Speakers

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Mr. Kusti Salm has served as the Permanent Secretary of Estonia’s Ministry of Defense since May 2021. He was previously Director General of the Estonian Centre of Defense Investment. Salm joined the Ministry of Defense of Estonia in 2007, working as an advisor for EU defense policy, and moving on to other positions including armaments cooperation counselor at the Permanent Representation of Estonia to NATO (2011-2015) and Director of the defense investments department (2016-2019). 

In 2017, Salm was the chief negotiator and chairman of the EU working group on the European Defense Industrial Development Program.

Dr. Jason Rathje currently serves as the Director of the Office of Strategic Capital in the U.S. Department of Defense. OSC’s mission is to attract and scale private capital in support of national security. OSC’s current focus is on the development and implementation of new financial tools to increase public-private investment in our Nation’s enabling and frontier technologies. 

Previously, Dr. Rathje served as Director and Cofounder of AFVentures, the Department of the Air Force’s Commercial Investment Arm under AFWERX. In that role, he managed $1.8B of combined government funding and private capital for scaling early to mid-stage technology ventures to support Air Force operations. 

Dr. Rathje holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Strategy and Policy from Stanford University,  as well as a Bachelors of Science and a Masters of Science in Aerospace Engineering  from MIT.

Charles Luftig is the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Policy and Capabilities and is responsible for ensuring the Intelligence Community is best postured for the threats and challenges of an uncertain future through strategy, policy, and capabilities development. He oversees seven organizations within the Policy and Capabilities Directorate: IC Human Capital; Acquisition, Procurement, and Facilities; Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity; Science and Technology; Data and Partnership Interoperability; Policy and Strategy; and Requirements, Cost and Effectiveness. 

Mr. Luftig has extensive national security experience having served in a variety of national security roles, including at the National Security Division of the Department of Justice, and as Deputy General Counsel at the Office of Management and Budget where he provided legal advice and strategic counsel on areas that included information technology, cybersecurity, data privacy, Federal procurement, Federal permitting, and oversight of agency performance. He also served in multiple senior National Security Council positions. He most recently served as the Chief of Staff to the Director of National Intelligence.

Immediately prior to joining ODNI in January 2021, Mr. Luftig worked as a senior manager at Bridgewater Associates where he helped oversee four departments, focusing on issues such as cybersecurity and corporate policy, data governance, data privacy, security/technology risk, compliance, and third-party risk.

Mr. Luftig is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia School of Law.

Dr. Michael C. Horowitz is Director of the Emerging Capabilities Policy Office in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Dr. Horowitz has over 20 years of experience in leadership, research, and academic roles focused on international security issues. He is currently on a leave of absence from the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as Director of Perry World House and Richard Perry Professor. 

Dr. Horowitz is the author of The Diffusion of Military Power: Causes and Consequences for International Politics, and the co-author of Why Leaders Fight. He won the Karl Deutsch Award given by the International Studies Association for early career contributions to the fields of international relations and peace research. He has published in a wide array of peer reviewed journals and popular outlets. His expertise includes defense innovation, the intersection of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics with global politics, the role of leaders in international politics, and geopolitical forecasting methodology. 

Dr. Horowitz previously served in the Pentagon, working on force development issues in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. He is a life member at the Council on Foreign Relations. He received his Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University and his B.A. in political science from Emory University.

Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich is Commander, Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central), Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, and the Combined Forces Air Component Commander for U.S. Central Command, Southwest Asia. In these roles, the general is responsible for developing contingency plans and conducting air operations in a 21-nation area of responsibility covering Central and Southwest Asia. 

Lt. Gen. Grynkewich received his commission in 1993 after graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He has served as an instructor pilot, weapons officer and operational test pilot in the F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-22 Raptor. Lt. Gen. Grynkewich has commanded at the squadron, wing and Air Expeditionary Task Force levels. His staff assignments include service at Air Combat Command, U.S. European Command, U.S. Central Command, Headquarters Air Force, and the Joint Staff. Prior to his current assignment, he served as the Director of Operations for U.S. Central Command.

Mr. Maynard Holliday is the Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Critical Technologies  (DCTO(CT)). In this capacity, he oversees investment and capability analysis of the Pentagon’s  critical technology areas. He has oversight of 10 principal directors assigned to those critical  technology portfolios and their roadmaps — the comprehensive strategies to manage, provide  oversight and guide choices for each critical technology area. These critical technology areas include  Advanced Computing & Software; Directed Energy; Human-Machine Interfaces; Hypersonics;  Integrated Network Systems-of-Systems; Integrated Sensing & Cyber; Microelectronics; Renewable  Energy Generation & Storage; Space Technology; and Trusted Artificial Intelligence & Autonomy. 

Mr. Holliday has over 30 years of professional experience leading technological innovations, in both  government and the private sector. Most recently, he was a Senior Engineer at the RAND Corporation  working on autonomous vehicle safety metrics and policy, explainable artificial intelligence, swarm  robotics and drone defense. Previously, he served as Senior Technical Advisor and Special Assistant to  Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. Mr. Holliday  helped establish the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental and was a member of the Defense Science  Board. Mr. Holliday has also worked for the Department of Energy (DOE) as a project manager for the  U.S.-Russia Nuclear Material Security Task Force. He was awarded the DOE’s Meritorious Service  Award, its highest, for his exceptional service in helping secure tons of weapons grade nuclear  material. Prior to his government service, Holliday was a senior engineering and robotics professional  at the Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories, as well as various robotics start-ups and  technology companies in Silicon Valley. 

Mr. Holliday is a co-organizer of Black in Robotics, a virtual world-wide community of roboticists and  their allies whose mission is to bring together Black researchers, industry professionals and students in  robotics to mutually support one another to help navigate academic, corporate and entrepreneurial  paths to success. He is also Co-Founder of Robot Garden, the robotics-themed hacker space in  Livermore, California. He also has been working with Bay Area public schools lecturing on robotics  and teaching robotics through the Citizen Schools program in East Oakland. Mr. Holliday was named Citizen Schools Volunteer of the Year for 2012 and was also recognized with a Presidential Volunteer  Service Award from the White House for his efforts. Before leaving government service in 2017 he  was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service recognizing his  contributions to national security through his considerable and trusted advice on multiple DoD  initiatives. 

Mr. Holliday graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science in  Mechanical Engineering. He later won a scholarship to attend Stanford University where he earned a  Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering Design, with an emphasis on robotics, international  security and arms control. Mr. Holliday also won a scholarship to attend the International Space  University in France and was a two-time finalist for the U.S. Astronaut Corps.

Dr. Timothy J. Bunning, a member of the Scientific and Professional Cadre of Senior Executives, is the Chief Technology Officer for Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Materiel Command, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. As the primary science and technology advisor to the AFRL Commander, he is responsible for assisting with the planning and execution of an annual $2.8 billion Air Force science and technology program and considerable resources executed on behalf of a variety of customers. He serves as the corporate-level science and technology interface for a government workforce of nearly 6,000 people in the laboratory’s nine technology directorates and 711th Human Performance Wing. 

Dr. Bunning joined AFRL in 1990 in the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate as a Ph.D. student. His research was funded through an Air Force Office of Scientific Research doctoral fellowship and conducted on-site within the directorate. After earning his doctorate and conducting post-doctoral studies at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, he spent six years as an on-site contractor in the directorate before transitioning to civil service there in 1998.  He has served in numerous positions including as a bench scientist/engineer, first- and second-level  supervisor and research leadership positions within the directorate between 1998 and 2015 when he was  selected to be the directorate’s Chief Scientist. He served in that position until his appointment as the AFRL  Chief Technology Officer. 

Dr. Bunning is active in numerous technical communities and is a Fellow of AFRL, the Optical Society of  America, the Society of Optical Engineering, the American Physical Society, the American Chemical  Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Materials Research Society and the Polymeric Materials  Science and Engineering Division of ACS. His research interests center on responsive optical, electro optical and photo-optical structured organic and hybrid materials and approaches for utility in optical  sensing, laser beam control and filtering (modulation) applications. He has co-authored more than 300  referred papers and more than 130 proceedings, has provided editorial in several books and holds 18  patents. He is currently an adjunct professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering,  Georgia Institute of Technology and is on the editorial boards of several materials-centric journals. 

Bio will be posted shortly.

Ambassador Tomasz Szatkowski (born 10 May 1978) is a graduate in law, with additional postgraduate degrees in national security studies (University of Warsaw) and war studies (King’s College London). He also completed a postgraduate course in intelligence policy (King’s College London), a training course for staff officers (US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey), as well as a course in defence policy programming and strategic management (Defence Academy of the United Kingdom – Shrivenham). He is a recipient of scholarships from the UK Ministry of Defence (2004), US Department of State (2007), Asmus Policy Entrepreneurs Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (2013) and participant in the program of the Munich Security Conference Munich Young Leaders (2019).

Having held senior positions in the Polish administration (the Parliament of the Republic of Poland, Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Ministry of National Defence), defence industry, public media and the European Parliament he has extensive experience in the national security domain, in particular defence and armaments policy, oversight of the special services and public media.
Before taking up the position of the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to NATO, in 2015-2019, he was the deputy minister of national defence responsible among others for international affairs, organization of the NATO Summit in Warsaw in 2016, Strategic Defence Review and negotiations on enhancing the American military presence in Poland.

He is an author of numerous publications on the aforementioned issues, published both in Poland and abroad. His interests are in the classic military strategy, in particular the relationship between technology and strategy, intelligence strategy, defence economics, as well as problems of coordinating national security policy.

Bio will be posted soon.

Alex Bornyakov is a Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine on IT industry development. His main goal in this position is to turn Ukraine into the largest IT Hub in Europe.

Among Alex’s projects is the introduction of a unique tax and legal space for the IT industry Diia.City and recently launched defense tech cluster Brave1. 

Alex has an MBA (University of New Brunswick), an MPA (Columbia University) and more than ten years of experience in IT management. He founded and managed a number of successful companies and startup incubators, including the American video monetization platform Adtelligent and the outsourcing company Intersog, which was included in the TOP-5 App Developers in Chicago according to Clutch. In 2015, he became Best CEO / COO – IT BIZ AWARDS 2015, and in 2016 he was included in the ranking of 25 trailblazing business leaders in Ukraine.

Nataliia Kushnerska is an experienced business leader and project management professional.

For 15 years, Nataliia has been the General manager at the event agency Diplomat Service, leading more than 50 projects in Ukraine and abroad. Nataliia also has experience working with government institutions; she’s been an advisor to the First Deputy Minister of Economy.

Since early 2023, as Chief Operations Officer at the Ukrainian defense tech cluster Brave1, Nataliia has been responsible for cooperation with government institutions, enterprises, developers, funds, startups, and Ukrainian Defense tech representatives.

With Brave1 officially launched on April 26th, 2023, Nataliia and her team unite the Defense tech ecosystem, scale it up, and push it forward to bring the victory closer through tech innovations.

Education: Kyiv National Linguistics University, Master’s degree “Translator English, Italian, French languages.”

Dmitri Alperovitch is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, a non-profit focused on advancing American prosperity and global leadership in the 21st century and beyond. He is a Co-Founder and former CTO of CrowdStrike Inc., a leading cybersecurity company. A renowned cybersecurity visionary, business executive, and thought leader on geopolitics, great power competition and cybersecurity strategy, Alperovitch has served as special advisor to the Department of Defense and currently serves on the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Cyber Safety Review Board. His writing on geopolitics, foreign policy and cybersecurity issues has appeared in major news outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Foreign Affairs, and he is a regular contributor to national broadcast news programs including PBS Newshour and NBC News. Alperovitch is also an active angel investor and board member of multiple high-growth technology companies. He has been named as one of Fortune Magazine‘s “40 Under 40” most influential young people in business and Politico Magazine has featured Alperovitch as one of “Politico 50” influential thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics. In 2013, Alperovitch received the prestigious recognition of being selected as MIT Technology Review’s “Young Innovators under 35” (TR35) and Foreign Policy‘s Leading Global Thinkers, and he was named a “D.C. Tech Titan” and one of the 500 most influential people in Washington by Washingtonian Magazine in 2022. In 2021, he launched the Alperovitch Institute for Cybersecurity Studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He is the host and creator of Silverado’s popular “Geopolitics Decanted” podcast, dedicated to expert analysis of the war in Ukraine as well as broader issues related to industrial policy, semiconductors, cybersecurity and economic and ecological security.

Lt. Col. Bryan Ralston is currently the AFWERX Autonomy Prime Lead and a Flight Test Engineer specializing in experimentation and prototyping. He is responsible for the cost, schedule, performance and strategy of the unique rapid acquisition program focused on accelerating and transitioning autonomy in the Air Force.  He was commissioned in 2008 through ROTC at the University of Missouri-Rolla, earning a Bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering. He also holds a Master’s in Aerospace Engineering from Missouri S&T, Master’s in Experimental Flight Test Engineering from the United States Air Force Test Pilot School and Masters Degree in Aerospace Technology and Strategy Integration from Air University. He was most recently a Blue Horizons CSAF Fellow at the Center for Strategy and Technology and has held a variety of positions in Acquisitions and Academia.

Geo Saba is the Chief of Staff for Congressman Ro Khanna. He graduated with a BA with honors and Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University where he played Varsity Baseball and was a research assistant for Dr. Condoleezza Rice. Geo also earned his MPhil in International Relations from Cambridge University where he was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. He was an Aspen Strategy Group Rising Leader, CNAS Next Gen Fellow, New America MENA Next Generation Leader, on the CSIS National Security & Foreign Affairs Top 50 Leadership List, and is a Middle East Policy Council 40 Under 40 awardee.

Ann E. Kowalewski is the Professional Staff Member  covering the Indo-Pacific portfolio for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, focusing on East Asia and the Pacific. Prior to HFAC, she was a Senior Policy Analyst for the Indo-Pacific on the  Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where she worked on key legislation such as the Taiwan Policy Act, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act,  and authored the technology chapter of a committee report on transatlantic cooperation regarding the People’s Republic of China.

Before her time on the Hill, Ann worked at various think tanks, including the American  Enterprise Institute and Center for a New American Security, where she focused on People’s  Liberation Army modernization, PRC power projection in the Indo-Pacific, and U.S. defense  alliances and policy in Northeast Asia.

Prior to her life in D.C., Ann was a Parliamentary Assistant at the Scottish Parliament, managing  casework on EU law and nuclear non-proliferation issues. Ann received her Master of Arts in  Security Studies from Georgetown University and her LLB from the University of Edinburgh – School of Law. She is fluent in Mandarin.

Mr. Frazier joined Maxar in 2017 after its acquisition of DigitalGlobe and serves as the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Public Sector Earth Intelligence. In this role he leads Maxar’s business that enables the U.S. Government, dozens of U.S. Foreign Partners, and numerous humanitarian organizations apply satellite imagery, secure ground systems, geospatial products, online platforms, and advanced analytic capabilities to critical missions. In this capacity, Mr. Frazier’s team is focused on harnessing innovation in commercial space, 3D, advanced computing, and artificial intelligence to ensure the U.S. and its Allies maintain a strategic advantage by being able to see, understand, and act on precise activities at global scale. 

Prior to this role, Mr. Frazier led all sales, business development, and services delivery activities for Maxar. Previously, Mr. Frazier served as President of Radiant Solutions, which was formed by combining the Geospatial Services across legacy portions of Maxar from 2017 until 2019. Mr. Frazier also served as Senior Vice President, General Manager of DigitalGlobe’s Services business from 2013 and prior to DigitalGlobe’s acquisition of GeoEye, Inc. in 2013, led GeoEye’s Marketing and Communications team since 2010.   

Prior to GeoEye, Mr. Frazier served as Senior Director of Product Management at Cisco Systems, where he brought to market emerging technologies core to Cisco’s video and collaboration strategy. Before Cisco, Mr. Frazier held senior marketing roles at Infor, iPhrase Technologies an MIT start-up acquired by IBM, and pcOrder.com. Mr. Frazier began his career in strategic consulting at Bain & Company.   

Since March 2021, Mr. Frazier has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM). Mr. Frazier holds a Bachelor of Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA with distinction from Harvard University. 

Todd Harrison is Managing Director of Metrea Strategic Insights where he leads the company’s efforts to conduct innovative, insightful, and pathfinding research. Prior to joining Metrea in May 2022, Mr. Harrison was a senior fellow and the director of Defense Budget Analysis and the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). At CSIS he led the Center’s efforts to provide in-depth, nonpartisan research and analysis of defense funding, space security, and air power issues. Mr. Harrison joined CSIS from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), where he was a senior fellow for defense budget studies. At both CSIS and CSBA, Mr. Harrison authored numerous publications on trends in the defense budget, military space systems, threats to space systems, civil space exploration, defense acquisitions, military compensation and readiness, and military force structure, among other topics.

Mr. Harrison previously worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, where he consulted for the U.S. Air Force on satellite communications systems and supported a variety of other clients evaluating the performance of acquisition programs. Prior to Booz Allen, he worked for AeroAstro Inc., a small startup developing advanced space technologies, and as a management consultant at Diamond Cluster International. Mr. Harrison previously served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with both a B.S. and an M.S. in aeronautics and astronautics. He is currently a non-resident senior associate at CSIS, a member of the National Security Space Association Board of Advisors, and an adjunct faculty member at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Paul Beckman is ManTech’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) with a focus on driving  efficiencies and growth through secure and technological innovation.  

Prior to joining ManTech in 2021, Mr. Beckman spent 15 years as a Senior Executive at the  Department of Homeland Security (DHS) originally as the CISO for the Headquarters component  and ultimately the CISO for the entire Department. Prior to his assignment at DHS, he spent five  years working for the Department of Defense at the Pentagon, under their Network Infrastructure  Division as their Information Assurance Manager. There he reported directly to the Director of  Network Infrastructure on all security issues with respect to the Pentagon’s Backbone and Core  Infrastructure.  

Mr. Beckman has developed expertise in technology modernization, enterprise cybersecurity,  critical infrastructure, privacy and insider threat. He holds many industry-recognized certifications  including CISSP, CCSP, MCSE, CCNA, CWNA and CWSP. 

He earned a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University and a  Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Radford University 

Samuel Bendett is an Adviser with CNA Strategy, Policy, Plans and Programs Center (SP3), where he is a member of the Russia Studies Program. His work involves research on Russian defense and technology developments, unmanned and autonomous military systems and Artificial Intelligence, as well as Russian military capabilities and decision-making during crises. He is a Member of CNA’s Center for Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence, and an honorary “Mad Scientist” with the US ARMY TRADOC’s Mad Scientist Initiative. He is also a Russian military autonomy and AI SME for the DOD’s Defense Systems Information Analysis Center.

Prior to joining CNA, Mr. Bendett worked at the National Defense University on emerging and disruptive technologies for government response in crisis situation, where he conducted research on behalf of the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy (OSD-P) and Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (OSD-AT&L). His previous experience includes working for US Congress, private sector and non-profit organizations on foreign policy, international conflict resolution, defense and security issues.

Mr. Bendett’s analyses, views and commentary on Russian military robotics, unmanned systems and Artificial Intelligence capabilities appear in the C4ISRnet, DefenseOne, War on the Rocks, Breaking Defense, The National Interest, War Is Boring, and The Strategy Bridge. He frequently presents on the Russian unmanned systems and AI to the US government, private industry and academia, as well as think tanks and policy centers. Between 2008 and 2016, he was a foreign policy and international affairs contributor to the RealClearWorld.com blog.

Samuel Bendett received his M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School, Tufts University and B.A. in Politics and English from Brandeis University. He has native fluency in Russian.

J David Britt orchestrates the enhancement of ManTech’s innovative capabilities and technology solutions.  Mr. Britt actively identifies and leads innovative program transformation, develops innovation timelines, and  manages innovation and technology goals alignment with ManTech’s broad business objectives. 

Mr. Britt joined ManTech in 2019 as a Program Manager leading ManTech’s largest portfolio of work for the Navy  Segment where he lead ManTech’s engineering support efforts for NAVSEA and NAVAIR.  

A U.S. military veteran, Mr. Britt served for more than 25 years in the Navy as a naval Flight Officer from the  Maritime Patrol community. His latest assignment was serving as the major program manager for the US Navy’s  Secure Cloud Pilot effort for US Fleet Forces Command and OPNAV N2/N6. He also served as the Chief Technical  Officer (N6) of the P-8 Poseidon / P-3 Orion programs. 

Mr. Britt earned a Master of Science in Systems Engineering Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School and a  Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the United States Naval Academy. He has extensive flight test experience  as a Navy Flight Officer and program manager for NAVAIR and OPNAV including executive experience in  Washington, D.C. while serving for the Undersecretary Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness.   

Media contact: (571) 446-7550

Lamont Copeland is the Director of Federal Solutions Architecture for Verizon’s Global Presales organization in support of the Verizon Business Group Public Sector Vertical. He leads a team of technology subject matter experts who are focused on developing integrated, complex enterprise solutions and enabling business outcomes for Federal customers through the power of Verizon technology portfolios and partner solutions. He also supports the growth and development of Verizon Product Portfolio working closely with Verizon’s Product teams to enhance and deploy new products for our Federal consumer base.

In his previous role with Booz Allen Hamilton, Lamont served as Senior Associate/Engineering Manager where he led a team of engineers and analysts for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reporting directly to the National Protection and Programs Directorate/Network Security Deployment (NPPD/NSD) Director and Chief Security Engineer for the EINSTEIN3 Program. The team delivered system engineering, architecture design, and integration support of network security sensor systems and communications infrastructure designs for Government networks. He was also responsible for the development the market strategy for growth of the cyber engineering and analysis products and contract Profit and Loss (P/L) and growth for Booz Allen’s Federal cyber contracts.

While at Sprint, Lamont was Chief Engineer leading the engineering design and performance of Sprint’s core IP network services. He led the infrastructure build outs, feature functionality testing of network capabilities, and managed the project schedules and annual capital budget for network capacity deployment and new product roll outs.

Lamont holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University and a Masters of Business Administration with a focus on Management of Technology Innovation, Venture Capital/Finance Investment, and Small Business Development from George Washington University.

Hans Hollister joined General Dynamics IT in 2020 as Vice President  & General Manager of Air & Space Forces Sector. He leads a team of  more than 1,700 highly-skilled professionals delivering world-wide  capabilities and services for our most mission-critical customers. The  Air & Space Forces team provides industry-leading IT, Cloud Migration  & Managed Services, Software Development, Joint All-Domain  Command & Control, and Operational & Training services to support  global missions and operations worldwide. 

Prior to GDIT, Hans was the Executive Vice President & Chief Growth  Officer as well as General Manager of the IT business line at Engineering  Solutions & Products. He led the growth of the company and was able  to increase the enterprise value dramatically which led to a successful  sale of the company in late 2019. 

Previous to ESP, Hans spent 23 years with L-3 where his last position  was the President and General Manager of the Global Solutions sector of  L-3 National Security Solutions. Global Solutions delivered a wide range  of cyber, enterprise IT, Big Data and operational infrastructure services  and solutions. Before that, he was Senior Vice President, Business  Development for National Security Solutions, which included the IDIQ  response center that supported all of L-3. During his tenure, Mr.  Hollister’s team of 125 growth professionals achieved a 60% win rate  with over $12B in wins, including $8.6B in new business. Hans also held  leadership positions supporting customers in the U.S. Department of  Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. State Department  including four years in Heidelberg, Germany, as director for all  operations in Europe. 

Hans holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from DePauw  University, an International MBA from Georgetown University and an  Executive Leadership training certificate from Wharton Business School.

Kevin Fogarty serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the Leidos Defense Group where he oversees all technical aspects of  the Group’s efforts, including digital modernization and cybersecurity; command, control, communications, computers, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR); multi-domain operations; maritime and airborne sensors and platforms; and logistics and mission support. Mr. Fogarty is an accomplished Solutions Architect with a technical background and research interests in high-speed telecommunications networks, complex system integration, and modeling formalisms.  

Prior to joining the Defense Group, Mr. Fogarty was the CTO for Dynetics, a Leidos Company, in their Aerospace, Defense, and Civil Operation. Previously, he served as the CTO for Leidos’ Cyber and  SIGINT Solutions Operation, Corporate Cyber Technical Core Competency Lead, Chief Technical  Architect for the MHS GENESIS (Electronic Health Records) system, Lead System Engineer for high speed processing systems, Program Manager, and Line Manager.  

Mr. Fogarty holds a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech, and a  Master of Science (M.S.) in Systems Engineering from the University of Maryland. He resides in  Huntsville, Alabama with his family, and his hobbies include running, skiing, and coaching youth  sports. 

JD joined Google Public Sector (GPS) as part of the Mandiant acquisition in the fall of 2022.  He leads the former Mandiant/FireEye US Public Sector Team, which has now been rebranded as the Security Specialist Team within GPS.  In this role, JD oversees the full USG cybersecurity business portfolio (Defense, Intelligence Community, State and Local and Civilian Agencies) for GPS.  Prior to the acquisition by Google, JD had held various leadership roles at Mandiant/FireEye, including running the US Public Sector team since 2019.  

Before joining FireEye, JD spent two years as a Vice President for KoolSpan, running the federal team for a Bethesda Maryland based secure mobile communications company.

 JD came to industry after completing a 20-year career in the U.S. military where he served in a broad range of positions focusing on national security, foreign policy and intelligence.  JD began his career as Apache Aviator then transitioned to serving as a Military Attaché where he conducted diplomatic engagement and negotiations in over 30 countries throughout Europe and the former Soviet Union.  

JD received a BS Degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a Master of Arts Degree from Harvard University, and an MBA from Baylor University.

Additionally, JD has served in combat operations in Iraq and Kosovo, earned a Bronze Star leading a team of intelligence operators for the Joint Special Operations Command, is US Army Ranger qualified, speaks fluent Russian, and has experience working in sensitive intelligence operations focusing on the Central Eurasia and Eastern European regions.

Chief Technology Officer Ki Lee drives technology application and adoption for Booz Allen’s global defense business, with a focus on supporting mission needs and gaps. Ki leads a team to assess technical and non-technical trends, prioritizing technologies and new operating models that will be disruptive. He is passionate about using modular, open architectures to maximize agility for the warfighter.

Ki and his teams work closely with clients across the joint mission landscape to understand their current mission, operations, and technical environments and constraints, tailoring solutions to advance their missions. He has supported complex multiagency, multinational missions and worked to enable enterprise-of-enterprises integration and interoperability for Department of Defense, intelligence community, and law enforcement clients.

Over his 20 years at Booz Allen, Ki has been a leader in our digital business, leading emerging capabilities, ranging from cloud, DevSecOps, algorithmic warfare, and edge computing. He has driven large-scale mission transformation and modernization, including for global intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); joint command and control (C2); counter improvised explosive devices (IED); and counter illicit trafficking efforts.

Prior to joining Booz Allen, Ki worked in the financial services and healthcare sectors for Computer Sciences Corporation and Viant.

Ki holds a bachelor of science and master of engineering in mechanical engineering from Cornell University.

Keith Nelson is Industry Senior Strategist for Global Public Sector at OpenText. Mr. Nelson has spent more than 20 years working in the fields of public sector consulting and high-tech marketing and as a government appointee. His roles in government include serving as Assistant Secretary for Administration (a position requiring Senate confirmation), Acting Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, Acting Chief Financial Officer, and Deputy Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Departments of Transportation, Labor and Housing and Urban Development.

As Shield AI’s Chief of Staff, Biz brings extensive experience in the defense technology sector, driving innovation and fostering scalable growth. With a background in government contracting gained at Raytheon Technologies’ Early Warning Radar portfolio, she joined Shield AI in 2020 and has been instrumental in establishing the company’s contracts, business development, and government affairs teams. Biz is a partner at the Silicon Valley Defense Group and holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California, as well as a dual MBA/MPP from Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School. 

Aaron M. Rosenmund is a cyber security operations subject matter expert, with a background in federal and business defensive and offensive cyber operations and system automation. Leveraging his administration and automation experience, Aaron actively contributes to multiple open and closed source security operation platform projects and continues to create tools and content to benefit the community. As an educator & cyber security researcher at Pluralsight, he is focused on advancing cyber security workforce and technologies for business and national enterprises alike. In support of the Air National Guard, he contributes those skills part time in various initiatives to defend the nation in cyberspace. 

John has over a decade of experience investing in and leading national security oriented technology companies. John is presently the CEO of HawkEye 360, the leading developer of space-based radio frequency (RF) collection, mapping, and analytic capabilities. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Allied Minds where he led the formation, financing, and management of HawkEye 360, along with other Allied Minds companies such as BridgeSat, Federated Wireless, and Percipient Networks (WatchGuard acquired). A former Airborne Ranger-qualified U.S. Army infantry officer, John is a graduate of the US Military Academy, Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Eric Tapp performs business development for GDIT’s Defense Division and provides subject matter expertise to numerous sectors focused on Geographic Combatant Commands and Mission Partner Environments. Eric is a 21-year veteran of the US Army and has led at multiple levels as an Infantry officer as well as an Information Systems officer in both conventional and SOF organizations. In his final role at USCENTCOM, Eric led a team in the development, testing, and implementation of a data centric mission partner environment.

Bill Washburn is MarkLogic’s Federal Chief Program Officer (CPO) leading MarkLogic’s major federal program efforts, to include our Prime contract wins with USAF ABMS, and JAIC’s DRAID programs. Bill provides US Defense, Intelligence and Civil Government clients with a vision and strategy for their data challenges and partners with them for success. In this role Bill makes the complex simple, the challenge a norm, the solution fit. MarkLogic (Recently acquired by Progress Software Corporation PRGS on NASDAQ) is the leading NoSQL, multi-model database and cloud native Data Hub which easily processes data from any source. Whether it’s data from an existing relational database, legacy mainframe, Hadoop, document file system, or any other conceivable source. MarkLogic indexes all data on ingest including JSON, XML, text, and more so you can ask questions in real-time and get lightning fast results. MarkLogic is the MOST SECURE NoSQL database available! At MarkLogic, our mission is to enable data owners and users to manage, exploit, catalog and secure their data effectively and efficiently in the performance of their mission and data operations with adherence to ethical standards and conforming to compliance.

Prior to MarkLogic Bill worked at Informatica Federal Operations Corp the US subsidiary (FOCI Compliant) of Informatica Inc. where he led the company as the President and pursued Data Management and Quality business with the federal government in the Intelligence Community and National Security sectors. Prior to that Bill work for 15 years in executive roles with large and small services companies like SAIC, CSC, Octo and Perspecta (now Peraton) Focusing on Analytics, Systems Engineering, and Integration efforts in the Intelligence Community, Homeland Security, and Defense Department, in leadership positions focusing on business growth and leading staff in Operational Management.

Previously Bill held positions as an Engineer, Developer and a Program Manager in large and small companies supporting broad customer sets with dynamic solutions. Bill has led large development teams building enterprise wide solutions for the IC and run IT and Communications Operations Centers for large worldwide secure federal enterprises with a focus on worldwide communications and IT sustainability and reliability. Prior to Industry Bill served 10 years in the US Army with assignments at the White House Communications Agency (WHCA), 25th Infantry Division and others.

After the Military Bill pursued a technical degree from Strayer University (Washington DC) while working full time, graduating Cum Laude in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. Bill also holds a Project Management Certificate from George Washington University School of Business from 2006.

Jim Westdorp is the Chief Technical Officer for CGSI where he drives the creation of class leading network solutions for our Government customers using Ciena’s portfolio of packet optical products and services.

Prior to this position, Mr. Westdorp was the product line manager for our Government & Utility enterprises where he was responsible for requirements definition, market analysis, and technical sales. Mr. Westdorp also spent time leading global marketing programs associated with our Government business and had over a decade of experience as a product and engineering management professional at Ciena where he oversaw the metro and long haul wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission equipment business. Mr. Westdorp was a charter member of Ciena Government Solutions (CGSI) when the business first formed in 2004 and has 30 years of leadership experience in product line management and product development with a specialty in optical, digital, and RF communications systems.

Before joining Ciena in 1998, Mr. Westdorp was a product manager and systems engineer at AlliedSignal for navigation and satcom systems serving the DoD community. He has two patents in the DWDM systems arena.

Mr. Westdorp received Masters Degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University and an undergraduate Engineering Degree with a concentration in business from Clarkson University.

Kevin Baron is the founding executive editor of Defense One. Baron has lived in Washington for 20 years, covering international affairs, the military, the Pentagon, Congress, and politics for Foreign Policy, National Journal, Stars and Stripes, and the Boston Globe, where he ran investigative projects for five years at the Washington bureau. He is a frequent on-air contributor and previously was national security/military analyst at NBC News & MSNBC. Baron cut his muckraking teeth at the Center for Public Integrity and he is twice a Polk Award winner and former vice president of the Pentagon Press Association. He earned his M.A. in media and public affairs from George Washington University, his B.A. in international studies from the University of Richmond, and studied in Paris. Raised in Florida, Baron now lives in Northern Virginia.

In her current role as Associate Publisher at Defense One, Laurie Diamond works closely with defense and national security thought leaders. In doing so she assists with conveying their messaging and innovative solutions to top leaders and communities in the defense space. Prior to Defense One, she has 28+ years of experience serving in leadership and management roles in marketing, DoD business development, proposal and capture management, market research and networking. She has excelled in senior leadership positions at The Washington Post, Congressional Quarterly, Clear Channel, Alion Science and Technology and several technology solutions-based companies supporting federal and defense contracts.

Experienced Publisher with a demonstrated history of working in the publishing industry. Strong media and communication professional skilled in Integrated Marketing, Strategic Partnerships, Marketing, Business Development, and Marketing Strategy. Recognized by Folio’s Women in Media as 2018 Corporate Champion.

George Jackson is the VP of events at GovExec Media – the largest and most-influential media company in the public sector marketplace. George joined GovExec in October of 2020 to enhance the scale of their events and audience experiences.

He graduated from The Ohio State University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in English. In 2006, he earned his master’s in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.

George spent the first five years of his journalism career at WJHL-TV in Johnson City Tenn. – beginning as an overnight producer for the station’s 6 a.m. broadcast. He advanced to lead on-air reporter for WJHL’s 11 p.m. newscast.

As a reporter, George examined the earnings of two non-profit hospital systems, felony charges filed against a local sheriff, predatory paving companies, a health benefits backlog for local veterans, and a series of cold-case murder investigations. He received an honorable mention for Best TV Reporter in the 2011 Tennessee AP Broadcast awards and won a Best Investigative Reporting award from Media General in 2010.

George joined DC’s ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in 2012 to produce Capital Insider, which won him an Emmy award. One year later, he developed and recorded the pilot episode of Government Matters – a program about the business of government. It debuted as a weekly show on Sunday, August 4^th of 2013. George led Government Matters through September of 2020, expanded its reach to a daily worldwide audience, and produced its first feature-length documentary “The Dawn of Generation AI.”

George is from Toledo, Ohio. He lives with his wife, twin daughters, and a pair of rescue dogs in Northern Virginia.

Patrick Tucker is technology editor for Defense One. He’s also the author of THE NAKED FUTURE: WHAT HAPPENS IN A WORLD THAT ANTICIPATES YOUR EVERY MOVE? (CURRENT, 2014). Previously, Tucker was deputy editor for The Futurist for nine years. Tucker has written about emerging technology in Slate, The Sun, MIT Technology Review, Wilson Quarterly, The American Legion Magazine, BBC News Magazine, Utne Reader, and elsewhere.

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Lauren C. Williams is senior editor for Defense One.

She previously covered defense technology and cybersecurity for FCW and Defense Systems. Before then, Williams has reported on several issues, including internet culture, national security, health care, politics and crime for various publications. She has a master’s in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park and a bachelor’s in dietetics from the University of Delaware.

She can be contacted at lwilliams@govexec.com or follow her on Twitter @lalaurenista.