HomeHottest 50Sanjeev 'Sonny' Bhagowalia

Sanjeev ‘Sonny’ Bhagowalia

Assistant Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Information and Technology, and CBP CIO

OK, we didn’t pick “Sonny” because his name denotes the sun!  Although we’ll argue he’s just as “hot!” With over 36 years of senior technical, managerial and executive leadership experience in private industry, the U.S. Government, and state government, Sonny’s light is so bright!

Bhagowalia currently holds a dual role at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Assistant Commissioner (AC), Office of Information and Technology (OIT) and Chief Information Officer (CIO), using his knowledge of IT/Information Resource Management (IRM), cybersecurity, and business process re-engineering to transform and secure CBP. Though he’s held this position for a number of years, he grew even brighter by successfully leading and navigating the agency through COVID, bringing an agency with office and field operations all online, managing the change of administrations, and further developing CBP’s implementation of the President’s Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity.

He does all of this through a combination of passion, incredible stakeholder collaboration and outreach, and a focus on “walking the walk.” He is always open to learning from others and realizes that seeking and hearing many perspectives is key to his pursuit of excellence. These exceptional traits propelled him through numerous federal, state and private-sector roles with the Department of Treasury, the State of Hawaii, and the Boeing Corporation.

He identifies his mantra as “Transforming Government at the Speed of Mission” through innovation in business, technology and governance, and we’d certainly agree.

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