Two top tech executives in the Shapiro administration are out as tech troubles pile up
Brian Andrews is out as CTO, and Amaya Capellán is out as CIO.
Two top technology executives in Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration have departed, as officials cope with a series of challenges to the state’s information systems.
R. Brian Andrews has left his job as Pennsylvania’s chief technology officer and has advertised online that he is looking for work. A former career Army instructor, he joined state government in 2020.
Bryanna Pardoe, a former Main Line Health and Geisinger hospital technology official who joined the Shapiro administration in 2023 to run the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience, was named acting CTO.
Amaya Capellán, a former Comcast vice president, has departed her job as the state’s chief information officer. James Sipe, a former Amazon Web Services cybersecurity leader who joined the Shapiro administration in 2023, is stepping in as acting executive deputy secretary for information technology.
The Office of Administration, which coordinates the state’s technology efforts, “cannot comment on personnel matters related to any specific employees,” spokesperson Dan Egan said in a statement confirming the interim replacements.
Last month, the ransomware gang INC took credit for stealing more than 5 terabytes of data from the state Attorney General’s office after that office reported that an August attack “was the result of a malicious operator” taking case and communications information offline and demanding a ransom payment, which state officials refused.
The Attorney General’s office manages its technology independently from the office where the departed executives worked, according to Shapiro’s office.
That attack has delayed civil and criminal cases in Pennsylvania courts.
In July, state tech officials blamed intermittent outages in the state 911 system on operating system problems.
Last year, a state employee was fired after losing state police and pension data on a state server, resulting in a series of legislative hearings and demands for more effective online security.
This story has been updated to clarify oversight of technology in the Attorney General’s Office.