The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has appointed former Lehman Brothers IT executive Chad Fulgham as its new chief information officer.

Fulgham, who headed the Information Technology Division of the failed investment bank, takes over from Zal Azmi, who left the FBI in October to enter private industry.

"In today's global environment, information technology remains key to how the FBI conducts its business - capturing information that can be instantly retrieved and shared as we build our investigations, providing the means to collaborate across distances, and keeping our information secure," said Robert Mueller, director of the FBI.

According to Mueller, Fulgham's previous experience working with multi-national corporations and cutting -edge technology fits well with the FBI's IT needs.

In his new role at the law enforcement agency, Fulgham will have many of the same responsibilities he carried in his previous job, helping transform and manage the technological infrastructure, developing policy and instituting IT strategies, managing budgets, directing products and services selection, and overseeing technology operations.

He will also inherit a host of ongoing IT projects, including the agency's ambitious Sentinel platform, which aims to allow agents to access case management details via the internet. The $420m four-phase project is scheduled for completion halfway through 2010.

Prior to his four years at Lehman Brothers, Fulgham worked in various capacities at IBM, JPMorgan Chase and Arthur Andersen. He is also a member of three Microsoft Advisory Boards and serves on the Financial Services Industry Advisory Boards for both AT&T and Verizon.