnered with OpenAI in September to deploy AI agents and OpenAI’s Codex to modernize applications in secure federal environments, and IBM announced a partnership in August that includes a dedicated OpenAI practice.
In May, Accenture Federal Services became OpenAI’s federal implementation partner, and Virtualitics signed a memorandum of understanding to integrate OpenAI models into its Iris readiness platform. Leidos announced its partnership with OpenAI in January.
