BGen (ret’d) Chris Ayotte, OMM, CD, was raised in Ottawa and enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces in 1992. He completed his training as a Military Engineer in 1997 and was privileged to serve in many of the Army’s engineer regiments.
Throughout his career, BGen Ayotte had opportunities for experiences outside of the military engineer community. He was the Commanding Officer of Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team, business planner for the Canadian Army, Director of Cadets at the Royal Military College of Canada, Director of Strategic Communications for the Global Counter-ISIS Coalition, and the Director General of Army Force Development. He also initiated and guided the development of the Army’s digital transformation strategy and advocated for the adoption of non-conventional approaches to address a rapidly changing security environment to build
the digital army for tomorrow through innovation, experimentation, and iterative capability development.
In addition to multiple domestic deployments in response to natural disasters, BGen Ayotte has international deployments to the Balkans, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. He has a bachelors degree in Chemical and Materials Engineering from the Royal Military College in Kingston, a Masters of Arts in Policy and Strategy from the University of New South Wales in Australia, and is a graduate of the National Security Program at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto.
Upon retirement in July 2022, BGen Ayotte started a consulting business with a focus on national security issues. In addition to being a fellow with CGAI, he is on the Board of Directors of Reticle Ventures Canada and the Board of Governors at the Robert Land Academy.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS BY CHRIS AYOTTE
Insights on Army Modernization
