WASHINGTON — Defense Innovation Unit head Doug Beck has resigned, Breaking Defense has learned.
Since the start of the Trump administration, it had been rumored that Beck, who was appointed under President Joe Biden in 2023, was likely to exit DIU. But he survived several rounds of that gossip before his step down today.
A captain in the Navy Reserve, Beck joined DIU after almost four years as the vice president of worldwide education, health and government at Apple. He had previous experience with DIU, starting in 2015 when he founded and led the innovation hub’s joint reserve component until 2019, according to a DoD press release.
DIU is the department’s main point of outreach to the commercial tech community.
In a Tuesday statement, a defense official said that Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer, will serve as acting director for DIU, while Michael Dodd has been appointed as Acting Deputy Director.
Ashley Roque and Carley Welch contributed to this story. This story was updated 8/26/25 at 10:31 am ET with comment from a defense official.