James Rinaldi

James Rinaldi is a distinguished information technology executive whose leadership career spans both the public and private sectors. As the former Chief Information Officer (CIO) of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), managed by Caltech, he led one of the world’s most advanced scientific IT enterprises, supporting missions of global importance.

During his 14-year CIO tenure, James spearheaded major modernization initiatives, including establishing JPL’s first Cloud-First Strategy and architecting its initial AWS GovCloud environment. He led migrations of mission systems, enterprise applications, and thousands of users into secure and compliant hybrid-cloud platforms aligned with NASA’s cybersecurity requirements.

He advanced adoption of high-performance computing modernization, secure data architectures, identity modernization, and IoT capabilities — all in direct support of JPL’s scientific and mission outcomes.

After his CIO role, he served as Chief Technology Advisor to the JPL Director for three years, providing strategic guidance on future-state architecture, cybersecurity posture, and enterprise cloud strategy. James retired from Caltech in 2022 after a transformative 17-year tenure.

James is the Executive Director of Innovate@UCLA, driving collaboration and innovation across the Southern California technology ecosystem. He is also Chair of Avasant’s Fellows Program and contributes to Avasant’s Fellows Executive Committee. As a Fellow with Innovation for Large Organizations (ILO), he applies deep expertise in digital transformation,
cloud architectures, cybersecurity, and operating-model modernization.

He extends his leadership through advisory roles with Pandoblox, 3GC Group, and MORI Associates, and provides strategic IT consulting to Phenomenati.

Earlier in his career, he held senior leadership positions at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Marriott International — delivering notable improvements in enterprise performance and modernizing legacy environments. His early work in development, systems programming, and operations gives him
comprehensive insight into the full lifecycle of technology delivery.

James has received numerous honors, including the CIO 100 and Fed 100 awards, and has been inducted into the CIO Hall of Fame. IT organizations under his leadership have consistently been recognized as “Best Places to Work in IT,” reflecting his focus on high-performance culture, team growth, and mission-driven excellence.

He enjoys reading, playing golf, and exploring emerging technologies. A dynamic speaker, he frequently presents on leadership, cloud  modernization, cybersecurity evolution, and the future of technology in an AI-defined world.