Akash Bobba: Data Analysis and Financial Control
Edward Coristine: Infiltrator of the Administrative System
Luke Farritor: System Control and Digital Transformation
Gautier Cole Killian: Fiscal System Troubleshooter
Gavin Kliger: Executive Order Enforcer
Ethan Shaotran: Promoter of AI Government
DOGE takes "simplification and efficiency" as its core concept, and its operation method is also very disruptive. The entire unit is made up of six young people aged between 19 and 25, three of whom are still at university. They were put directly into key engineering positions and tasked with cutting government costs. For Musk, this young elite team is not only the core strength of DOGE, but also a testing ground for future changes in government operating models.
According to "WIRED" magazine, 19-year-old Edward Coristine is the youngest of this group of "young faces". He is devoted to the reform of the American business community and long-running government institutions. His exact responsibilities are yet to be defined, but he is already known as an "expert" in his field.
In addition, 21-year-old Akash Bobba, 22-year-old Ethan Shaotran and 23-year-old Luke Farritor are also in the team. They have reportedly been granted "A-suite level clearance," which means they can work in the government agency's top offices and have access to all physical spaces and IT systems.
The oldest of them is 25-year-old Berkeley graduate Gavin Kliger. Although he is not considered to have the highest level of authority, it has been proven that he holds significant power.
Finally, Gautier Cole Killian was appointed as a member of the Digital Government Expert Group (DOGE) and is said to be a “volunteer” at this stage.
Musk released a statement on the appointments after widespread criticism in the media yesterday about the youth.
Musk wrote on X: "It must be admitted that media reports say DOGE has the best software engineers in the world are indeed true."
Gavin Kliger, 25
Kliger was the account holder of a controversial internal email from the USAID, The New York Times reported.
The Berkeley graduate issued a directive to all USAID employees not to return to the Washington headquarters on Monday.
Meanwhile, up to 600 staff reported being locked out of work computer systems and unable to properly access office platforms. The situation is very similar to the massive account blocking and access restrictions that occurred during Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter (now X).
After the incident, Krieger published a paid article on Substack titled "Why DOGE?" Why I gave up a seven-figure salary to save America."
Luke Farritor, 23
Luke has a long history with Musk, having interned at SpaceX before getting his new job.
Luke dropped out of the University of Nebraska and started working for Nat Friedman, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur behind GitHub.
When it was announced that Friedman would later be appointed secretary of the Department of Energy and Environment, he said Luke was a "national treasure".
In 2024, the young man was credited with using artificial intelligence to help decipher an ancient scroll from Pompeii that was damaged beyond recognition. Scientists have been trying and failing to decipher the document for centuries, earning Luke part of a $700,000 prize.
Edward Coristine, 19
The youngest member of Musk’s elite team is just 19 years old and a student at Northeastern University in Boston.
Last summer, after graduating from high school, Coristine interned at Musk’s Neuralink for three months. Little is known about Coristine’s role at DOGE, but he is listed as an “expert.”
WIRED quoted sources as saying that Coristine had been on the phone with department employees, asking them to "review the code they wrote and defend their work."
The report said he appeared on a conference call with General Services Administration staff, but staff did not know who he was or why he was there.
Coristine was born into a business family and is the heir to his father's popcorn brand, Lesser Evil. Coristine was a team member at the brand. Until recently, Koristan reportedly used an account called "@EdwardBigBaller" on social media.
Akash Bobba, 21
Bobba is another “expert” in the sector who is still studying at UC Berkeley. Bobba was an investment engineering intern at a hedge fund, according to a now-deleted former LinkedIn account.
He previously interned at Meta and Palantir (founded by 2016 MAGA donor Peter Thiel). Just six years ago, Bobba was the organizer of the local Model United Nations in Princeton Junction, New Jersey. His father is a computer science academic.
Ethan Shaotran, 22
Shaotran founded Energize AI, a company that provides scheduling assistants for professionals. The startup received a $100,000 grant from OpenAI in 2023.
The 22-year-old is a senior at Harvard University and is said to be working on self-driving cars in the school's computing lab, he said in September.
Musk is famously trying to develop self-driving cars at his Tesla headquarters.
Shaotran is also a member of the Harvard Mountaineering Club and served as a divemaster during a break in Hawaii.
He also has a unique connection with Musk, having participated in Musk’s xAI “hackathon”. He and his team used xAI’s Grok to create a plausible response from an X follower to a hypothetical question, ultimately finishing as runner-up.
Gautier Cole Killian, 24
Killian worked as an engineer at Jump Trading, a company specializing in high-frequency financial trading and algorithms. He is now reportedly a "volunteer" at the Office of Digital Government, but his exact position is unclear.
The 24-year-old is a graduate of McGill University.
Their rise marked an unprecedented experiment in transforming vast government agencies with extremely lean, highly technical teams.
Musk’s pace of action far exceeds the response capabilities of the traditional political system, and a new AI government model may become a reality. Whether this will become a revolution in administration, completely overturning the traditional bureaucracy, or just a short-lived and controversial political farce, time will tell.
