David Fisher
Former Director, Business Transformation Agency - Department of Defense
Management and Governance, Data and Information Technology
Contact Information
David Fisher
Former Director, Business Transformation Agency - Department of Defense
Management and Governance, Data and Information Technology
Contact Information
David Fisher founded Tax Gap Advisors (TGA) in 2023 to assist the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in narrowing the tax gap by leveraging the skills and experiences of some of the nation’s most qualified tax professionals – recently retired partners from the country’s largest public accounting firms. Mr. Fisher has been leading transformation programs for large public and private sector organizations for more than 25 years. The last 17 years of that tenure have been spent focused on generating outsized performance improvements for agencies in the Federal government, including his nearly decade of service as a government Senior Executive.
Mr. Fisher’s final tour in government service was in 2013-2014 when he served at the IRS in the dual roles of Special Assistant to the Commissioner and as the Service’s first Chief Risk Officer. Mr. Fisher designed and built the IRS’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program from the ground up, as he sought to transition the organization to one which embraced the value proposition of timely risk transiency. The initial building blocks included the creation of an ERM Concept of Operations, ERM governance, the ERM operating model and its structure of risk liaisons, ERM stakeholder plan and enterprise communication strategy, the first enterprise-wide risk assessment, and the performance of deep dive assessments on topics of high interest on behalf of the Commissioner. Many of these foundational components remain in place today for the IRS ERM Program that was recognized in 2021 by the Risk Management Society (RIMS) with the organization’s Global Enterprise Risk Management Award of Distinction.
Mr. Fisher also had hands-on risk management responsibilities at the IRS. For example, on behalf of the IRS Commissioner and Secretary of the Treasury, he performed a risk assessment of all the audit programs in the agency for potential bias in the wake of reports of bias in the tax-exempt unit’s handling of applications for entities organized to promote social welfare. More than 200 audit programs were assessed in detail, with a summary report to senior leadership identifying risks and potential risk responses.
Prior to coming to the IRS, Mr. Fisher served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), one of four members of the Executive Committee that oversaw all aspects of the “Congressional Watchdog.” He was responsible for all internal operations at GAO, including budget, financial management, human capital, information technology, knowledge management, Learning Center, business process reengineering, procurement, facilities, security, and field operations.
Mr. Fisher’s initial government service was at the Department of Defense, where he served as the first permanent Director of the Business Transformation Agency. This new agency was established with the mission to guide the transformation of business operations throughout the Department of Defense. Mr. Fisher served as the chief executive for the agency which included directorates focused on DoD-wide process and functional business requirements, data standards, IT investment management, enterprise integration, unique warfighter business requirements for contingency operations, and a business systems acquisition portfolio that consisted of more than 20 DoD-wide IT programs. Under his leadership, the agency had responsibilities to challenge the status quo in providing detailed analysis and actionable recommendations to the Deputy Secretary of Defense on issues affecting the entire DoD business enterprise. During this time, Mr. Fisher was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service.
Since leaving government service, Mr. Fisher served as the Vice President, Business Transformation Officer for SRA International, before leading the public sector risk consulting practice for Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) (now Guidehouse). Mr. Fisher has provided hands-on guidance to senior leaders and their teams at more than a dozen Federal agencies, seeking to establish effective ERM processes while advancing the establishment of organizational cultures that embrace the concept of timely risk transparency – many of the traits he honed while serving as the Chief Risk Officer at the IRS.