North Cook News

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has nominated renowned IT expert Sanjay Gupta as Secretary of the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology pending confirmation by the Senate on June 1st.

Over the course of his lengthy IT career, Gupta has served in critical roles across both the public and private sectors, including running the federal government’s pandemic aid portals set up to assist small businesses during the height of the crisis and serving on the board of the federal Technology Modernization Fund.

“Sanjay Gupta brings invaluable expertise in public and private sector information technology to DoIT,” Pritzker said. “His previous work and vision for enterprise architecture, digital transformation, and user experience make him a vital addition to the agency. I am confident that this team will lead the nation in cybersecurity, service delivery, and user experience.”

Holding a Bachelor of Science from Punjab Engineering College, a Master of Science from Wayne State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan, Gupta previously spent almost two decades in management and as a consultant and analyst in top technology operations across the world, including several companies based in Illinois.

Pritzker also recently promoted Brandon Ragle from Acting Secretary to the new position of Deputy Secretary, where he will closely work with Gupta in providing critical insight about the agency's operations based on his more than three decades of working for the state, including as Deputy Secretary, where he was instrumental in assisting in the upgrade of cybersecurity and connected infrastructure forces.

"Brandon is an essential asset to modernizing our technology for the people of Illinois, and he is part of a strong leadership team that is widely acknowledged nationally as a model,” Pritzker added. “He stepped up at a critical time for the agency, and I want to recognize his contributions with this important new role.”