Budi Gunawan (born 11 December 1959) is a retired Indonesian police general and intelligence official who has served as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council (Wantimpres) since 2 October 2026. He previously served as Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs (Menko Polkam) from 21 October 2024 until his dismissal on 8 September 2025.
Before leading the Coordinating Ministry, Gunawan headed the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) from 9 September 2016 to 21 October 2024. He was the second police officer, after Sutanto, to lead BIN, and the first police officer to lead the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs. Outside government, he was the inaugural general chairman of the Indonesian Esports Executive Board (PB ESI) from 18 January 2020 to 15 September 2026.
Early life and education Gunawan was born in Surakarta, Central Java, on 11 December 1959. He graduated from the Indonesian Police Academy in 1983. Over the course of his career, he continued his studies and eventually earned a doctorate in law from Trisakti University.
On 8 August 2018, Gunawan was inaugurated as a professor of intelligence studies at the State Intelligence College (STIN), with a focus on cyber issues, coinciding with STIN's 15th anniversary and graduation ceremony. STIN's chairman at the time, Rodon Pedrason, stated that although Gunawan did not come from an academic background, he was considered eligible because he taught at STIN and several universities and had received 22 letters of support from professors and universities in Indonesia and abroad.
Police career Gunawan began his career in the Indonesian National Police after graduating from the Police Academy in 1983. He held several field posts, including chief of the Tanjung Karang Barat Sector Police and chief of the Bogor District Police. Between 1999 and 2004, he served as an aide-de-camp, first to the Vice President and later to President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
After his tenure as aide-de-camp ended, he served as Head of the Career Development Bureau of the National Police Human Resources Staff (2004–2006), and then as Head of the Advanced Officers' School of the National Police Education Institute (2006–2008). He was installed as Chief of the Jambi Regional Police on 14 January 2008. He went on to serve as Head of the National Police Legal Affairs Division (2009–2010) and Head of the National Police Division of Profession and Security (2010–2012).
On 6 March 2012, he was installed as Chief of the Bali Regional Police, and on 26 December 2012 he was appointed Head of the National Police Education Institute with the rank of Police Commissioner General.
Nomination as Chief of Police In early January 2015, President Joko Widodo submitted Gunawan to the House of Representatives (DPR) as the sole candidate for Chief of the Indonesian National Police. On 13 January 2015, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named him a suspect in an alleged corruption case involving suspicious transactions believed to have taken place while he was Head of the Career Development Bureau. KPK chairman Abraham Samad stated that the investigation had been underway since July 2014.
The suspect designation sparked tensions between the KPK and the National Police. Gunawan filed a pretrial motion, and in February 2015 the South Jakarta District Court, in ruling No. 04/Pid.Prap/2015/PN.Jkt.Sel, declared the designation invalid. The ruling became one of the most widely discussed pretrial decisions among legal scholars.
Following the controversy, President Joko Widodo cancelled Gunawan's installation as Chief of Police and appointed Badrodin Haiti instead. The KPK subsequently transferred the case to the Attorney General's Office and then to the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency, where it was eventually dropped for lack of sufficient evidence.
Deputy Chief of Police Although his nomination as Chief of Police was cancelled, Gunawan had already passed the DPR's fit and proper test. He was installed as Deputy Chief of the Indonesian National Police on 22 April 2015, serving under Chief of Police Badrodin Haiti and later Tito Karnavian until 9 September 2016.
Head of the State Intelligence Agency
Gunawan was installed as Head of the State Intelligence Agency on 9 September 2016, succeeding Sutiyoso, and served until 21 October 2024. During his tenure, BIN's organizational structure was expanded several times, and the agency ran a range of programs outside the scope of conventional intelligence work.
Establishment of the Deputy for Cyber Intelligence On 21 July 2017, President Joko Widodo signed Presidential Regulation No. 73 of 2017, amending Presidential Regulation No. 90 of 2012 on the State Intelligence Agency. The regulation created a new deputyship, the Deputy for Cyber Intelligence (Deputy VI). Under Article 25A, this deputy carries out part of BIN's duties and functions in the field of cyber intelligence. The regulation was promulgated on 24 July 2017.
2019 reconciliation of Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto Following the 2019 presidential election, which was marked by riots on 21 and 22 May 2019 and a dispute over the results at the Constitutional Court, President Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto met on 13 July 2019. The two rode the MRT from Lebak Bulus Station to Istora Mandiri Station, then continued their meeting over lunch in the Senayan area. Gunawan, then Head of BIN, accompanied them throughout.
Several officials described Gunawan as one of the intermediaries who brought the two together. Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said that Gunawan had worked out of the public eye to make the meeting happen. Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi named three people who had bridged the meeting: Pramono Anung, Gunawan, and Gerindra Party deputy chairman Edhy Prabowo. Sandiaga Uno, Prabowo's running mate in that election, also acknowledged Gunawan's role in bringing about the meeting.
A few weeks later, Gunawan was also credited with a role in the meeting between PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri and Prabowo Subianto.
Role in the COVID-19 response During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gunawan instructed BIN personnel to help the government break the chain of transmission. BIN conducted mass swab testing in various parts of Indonesia using mobile laboratories. In mid-2021, BIN ran simultaneous door-to-door vaccination drives in 14 provinces and targeted specific groups such as students aged 12 to 17 and pesantren students.
The door-to-door method drew positive responses from several quarters. Ardiansyah Bahar, executive director of the Health Development Study and Consultation Institute, considered it potentially effective in accelerating national vaccination coverage if implemented widely and in coordination with regional governments, while DPR member Bobby Adityo Rizaldi pointed to limited resources as its main obstacle.
Establishment of the Deputy for Apparatus Security Intelligence On 20 July 2020, President Joko Widodo signed Presidential Regulation No. 79 of 2020, the second amendment to Presidential Regulation No. 90 of 2012. The regulation created the Deputy for Apparatus Security Intelligence (Deputy VIII), tasked with formulating policy and conducting intelligence activities and/or operations to secure the state apparatus. This raised the number of deputyships at BIN from eight to nine. Several observers considered that the new deputyship gave BIN a role in overseeing government personnel.
"Rajawali" special team controversy In September 2020, a public controversy arose after a video circulated showing personnel armed with long-barreled weapons, called "Rajawali", performing at a ceremony marking STIN's change of statute in Sentul, Bogor, on 9 September 2020, in the presence of Gunawan and several state officials. Through its Deputy VII, Wawan Hari Purwanto, BIN explained that "Rajawali" was not a separate force or unit but a code name for the Special Intelligence Training program for BIN personnel. Military analyst Khairul Fahmi of the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies (ISESS) said that BIN would need a legal basis if it wished to maintain an armed special force.
Nusantara Student Dormitory BIN initiated the construction of the Nusantara Student Dormitory (Asrama Mahasiswa Nusantara, AMN) under Presidential Regulation No. 106 of 2021, with the aim of providing shared housing for university students of different ethnicities, languages, cultures, and religions. According to Gunawan, the program followed up on a directive from President Joko Widodo on 10 September 2019, when the President received 61 figures from Papua and West Papua at the State Palace who, among other issues, raised the problem of friction between students in the cities where they studied. Dormitories were planned for six cities: Surabaya, Makassar, Manado, Malang, Bantul, and Jakarta.
The first dormitory was built by the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing in Siwalankerto, Surabaya, beginning on 17 September 2021, and was completed on 31 May 2022. President Joko Widodo inaugurated it on 29 November 2022 and at the same time launched the construction of similar dormitories in Makassar and Manado. AMN Surabaya houses 410 students from across the country who study at UPN "Veteran" East Java, Surabaya State University, Airlangga University, and the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, and is equipped with communal spaces, a library, a language laboratory, a health clinic, a counseling room, and sports fields.
In his remarks, President Joko Widodo expressed his appreciation to BIN, which he described as a catalyst for building AMN dormitories in several cities. Gunawan expressed the hope that the dormitory would become one of the places where the nation's future leaders are formed, and explained that the residents' development program covered national awareness, national defense, entrepreneurship, leadership, sports, the arts, religion, and community service.
Development of STIN and medical intelligence On 30 May 2022, BIN inaugurated the "Dr. (HC) Ir. Soekarno" smart campus at STIN in Sentul, Bogor. According to Gunawan, the development was part of a goal to make STIN one of Asia's leading intelligence colleges by 2035. On the same occasion, the "Wangsa Avatara" Medical Intelligence Building was also inaugurated, with former President Megawati Sukarnoputri presiding over the ceremony. According to BIN, the facility is equipped with a Biosafety Level 3 laboratory and next-generation sequencing technology, and is intended to anticipate biological threats as well as nuclear, biological, and chemical threats.
STIN also opened several new undergraduate programs, including Intelligence Agent, Intelligence Technology, Cyber Intelligence, and Intelligence Economics, as well as master's and doctoral programs in Medical Intelligence, Technology and Cyber, Economic Intelligence, Intelligence Studies, and Intelligence Strategy Analysis. The Medical Intelligence program was reportedly established in response to the experience of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Papua Youth Creative Hub On 21 March 2023, President Joko Widodo inaugurated the Papua Youth Creative Hub (PYCH) building in Abepura District, Jayapura, which was initiated by BIN and built by the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing. Gunawan became the institution's patron. Like AMN, PYCH followed up on the President's meeting with a group of young Papuans at the State Palace in September 2019. The facility hosts activities in animal husbandry, fisheries, fashion, music, photography, and app development.