Delivering bold and innovative solutions for national security’s missions of consequence calls for leadership that fits the part.
Peraton’s executive leadership team is comprised of high-caliber individuals who leverage decades of contracting, technology, and government experience to help customers solve their toughest challenges. Our leadership series spotlights Peraton executives and employees as they tell their stories and share insights on their career trajectories, greatest challenges, and major accomplishments.
Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Tom Terjesen, is responsible for leading and enhancing Peraton’s IT strategy. As the senior IT leader, Terjesen has helped move 98% of Peraton’s IT services to GovCloud, significantly reducing the company’s data center footprint. Over the past seven years, Tom’s leadership skills and IT expertise have earned him the recent recognition as a top CIO to watch in 2025 by WashingtonExec.
Read more about Tom’s journey as an emerging leader in the IT industry:
How long have you worked at Peraton?
I have been with Peraton for approximately seven years; however, I have been in my current role for seven months. I left the company for two years, not because of the company, people, or the leadership, but for a career advancement opportunity. It felt like a homecoming when I returned. I am glad to be back working for such a great company, with so many great people.
What’s the most important part of your responsibilities?
I think the most important aspects of my job are developing and implementing the IT strategy. The best way to do this is through the collaboration of the team, prioritizing the workload, and then executing the plan. When you set out to deliver a strategy at the beginning of the year and all projects are completed successfully, you can claim success.
Tell us about successes you’ve achieved in this position.
In my current role, we have successfully performed a datacenter consolidation, moving 98% of our systems to the cloud, which satisfied all our open Plan of Action and Milestones for a Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Assessment Center audit performed last year. This achieved our Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification and enhanced our data analytics program, allowing access to real time data needed for our business to make decisions quickly.
What has been the most challenging part of your role?
I think the biggest challenge in my role is balancing compliance with user experience. In the business we are in, we need to implement security controls that traditional commercial companies don’t need to adhere to. These things can make it difficult sometimes for users to accomplish certain tasks. When a new technical control is introduced, we spend a lot of time discussing the user impacts and how we can improve on their overall experience.
Do you have a motto that motivates and encourages you through challenging days?
If you do your job to the best of your ability, good things will follow. This has been a guiding principle throughout my career.
Why did you return to team Peraton?
I returned to Peraton after leaving to pursue an opportunity for career advancement. One of my main drivers to returning to the company was to work with the great people who make Peraton a great place to work.
“We were thrilled when Tom rejoined the Peraton team early this year. Tom emphasizes the need for granular understanding of where the IT business is today, and where the business is going. In doing so, every strategic IT imperative is developed with the intent to empower the future of the business. This has always been true about Tom—but in particular over this year as CIO—he has doubled down on ensuring modernization efforts, cybersecurity and compliance initiatives, and data analytics projects are implemented with great care and attention to the experience of our diverse employee base, and the innovations required to support Peraton’s way forward,”
– Peraton Chief Human Resources Officer, Rebecca McHale
