James Weaver Leaving N.C. CIO Post for Private Sector

After nearly four years at the helm of North Carolina’s digital transformation efforts, James Weaver, the state’s chief information officer, will retire from public service.

A spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) confirmed to Government Technology that Weaver, who is also NCDIT secretary, will conclude his state tenure Dec. 31 as he transitions to an unnamed role in the private sector.

“Jim has played an instrumental role in the state’s IT landscape since joining NCDIT and has helped North Carolina maintain its reputation as a national leader in information technology,” Lisa Crawley, NCDIT external communications manager, said via email.

Named Public Leader of the Year Dec. 3 by the nonprofit NC TECH Association, Weaver “has championed initiatives such as closing the digital divide throughout North Carolina, making digital government services more accessible and inclusive, and building human capital in the state’s IT workforce, as well as protecting privacy and data and transforming the IT procurement process,” she added.

Weaver, who joined NCDIT in March 2021, brought more than three decades of IT experience with him, including 17 years in government technology leadership roles. He arrived from Washington state, where he had been chief information officer and director of Washington Technology Solutions, being named one of Government Technology’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers during the transition.

Prior to that, Weaver served as chief technology officer and deputy CIO in Pennsylvania, managing IT modernization projects across several state departments. As NCDIT secretary, Weaver also chairs the N.C. 911 Board. He is immediate past president of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers and is a member of the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Weaver’s replacement as state CIO, nominated by Gov.-elect Josh Stein, is reportedly Teena Piccione, a global transformation and operations executive at Google, according to a news report and a LinkedIn post from Brooks Raiford, NC TECH president and CEO. Representatives of the North Carolina Attorney General's Office, which Stein has led since 2017, and of his gubernatorial campaign have not yet responded to requests for comment. This article may be updated.

Piccione has, since March 2021, driven Google Corporate Global Engineering teams enterprisewide in artificial intelligence, machine learning and chatbots, in areas including Devices, Finance, Cloud and Services, according to LinkedIn. Her previous experience includes serving as data expert in residence at North Carolina's High Point University; as a board member of SADA, the Google Cloud solutions provider; as senior vice president and chief operating officer at Fidelity Investments; and leading big data strategy at AT&T.