Updated 5:30pm EST with additional comments.

The Trump administration is considering a technology executive at Palantir to run the federal civilian cybersecurity agency, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Shyam Sankar, the chief technology officer at Palantir Technologies, has emerged as a lead contender for the long vacant Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director role, according to the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss the administration’s search.

Following publication of this story, a White House official disputed the potential selection, saying "at this time this is not accurate."

Sankar, 44, has worked at Miami-based Palantir for more than 20 years and served as the firm’s chief operating officer for nearly 17 years before taking the CTO job in 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile.

CISA has not had a Senate-confirmed chief since Biden-appointee Jen Easterly stepped down in January 2025. Sean Plankey, who was previously nominated for the role, withdrew his name from consideration in April after key senators blocked a confirmation vote for several months.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin told lawmakers on Wednesday that the administration is on the cusp of nominating a director for the agency, which has been run by Acting Director Nick Andersen since February.

“We've got a person, soon to be nominated, that will be running CISA, that has the ability to recruit and focus on the authorities we have. We want CISA to be the leader in cybersecurity. They should be and they will be,” Mullin said.

News of Sankar’s possible nomination comes on the heels of the administration’s release of an artificial intelligence executive order on Tuesday.

Palantir has deep ties with the Trump administration and is heavily focused on AI. The big data analytics company has emerged as a significant enterprise and defense AI provider.

Government officials are increasingly focused on both the cybersecurity threats and opportunities posed by AI, particularly now, weeks after Anthropic’s Mythos platform surfaced as a technology capable of detecting and targeting zero-day vulnerabilities without human intervention.

The long awaited executive order scaled back an initial iteration that was spiked at the last minute after the administration’s former AI and crypto czar David Sacks warned the president that it could threaten American competitiveness and innovation.

The latest version of the order tweaks a voluntary review period giving the government the opportunity to vet models to 30 days from 90. 

CISA was named throughout the executive order as one of a few key agencies charged with implementing the president’s vision.

The agency, which has dealt with workforce and budget cuts since Trump entered his second term, is expected to release a binding operational directive outlining actions other federal agencies need to undertake to move the order forward by Friday.

DHS and Sankar did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Sankar had previously been considered to lead research and engineering at the Pentagon.

In a February opinion piece published by Fox News, Sankar wrote that AI can be a boon to civilization if addressed the right way.

“AI should eliminate bureaucracy, not add to it,” the article said. “No new compliance theater. No ‘AI governance’ committees designed to slow things down and centralize power in ‘managers.’ AI should empower the American worker to move faster, not slow him down.”

Additional reporting by Suzanne Smalley.