Maryland’s chief digital experience officer to leave role

Marcy Jacobs, who has served as Maryland’s chief digital experience officer for nearly three years, announced on Friday she’s transitioning from her role with the state’s Department of Information Technology.

Jacobs, who also served as deputy information technology secretary, has led the Maryland Digital Service since September of 2023.

Lilly Madigan, the technology department’s senior director of user experience and service design, will serve as acting chief digital experience officer, a department spokesperson said. Madigan has been with the state’s digital service since 2024. She spent five years consulting for the federal government, including for the Department of Defense and the United States Digital Service at the White House.

“Sometimes, a journey reaches a point where it needs a fresh perspective,” Jacobs wrote in the LinkedIn post about her exit. “I believe my departure will open up space for fresh ideas and leadership to push this work forward in ways. I am excited to see where the next leader takes this incredible group of people.”

Jacobs led a team of more than 60 staff at the Maryland Digital Service, an agency Gov. Wes Moore established in January 2024 as part of an expansive package of IT initiatives. The team featured senior directors of engineering, design, product, web experience and strategic investments.

In her first year leading the team, Jacobs said she hoped to use digital services to shift mindsets in Maryland’s state government.

“I think that is kind of a big shift from traditional kind of project management — is it on time or on budget?” Jacobs told this publication in 2024. “To product management — are we achieving the outcomes for the people that we are trying to serve? And can we do that in small, agile ways?”

Last August, Jacobs compared many of the state’s websites to geological artifacts, indicating that while they may have been historically important, they didn’t always keep up with modernity — or the needs of residents.

“We’re asking: How do we shift the content to be more targeted to the questions that people have, the tasks that they’re trying to accomplish, the benefits and services that they are looking for,” she said.

State Chief Information Officer Katie Savage, who is also the state’s technology secretary, and who helped create the digital service, praised Jacobs’ contributions to the state and the office’s ability to improve the public’s access to digital services.

“I have always championed cultural and structural reform to deliver people-centered outcomes, which is why she was the first executive I hired and why the Maryland Digital Service was the first new team I created at DoIT,” Savage said in an emailed statement. “Marcy has been instrumental in improving the experiences Marylanders have when accessing government services and in recruiting talent to the State. I am deeply grateful for her hard work and the dedication she has shown to the State.”