Marlon Paulo, who’s been with the state for 20 years, will finish his tenure with CDT in mid-January and will start his new role in February, he told Techwire in an interview Tuesday. Part of his new role, he said, will be to lead the modernization of Santa Clara County’s overall government procurement — just as he’s helped do in the last two years with CDT. A key element of that is the “challenge-based” procurement protocol, part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “Request for Innovative Ideas” (RFI2) mandate.
“I wasn’t a native procurement (specialist),” Paulo said. “I actually started in the IT field.” He said he was encouraged to move to the procurement side as that became a more integral part of state government technology.
“Procurement is no longer an afterthought,” he said. “It’s a strategic partner, and it definitely has a seat at the table.”
Paulo is a familiar face to vendors and other stakeholders who’ve attended virtual vendor forums held by CDT, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Employment Development Department in recent months. Those forums, he said, were a way for the state to “reverse the script” and have vendors pitch ideas for solutions in response to agencies’ needs. Traditionally, the state prescribed solutions for its needs, and vendors played a much smaller role in innovation.
Paulo said shrinking the procurement process from 12-18 months down to a matter of weeks has been among his most rewarding achievements. He credited CDT leadership for supporting him.
Paulo will be missed, CDT leaders told Techwire.
“Marlon’s hard work to modernize state technology procurement has delivered excellent results,” said a statement from state Chief Information Officer Amy Tong, who’s also CDT director. “We view his new position with Santa Clara County as an extension of the good work he began at CDT.”
CDT’s chief deputy director, Richard Rogers, praised Paulo’s expertise and his dedication.
“The quality of Marlon’s work is matched only by his loyalty to the state, to CDT’s staff and ultimately to the residents of California,” Rogers said in a statement..
Paulo, like most in Santa Clara County government, will be working remotely, at least temporarily. He said he and his family are planning to relocate to that area at some point.
His new procurement role encompasses much more than just technology; he’ll be overseeing purchasing for a host of county goods and services. He asked that vendors wait until he settles into his new job for a few weeks before they start contacting him and asking for meetings. He said the best way to contact him will be through LinkedIn.
Paulo received his bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems and Services from the University of San Francisco in 2001 and began his career as the IT director for the California State Assembly, a role he held for more than seven years before starting a two-year tenure as chief of infrastructure for the state Department of Mental Health. From there, he served for one year as chief of infrastructure services for the Financial Information System for California before joining CDT in April 2011. With CDT, he served successively as chief procurement officer, chief technology procurement officer and, most recently, as the state chief technology procurement officer.
