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Soheil Katal
Soheil Katal is an enterprising, innovative, solution-focused IT leader, experienced in enterprise architecture management and a proven successful project leader. Twenty years of
experience in both the public and private sectors and well-rounded expertise in business insight and technology innovation catapulted him forward to serve as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the nation’s second-largest school district.
As CIO, Soheil oversees one of the largest technology environments in the nation, with over 500,000 student and employee devices accessing a network of nearly 100,000 access points daily, 30,000 miles of cabling, and 12 petabytes of storage, 1,000 times the size of the Library of Congress.
In March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of schools across the world, Soheil built on decades of experience and enterprise insight to lead an unprecedented transformation of the nation’s second-largest school district to a successful remote learning operation ostensibly overnight, negotiating never-before-seen agreements with industry leaders in device manufacturing, distribution, telecommunications, and virtual support systems. His quick action and innovative thinking allowed us to get over 200,000 viable devices into the hands of students and bring connectivity solutions to over 200,000 households in need. The work gained nationwide attention and quickly became a model now in use by school districts and other institutions around the United States.
An industrious advocate for our youth, Soheil has worked tirelessly to ensure the voices of our school communities are heard across the nation, playing key roles in shaping reforms with the Federal Communications Commission, advising on state legislation aimed at modernizing technology infrastructure, and working side-by-side with leaders in Los Angeles area municipalities to promote opportunities for youth experiencing poverty, housing instability, and other challenges, ensuring they have access to the technology solutions they need to have a fair shot at success in education and in life.
Before coming to LAUSD, Soheil served as an IT Director for a large enterprise corporation accountable for business acquisition and reorganization, business continuity, and cost-saving initiatives. He boosted overall productivity by designing and deploying new technologies while controlling costs for every major initiative.
When Soheil is not busy shaping opportunities for the next generation of world leaders, he is a devoted family man, enjoying time with his wife and two children, enjoys boxing, the outdoors, and fine cuisine.
Soheil holds a Master of Business Administration degree in Information Technology from the Florida Institute of Technology and multiple technical industry certifications. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi.
