Art Thompson

About 10 years ago, Art Thompson was burnt out in the private sector. He’d had the same job for nine years — forever by millennial employment standards — and he told his grandfather he was frustrated. Thompson’s grandfather, a lifelong Detroiter, suggested he look at working for the city. Sure, Detroit had gone through bankruptcy, but it was on the other side of that, doing new and cool things.

“I listened to my grandfather as all smart kids do,” Thompson recalled. “I wouldn’t be here if my grandfather didn’t tell me to look at a government job.”

He applied and was offered a job with Detroit, but initially he turned it down and returned to the private sector. But after two weeks he felt bored, called the city and went to work as a public safety IT manager. That job was rewarding and fast-paced. Thompson loved it, and soon he was promoted to director of public-sector IT and eventually to cybersecurity lead as well. Five years ago, the city promoted him to CIO, after Thompson’s predecessor, Beth Niblock, left to work for the Biden administration.

And Thompson has done a solid job, continuing the work Niblock started as well as putting his own stamp on Detroit as the city continues to modernize. For example, Thompson remembers that when he started, almost everyone was on desktops — “You were a big wig if you had a laptop,” he said — but now 85 percent of their IT environment is laptops.

Thompson, however, says the achievement he’s proudest of is easy to pinpoint.

“It’s the collective camaraderie,” he said. “If you look at what we’ve done since I’ve been here, it’s just amazing. That kind of transformation doesn’t just happen because the IT department is pushing stuff. It happens because of the dedication and hard work of all city employees.”