Soheil Katal
Chief Information Officer
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 13 petabytes of storage.
Soheil’s leadership has been pivotal in advancing the cybersecurity maturity of the District. His contributions include implementing comprehensive cybersecurity policies to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, launching district-wide cybersecurity training initiatives to educate staff and students on best practices and threat mitigation, and fostering partnerships with cybersecurity organizations to enhance our security posture and stay ahead of emerging threats.
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.
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.