Hartley Caldwell

Hartley Caldwell serves as SBA's Chief Information Officer and Chief AI Officer, overseeing the agency's technology strategy and operations. In this role, he manages all IT functions across SBA and chairs the Business Technology Investment Council, which evaluates and selects major technology investments.

Caldwell leads the agency's efforts to adopt and utilize artificial intelligence in a safe, secure, and responsible manner, ensuring AI technologies are deployed in alignment with federal policy and in service of SBA's mission.

Caldwell brings to SBA an extensive background in financial technology and digital transformation, having held senior CIO and technology leadership positions at Fiserv, Citi Fintech, First Data Corporation, and E*TRADE Financial. His private sector career spans retail banking, digital payments, open banking, cloud platforms, and enterprise IT — giving him a strong foundation to drive modernization across SBA's technology portfolio.

He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Georgia and an M.B.A. from Wake Forest University School of Business.