At the time of his appointment in June, Cavendish had been working in an acting capacity as the CSO for eight months.
According to an internal DTMB memo shared with Government Technology, “Jayson brings a unique blend of strengths to the role, including leadership, vision and strategic planning, along with the ability to promote collaboration at all levels to support critical, high-level statewide projects to successful completion.”
Cavendish has worked in state government for more than three years, serving as a cybersecurity architect with the state of Michigan since 2021 after being hired by the state as a TekSystems contractor to help expand cybersecurity architecture in the state in 2019. While in the private sector, he gained experience in information security management, data warehouse management and worked as a director of technical services.
Before Cavendish started work as interim CSO, current Michigan CIO Laura Clark had been serving as both the state CIO and CSO.
