Akanksha Sharma is a senior information technology (IT) leader experienced in establishing and executing technology strategies that drive digital transformation and large-scale IT modernization. She currently serves as the Director of Digital Transformation at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). In this role, she oversees digital transformation efforts that improve the user and customer experience of DOL’s benefits and services, such as the unemployment insurance modernization.

Akanksha has almost 20 years of combined experience working for both the public and private sectors. Her public sector work spans federal, state, and local governments in the U.S. She is committed to transforming government services by making them more accessible and intuitive using user-centered design frameworks and digital platforms. She has developed and executed enterprise IT strategies to shift traditional processes and legacy infrastructure into modern technologies. She has also advanced the usability and usefulness of technology products and services, advocated for increased investment toward IT stabilization and modernization with key stakeholders, and managed multi-million-dollar budgets.

Previously, Akanksha served as the Senior Advisor for Human Capital Technology Transformation at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). In this role, she acted as the principal advisor to the OPM Director, Chief Transformation Officer, and Chief Information Officer on digital transformation and the implementation of enterprise-wide technology modernization initiatives. She developed and led the implementation of a digital transformation plan that aligned OPM’s traditional compliance-based data products and services, such as the electronic Official Personnel Folder (Eopf), into customer-centric products that centered around key digital experiences of the federal employee. This effort involved managing a $20 million annual budget and the repurposing of retained earnings towards stabilization and implementation of the new product strategy. Additionally, she developed criteria and enterprise data standards to support OPM’s transition to the cloud and modern emerging technologies.

Akanksha also served as the Chief Enterprise Architect for the General Services Administration (GSA). During this role at GSA, she led a geographically dispersed and matrixed team of 15 federal employees and contractors to provide enterprise architecture services to IT customers. She also established a government-wide, Blanket Purchase agreement worth $500 million to implement enterprise case management initiatives, and to accelerate the modernization of back-end corporate applications to the cloud.

Prior to her government career, Akanksha worked at Booz Allen Hamilton as a Management Consultant, advising GSA’s enterprise Center of Excellence (CoE) with the implementation of creative data-driven solutions. She also worked as a Business Analyst at Incapsulate, where she consulted with federal agencies to perform architectural reviews and implement contact centers.

Akanksha holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Virginia and completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of public policy and government. She is a certified Agile Product Owner and Scrum Master. She has won six GSA IT Excellence Awards for her successes surrounding exemplary teamwork, proposal architecture, innovation, customer service and relationship management, and support of the Presidential transition.