Project 38: The future of federal contracting

Golden Dome is the U.S.' newest ambitious attempt to create a multi-layered defense system for protecting the mainland from incoming ballistic, hypersonic, cruise and other types of missiles.Audrey Decker, who covers the Air Force and Space Force for our partners at Defense One, has covered Golden Dome from multiple angles as ideas for it have emerged since President Trump's January executive order to get working on it.Audrey joins our Ross Wilkers for this episode to provide an update on how the Defense Department, especially Space Force, is working on the vision for Golden Dome and what it needs to become a reality.Software will be paramount in making Golden Dome happen, as Audrey explains from what government and industry officials have told her. How contractors are making their pitch to be part of the Golden Dome program is also on the agenda for Audrey and Ross.Industry eyes ‘wicked hard' Golden Dome space interceptor challengeGolden Dome push sets stage for telecom battle over spectrum accessTrump to get Golden Dome options next week: defense sourceSpace Force sets up team to sort out support for ‘Iron Dome'—that is, ‘Golden Dome'America's ‘Iron Dome' is going to need a lot more sensors: NORTHCOMTrump's ‘Iron Dome for America' plan would put weapons in space, at a big cost

Specifics of what the structural changes to how the federal government buys goods and services for industry remain under construction, but companies now have some clear themes from that push to work into their strategies.Tris Carpenter, general manager for strategic growth at Red Team Consulting, worked with his colleagues on an analysis of seven themes in particular that companies doing business with the government should look for.As Carpenter explains to our Ross Wilkers in this episode, the FAR overhaul effort introduces some risk into the system that contractors and their government customers have not historically had to navigate.But with some prep work, companies of all shapes and sizes can find success. Long-time players, aspiring new entrants and others in between have something to gain.Trump administration releases first wave of acquisition regulation changesTrump orders structural changes to rules covering $1T in federal spendingPlan for sweeping FAR changes nears releaseFAR overhaul: The challenges in tackling federal procurement's 5,000-page beast

The pace of change is accelerating in the market, which means we can always take a step back to understand where those changes have come from and how that drives business activities.Bill Wright, head of global government affairs at Elastic, joins for this episode to explain how the fundamentals of the Trump administration's approach to artificial intelligence and cybersecurity line up with those from the Biden Administration.Yes many things are different, but several others are not as well. For Wright, this shows just how critical cyber and AI are to the federal government. As he tells Editor Nick Wakeman, the Trump administration is looking to expand the government's AI and cyber strategy with a greater emphasis on commercial technology.And of course, speed and efficiency are key points Wright addresses too. As he explains, understanding where customers have come from and where they want to go is step one in finding growth opportunities across today's market.Here are the tech takeaways from Trump's budget proposal‘Just wait' to see how CISA reforms play out, DHS head tells cyber communityIndustry awaits how OMB AI guidance on paper will be implemented in practiceWhat the federal workforce could look like with AI government employees

In typical times, there is no going back after an agency tells a company their contract is being terminated for convenience of the government, which starts a settlement process cycle.But this episode featuring Jeff Shapiro, government contracting advisory and regulatory assurance partner at CohnReznick, serves as a reminder that these are not typical times in GovCon.As Shapiro explains to our Ross Wilkers, contractors have a Yes/No question of whether or not to go back to work after a termination reversal. If the answer is Yes, a new cycle begins that Shapiro talks through in detail.The General Services Administration's push to centralize much of civilian procurement under its roof features in part two of their discussion.Trump orders structural changes to rules covering $1T in federal spendingGSA to ‘quadruple' in size to centralize procurement across the governmentProactive responses to termination for convenience or stop-work ordersYour contract termination has been reversed. Now what?

Google set off quite the reaction when the tech giant's offer to discount its cloud-based productivity suite at 71% for all federal agencies was accepted by the General Services Administration, on behalf of those agencies.Frank Konkel, editor-in-chief for all GovExec publications including WT, went under the hood of that agreement and joins our Ross Wilkers for this episode to take listeners there as well.As Frank explains: this pact unique because it essentially treats the federal government as a single whole customer. The agreement also foreshadows more like it to make certain commercial technologies more accessible for federal agencies.Naturally, Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency also feature in the conversation between Frank and Ross.

The nature of mergers and acquisitions in the government market is changing and our 2024 roundup of closed transactions further illustrates that evolution toward technology-enabled capabilities, which are largely driven by software.Jean Stack and John Song, co-managing directors of the defense and government practice at the investment bank Baird & Co., join for this episode to discuss what drove transactions over the past year and what they expect in the year ahead.A new administration in the White House means there is plenty of change and uncertainty in the market.But as Stack and Song told Editor Nick Wakeman, these fundamentals of M&A activity will not change:Artificial intelligence, cloud and software-defined solutions are in hot demandPrivate equity buyers will continue to drive volumeStrategic buyers, including the public companies, will remain pickyAlso listen out for their predictions on how the coming year will shake out.

Public company acquirers (unicorns) certainly get everyone's attention, but our 2024 M&A Roundup shows how the private equity collective continues to be the majority buyer and builder of midsized GovCon businesses over the years.Greg Nossaman and Greg Woodford, co-founders and managing directors at their investment bank G Squared Capital Partners, join this episode to review PE's past and present activity in the market.The Gregs' conversation with our Ross Wilkers then shifts to the future of private equity in GovCon and the questions on many business leaders' minds highlighted by these two:How do I go about searching for a PE firm to back my company? What does PE look for in its investments?

Few companies have closed as many acquisitions as CACI International.CACI has three acquisitions on our 2024 M&A Roundup: Azure Technologies, Applied Insight and Quandrint. Those moves brought to CACI a suite of offerings in cloud migration, radio frequency and electronic warfare, and digital application modernization.In this episode, CACI's chief financial officer Jeff MacLauchlan explains how the company's strategy focuses on gaps. These gaps can include capabilities, customer footprint, technology, past performance, or some combination of the above.“We don't buy scale or to bulk up,” he told WT Editor Nick Wakeman.CACI views acquisitions as a critical part of its philosophy to invest ahead of customer needs. That also includes partnering, internal research and holding demonstrations.The change in administration has brought some uncertainty to the market and caused a slowdown in deals, but he adds that “opportunities will come."How CACI's $1.2B Azure Summit acquisition expands its overseas strategyCACI acquires Applied Insight to build up cloud migration offeringsCACI's international push is a slow and steady raceBetter tools for analysts drove CACI to buy Bluestone AnalyticsCACI to acquire laser communication tech maker for $275M

In each year from 2004 and onward, WT publishes a report and augmenting analysis that catalogs merger-and-acquisition activity in the government market as a way to trace the history of GovCon and the companies in it.Nick and Ross begin this two-folded episode by going over the 2024 edition of that report and their highlights from it, both in terms of what we can gauge about the individual companies and the overall market at-large.Part two shifts the discussion to all that is going on with President Trump's return to office and the related transition activities, which are roughly 11 weeks in. Contractors are still left guessing a lot in terms of how the new administration wants to achieve its agenda and what is expected from industry.Our 2024 M&A roundup is now availableDefense tech, digital modernization drive GovCon M&A in 2024How consulting firms acquire to iterate, and sometimes reinvent themselvesThe public company acquirer remains a unicorn in the M&A actionVenture investing is part of the M&A conversation tooANALYSIS: Federal contractors navigate Trump administration uncertaintyTrump's ‘pincer maneuver' reshapes federal contracting landscapeBillions are on the line as DOGE, GSA increase scrutinyCOMMENTARY: The chainsaw approach to cutting government promises more damage than resultsTrump administration asks agencies to cull consultantsPentagon launches consulting contract review processFAR overhaul: The challenges in tackling federal procurement's 5,000-page beastCentralized federal procurements bring plenty of risks, potential rewards

Even in a period of unprecedented change across the GovCon ecosystem, industry observers across-the-board remain certain that agencies and contractors alike will have more supply chain security requirements to navigate.Leo Alvarez, a principal in Baker Tilly's government contractor solutions practice, joins for this episode to go over the industrial side of that equation and how contractors can approach supply chain risk management as a partnership with their government customers.As Alvarez tells our Ross Wilkers, contractors increasingly must detail their supply chain risk management frameworks to agencies in proposals to win the contracts. Putting those frameworks into repeated practice is also a business strategy that goes beyond just complying with regulations.The CMMC cyber and supply chain standard for the industrial base also features throughout their conversation, given its finalization is an inevitability. Alvarez also explains how CMMC is part of the whole in the supply chain conversation, as opposed to being the whole.

Thales North America has a significant U.S. presence with thousands of employees and customers ranging from the Defense Department to NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration.But the subsidiary has kept a relatively low-profile compared to competitors. For this episode, Editor Nick Wakeman sits down with Thales North America CEO Alan Pellegrini to talk strategy and tends in the market.Item number one on the agenda is a discussion of what the company offers to its customers across space, defense, aviation and cybersecurity. Pellegrini explains how those areas line up with the priorities of its parent, the Paris-headquartered Thales Group.From there, the conversation moves to upcoming opportunities and how Pellegrini sees the market evolving with more demands for dual-use technologies and digital solutions around data encryption, application security and identity and access management.Pellegrini predicts a growing market for Thales, both in America and around the world defense spending everywhere changes due the Trump administration's push for shifting U.S. priorities.

Private capital is a broad umbrella term for several different types of investment and ownership models in business, but private equity is the one that looms the largest over GovCon and tech-centric companies there.Tiffanny Gates has a front row seat to that as an operating partner at Capitol Meridian Partners, an investor that touts itself as at the nexus of government and commercial markets. Gates joins our Ross Wilkers in this episode to go over the unique role of private equity in bringing innovations to the public sector ecosystem.Also on the agenda for their conversation: the U.S. government's data problems and solutions from them, sorting artificial intelligence hype and substance, and workforce trends across the market.

When publicly traded companies release their financial results, the most interesting aspect of the conference calls have little to do with the numbers themselves and everything to do with trends across the market.Luis Avila, a managing director in BDO's technology and transformation practice, joins our Ross Wilkers for this episode that is also a note-swapping exercise of sorts. Both listened to the most recent round of GovCon investor calls in their respective roles of research and analysis, plus journalism.The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, the race to technology superiority, supply chain health and wealth, and new entrants all were themes of those calls and feature in the conversation between Luis and Ross.Keep in mind throughout their conversation that government contractors have their own unique approach to transparency, given their customers have publicly available budgets and policy documents.Parsons explores 2 growth pathways for missile defenseLeidos eyes missile defense, border security tech as growth avenuesMaximus CEO sees tech modernization as opportunity in Trump's efficiency pushHow the CEOs of Booz Allen, L3Harris view DOGE's visionCACI's CEO weighs in on efficiency and acquisitionLockheed's CEO: Efficiency push is 'an opportunity' for both industry and government

It goes without saying that success in the government contracting ecosystem requires more than just having good methodologies and processes, both of which are significantly enhanced by strategy and knowledge.Amber Hart and Lisa Shea Mundt, cofounders of The Pulse of GovCon, believe that taking a true “BD 360” approach to the market means enhancing all aspects of the federal sales process with the goal of achieving an intuitive understanding of how agencies buy things.They have now put permanency to their concept in the form of a book aptly named BD 360, from which the ideas in it are the foundation for this episode with our Ross Wilkers.Legislation, policy and knowing how people work is where much of the conversation centers around. Yes, they talk about proposals too.

Few doubt that quantum computing will have a tremendous impact on the tech world and beyond.But as NextGovFCW's emerging technology reporter Alexandra Kelley explains in this episode, it is important to look beyond the buzzwords and assumptions."Alexa," as we and other GovExec colleagues call her, walks Editor Nick Wakeman through some common misconceptions that include why just using the term “quantum” is imprecise. Some active use cases involve quantum sensing and quantum telecommunications, which are built on quantum physics principles.Alexa is tracking post-quantum cryptography and investments at the Energy, Commerce and Defense departments to build the infrastructure that would enable full-scale quantum computing.Quantum information sciences represent enormous potential that is attracting both government and private sector investment. Quantum also is one technology area where the federal government of the curve with investments, infrastructure and a variety of initiatives.AWS unveils its quantum chip prototype, OcelotMicrosoft debuts new superconductor chip designed for quantum computingDARPA taps Microsoft, PsiQuantum for scalable quantum computer researchIndustry group calls on Trump to appoint a quantum czarAgencies look to automation software to usher in next phase of post-quantum securityFY2025 NDAA angles to enhance DOD's AI and quantum sciences capabilitiesSenators introduce quantum reauthorization bill with little time left in this CongressMicrosoft and Atom Computing unveil 24-qubit quantum machineNIST approves 14 new quantum encryption algorithms for standardizationMicrosoft and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory bring AI to quantum chemistry research

Ernst & Young needs little introduction as one of the world's professional services Big Four firms, which gives it reach into every industry and ways of taking lessons learned from there into the public sector.How does EY go about doing so, while seeking to blend its consulting core with technology know-how? That is the starting point for this episode featuring Doree Keating, leader of the EY Americas government and public sector practice.As Keating tells our Ross Wilkers, success in any tech implementation effort begins and ends with strategic intent on the buyer's part. Workforce expectations are a factor in that, which includes whether people will need new training or upskilling.Keating also goes over the thinking behind EY's acquisition of Dignari in the fall, plus how she sees defense agencies in particular taking a pre-emptive approach to resilience and anti-fragility.

Government contractors reside in the unique intersection of macroeconomics and industrial policy, both of which are relevant in the conversation surrounding President Trump's use of tariffs.Tariffs are very relevant for companies that mostly focus on services to their government customers as explained in this episode featuring Larry Sher, a government contracts attorney and partner at Winston & Strawn.Sher tells our Ross Wilkers that while companies may not know what the tariff rates will be in the long-term, they still must be foundational in how they operate and support the business of government. The regulatory framework and policy tools contractors have to get some relief for increased costs also feature in their discussion.For more information, check out these client alerts from the Winston & Strawn team:Prospective Tariffs on Goods from Mexico, Canada, and ChinaSummary of America First Trade Policy

The Department of Government Efficiency is the new Trump administration's main vehicle for at least starting the process of change at many federal agencies and on a very fast turn.Natalie Alms, who covers federal technology policy and tech workforce matters at our partner publication NextgovFCW, broke the story that DOGE's leader Elon Musk visited the General Services Administration's headquarters and is asserting his influence there.What was he doing there? Nat joins our Ross Wilkers in this episode to answer that question and many others surrounding GSA's role in the Trump 2.0 transition.Be sure to read Nat's articles below as they take you close to the action, and are the foundation for her discussion with Ross.Senate Democrats call for DOGE to halt until details are providedMusk takes aim at GSA tech shopMusk visits and asserts growing influence at GSAMusk's role as ‘special government employee' raises ethics questionsGSA announces new FAS, TTS leadershipGSA will ‘recommit' to ‘founding purpose,' says acting administratorAs the Trump administration gathers names of recent hires, some are being asked to justify their jobsTrump administration opens the door to politicize government tech executivesGregory Barbaccia named federal CIO

The first two weeks of President Trump's second but non-consecutive term in office have brought with it a breathless pace of executive orders and other actions that government contractors must take note of.Clarity on many of those moves, including a (maybe? sort of? but not really?) freeze on certain contracting activities remains hard to come by.In this episode, Nick and Ross work through the questions that they can provide some answers to on what has happened so far. They also highlight the questions everyone in the ecosystem is seeking answers to.As they say, drop a line if you have an answer or at least part of one to help solve more of the mysteries.Where can GovCon find clarity in the Trump transition turbulence?ANALYSIS: Signs of small business shifts to watch out forGSA procurement pause sparks confusionLockheed's CEO: Efficiency push is 'an opportunity' for both industry and governmentFirst wave of DEI-related contract cancellations hit the marketContractors face greater scrutiny from anti-DEI executive ordersCACI's CEO weighs in on efficiency and acquisitionCOMMENTARY: Contractors embrace Trump's potential to modernize procurementAccenture Federal's new CEO eyes AI-driven transformation during Trump 2.0Industry execs weigh potential impacts of presidential transition

Many questions about talent in public sector often center around the hiring process and what happens after the offer letter is signed, that being the onboarding phase.Where technology fits into agencies' efforts at making the entire lifecycle more seamless is the focus of this episode featuring Jill Jones and Yoko Jolly, respectively chief strategy officer and federal market leader at CrossVue.In talking with our Ross Wilkers, Jones and Jolly also offer their perspectives on how agencies are addressing the challenge of scaling the tech they use for human capital management.(The survey mentioned in this episode was produced by Market Connections, which is owned by WT's parent company GovExec)

Jacobs carved out its Critical Mission Solutions and Cyber and Intelligence businesses in late 2024, but still remains a technology company for the markets it does work in.In this episode, Shannon Miller — Jacobs' president of growth, strategy and digital — discusses how Jacobs has evolved following that divestiture of its federal-facing units to Amentum.Miller told WT Editor Nick Wakeman that Jacobs' tech strategy focuses on applying digital solutions and artificial intelligence to critical infrastructure, environmental sustainability, and life sciences challenges.That includes incorporating AI into water treatment plants, infrastructure resilience tools at Air Force bases.She also outlines Jacobs' strategic focus areas: addressing climate challenges, advancing life sciences solutions, developing sustainable transportation infrastructure, and tackling talent shortages through AI and automation.WT 360: Where Amentum wants to go next following its big mergerA reader's guide to 'New Amentum' on its launch dayWT 360: Our snap reax to Jacobs' spinoff planWT 360: Jacobs' third wave is all about data and tech

The ongoing transition to a Trump 2.0 administration is far from the only key happening that government contractors have to take note of and follow closely with 2025 now underway.But our first episode of this New Year has to start with transition talk. We do just that with the help of Stephanie Smith, GovCon industry senior analyst and valuation services director at the global professional services firm RSM.Here are the other big-picture items Smith and our Ross Wilkers went over:The nexus of macroeconomics and industrial policyCyber and supply chain security prioritiesThe U.S.' push to regain global tech leadershipCustomer demand areas that remain paramountM&A transaction themes to watch in 2025

The ongoing White House transition is unprecedented because before Donald Trump's (re)-election in November, Grover Cleveland's win in 1892 was the last time a president was voted into office with a gap between terms. David Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, and his team are fielding many questions on the transition from government contractors they represent as one of their leading trade associations.In this episode, Berteau explains to our Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers what contractors are asking the PSC team about and all the key indicators that matter to industry when a new administration moves in.Some priorities are poised to carry over like the CMMC cybersecurity standard, but time will tell if others continue on. The Biden administration also has priorities to work on as it moves out and Berteau goes over those as well.(We recorded this conversation before the final 2025 National Defense Authorization Act's text was released. The reading list below includes coverage of it from our GovExec colleagues.)FY2025 NDAA angles to enhance DOD's AI and quantum sciences capabilitiesFY2025 NDAA targets spyware threats to U.S. diplomats, military devicesCould Biden's recent strategy to streamline government hiring be scuttled under Trump?Trump teams to deploy throughout government after reaching agreement with the Biden administrationOMB releases federal tech impact report as Biden admin winds downHow the federal CIO is prepping for the presidential transition‘Shock the system': Startups and DOGE take over Reagan forumDefense officials hopeful incoming administration keeps funding cutting-edge tech

When Leidos unveiled its current structure in the fall of 2023, chief executive Tom Bell emphasized repeatability as how the company would approach its digital transformation efforts for agencies.That means Leidos has a single business segment dedicated to digital modernization and one that covers the company's entire customer base. In this episode, Leidos' digital modernization president Steve Hull explains why the company decided to put all of that work under one roof and how it defines “repeatability” in its offerings for agencies.Leidos has four other customer-facing sectors that Hull's team is in close contact with to find out what their particular client sets need, as he explains to our Ross Wilkers in a conversation that of course covers much of today's major tech trends like artificial intelligence and autonomy.

Some jobs will require college degrees for as far as the eyes can see.But in this episode, NextgovFCW's tech workforce reporter Natalie Alms describes how what government and business leaders call “skills-based hiring” is becoming more of the norm for certain tech jobs.As Natalie tells our Ross Wilkers, some agencies and contractors are de-emphasizing educational requirements for those roles and replacing them with other means.Three big government contracts are now all about skills-based hiring. “Nat,” as some of us coworkers call her, gives some signposts to watch for how much further that approach could expand across public sector and more.We recorded this episode before Nat's next big story she teased toward the end landed on Nextgov/FCW. That article is link number one in the list below.Trump's first White House debated the role of USDS. What will Trump 2.0 do?Major federal IT contracts to remove ‘unnecessary' degree requirementsHarris touts skills-based hiring for feds on the campaign trailMace sponsors bill to ban educational requirements for government contractorsGoodbye degree requirements? Biden administration pushes skills-based hiring for tech talentWhite House looks to eliminate college degree requirements for cyber jobs with federal contractorsNever mind the degrees – here's skills-based hiringOPM issues guidance on implementing Trump-era hiring policy

Big mergers that essentially create new companies require a lot of work to harmonize all of the people, processes and resources into something more cohesive across the organization.Jeremy Wensinger joined V2X as chief executive in June to lead this new phase of what he calls “optimization” now that all the integration activities stemming from the 2022 merger that made the company are done.In this episode, Wensinger explains to our Ross Wilkers how V2X is working to optimize the broader portfolio it now has in the name of growth and expansion across the government market. Wensinger also describes where he sees V2X residing in the still-very fragmented federal services landscape, how it approaches technology insertion and what this new chapter means for the company's 16,000 employees.

One of the government market's most-anticipated transactions closed on Sept. 30 when what we can call “Old Amentum” joined forces with Jacobs' federal-facing units.This episode sees Steve Arnette, chief operating officer at what we can now call “New Amentum,” take our Ross Wilkers through all that went into putting this larger company together and where everyone wants to go from here.Underpinning this new version of Amentum's vision and goals is what it calls a “technology-enabled growth strategy.” Arnette walks through that very strategy, how it applies to the company's priority markets and what all of this means for Amentum's 53,000 employees around the world.

Jerry McGinn, executive director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University, shares the findings of a new report that identifies areas of concern and offers advice for improvement across the defense industrial base.Some of the key findings that McGinn discusses with Editor Nick Wakeman include the importance of leadership, government and industry collaboration, and the need to design systems for more rapid production.The U.S. industrial base has responded before, as McGinn says. He offers some of those important lessons from World War II, COVID-19 and the U.S.' response to Ukraine.The full report is available here.

Bryce Technology has been named to the Washington Technology Fast 50 list for four consecutive years, climbing to No. 11 in 2024.For this episode, Bryce Tech's founder and CEO Carissa Bryce Christensen shares the secrets behind her company's rapid growth and success in the federal market.Christensen discusses Bryce's strategic approach to building a scalable business, focusing the pipeline on the right opportunities and nurturing a company culture that empowers employees. She also tells Editor Nick Wakeman about the firm's ability to apply its expertise across both government and commercial sectors, especially in the dynamic space industry.She also provides advice for aspiring entrepreneurs that emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, building the right partnerships, and staying true to your vision.

Companies can get distracted a lot when carrying out their strategy and vision, which often times leaves them vulnerable to losing market share to competitors and unexpected turns of events.Everything starts with strategic planning and that is also where the conversation begins for this episode featuring James Calver, a partner at fractional executive services provider TechCXO and multiple-time CEO in the health care and financial services industries.Growth-oriented mindsets are required for all companies, as Calver tells our Ross Wilkers. That also inevitably leads to acquisitions, of which Calver oversaw dozens throughout his long career and draws lessons from that he gives to other CEOs.The differences between management and leadership are also on the agenda, as is how to incorporate uncertainty into a plan and vision.

It is not just appearances that suggest a robust government technology market, in fact there are numbers and patterns we can point to here in week number four of federal fiscal year 2025.Where agencies are putting most of their technology budget dollars to work is the starting point for this episode featuring John Caucis and James Wichert, public sector analysts at the market intelligence firm Technology Business Research.Caucis and Wichert take our Ross Wilkers through how companies are positioning themselves for that spend, including their organic investments and acquisitions that are signposts for where they want to go.Also on their discussion agenda: how some companies are looking to wear both the integration and consulting hats, the future of Peraton with a new CEO in place and realities of the artificial intelligence landscape.

Understandably so, the names of global tech giants are often at the center of the conversation surrounding how the U.S. government is putting its CHIPS Act funding to work through grants and other financial incentives.But the Commerce Department wants many more companies to be a part of the push to restore U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing.Larry Sher, a government contracts attorney and partner at Winston & Strawn, centers the discussion for this episode around how and where the GovCon industry can get involved as well.As Sher tells our Ross Wilkers, the nature of the chip market's supply chain means that Commerce has to cast its net far and wide beyond just the semiconductor makers themselves. Sher also explains some of the trends he is seeing in who is getting the grants and the homework companies must do before applying for the money.What we can gauge from Intel's $3B military chip grantIBM awarded $576M DOD chip manufacturing contractFirst CHIPS Act award signals start of U.S. semiconductor pushNIST seeks industry support for chip funding applicant checksNIST builds infrastructure for CHIPS loan program

Boeing's current difficult period is well-documented and acknowledged by its new CEO Kelly Ortberg, who joined in August to lead the turnaround effort.Audrey Decker essentially functions as Team GovExec's Boeing correspondent in her role as Air Force and Space Force reporter for our partner publication Defense One.For this episode, Audrey breaks down the ongoing turmoil in Boeing's defense and space segment amid a labor strike and search for a new leader after Ted Colbert left the company on Sept. 20.This discussion with Ross Wilkers also goes over some of these key priorities for the customers that Audrey covers: a robot wingman program, commercial imagery, space domain awareness and the B-21 bomber.

Artificial intelligence is not just a technology that government contractors provide their customers, but also is becoming a bigger piece of internal operations.Kim Koster, vice president of product marketing at Unanet, joins WT Editor Nick Wakeman for this episode to discuss how and where contractors are adopting AI in their own operations as found in the newest edition of her company's GAUGE report.Unanet and CohnReznick work each year to release GAUGE -- Government Contract Compliance, Accounting, Utilization, Growth and Efficiencies.In explaining the 2024 GAUGE findings, Koster shares insights on AI usage trends, maturity levels and implementation strategies. Still not on your AI journey yet? Koster has some advice on how to start that as well.

Frustration builds up when things go wrong in the world of government acquisition and that feeling is true on both sides: the customer and contractor alike.Adam Rentschler and his partners started Valid Eval in 2011 to help agencies make better evaluations at scale. All throughout this episode, the latter two words of that sentence come up frequently in the conversation between Rentschler and our Ross Wilkers.Rentschler's vision is for the acquisition ecosystem to have more humanity in it and the use of data to help lead that effort.Those concepts may seem contradictory on the surface, but Rentschler brings them together throughout the discussion.

Many of the ingredients for creating more connective tissues between business, government and society are already in place even with so much commentary and conversation around what may be lacking on that front.NobleReach Foundation launched in 2022 to be at the forefront of making more of those links happen. In this episode, NobleReach's chief executive Arun Gupta describes how the nonprofit looks to do just that by taking others with them along the way.Entrepreneurs out there who want to be part of solving big problems are both a core constituency of NobleReach and agencies that want greater access into that part of the innovation ecosystem, as Gupta explains to our Ross Wilkers.Gupta co-authored the book “Venture Meets Mission” alongside his colleagues Gerard George and Thomas Fewer to lay out a roadmap and guiding principles for better alignment.

Next to satellite imagery, drones have been the major technological focal point for the war in Ukraine and U.S. Army leaders have been looking to learn quickly from how the systems are being used there.Sam Skove, who covers the Army and Marine Corps for our partner publication Defense One, has seen much of this action first-hand from visits to bases in the U.S. where the drones are tested and in Eastern Europe where they are fielded.In this episode, Sam takes our Ross Wilkers through his reporting on how the Army's desire to bring more small drones into its fold does not necessarily match up with the U.S.' industrial capacity to make them in large quantities.The reasons for that disconnect are myriad as Sam explains, as are some of the solutions he has heard from informed observers on how to bridge that gap.Wartime need for drones would outstrip US production. There's a way to fix thatArmy puts new unit loaded with cutting-edge tech to the testUS shouldn't learn the wrong lessons about Ukraine's drones, expert saysWhat Estonian drone companies are learning from UkraineAcross the Army, units lean into drone experimentationArmy brass opposes drone branchFPVs, tethered drones could become formal Army programs in 2025

Dennis Kelly's public sector career journey began in the Navy and has continued as a senior executive for multiple contractors, which he led through periods of growth to be acquired by larger companies.Now as CEO of Tyto Athene, Kelly brings that experience of building and scaling multiple businesses in a dynamic market.In this episode, Kelly describes his approach for doing that in a conversation with WT's Editor Nick Wakeman and lays out Tyto Athene's path for growth.Kelly also provides candid reflections on his journey from Navy veteran to federal tech CEO and shows his passion for supporting critical national security missions.Tyto Athene hires Kelly as chief executiveBlueHalo to combine with Eqlipse TechnologiesCIS Secure Computing acquires intelligence community IT firmThe drivers behind KBR's 'largest to date' & 'most transformational' acquisitionPAE closes A-T Solutions acquisition

Raft's first six years of being in business are a lot like what many startups encounter, in that much of the growth has been bootstrapped and in very select corners of the market landscape it works in.Now Raft is in a place where Shubhi Mishra, who started the software engineering company in 2018, believes there is much more greenfield in front of it. That led her to start looking for an investor in the company.In this episode, Mishra tells our Ross Wilkers all about how she went against the advice of many other founders that told her to not go down that path and why she chose Washington Harbour Partners to back this phase of Raft's strategy.Also on their agenda: the so-called "digital battlefield" concept and a significant paradigm shift Mishra wants to see in the prime-subcontractor relationship in the interest of advancing innovation.

Much of the world shut down on July 19 after cybersecurity company CrowdStrike distributed a faulty software update that essentially rendered 8.5 million Microsoft Windows computers useless.David DiMolfetta, who covers cybersecurity at our partner publication NextGovFCW, led the bulk of GovExec's coverage of the aftermath even though the outage was not technically a cyber situation. But all that happened does bring up questions about network vulnerabilities and resilience.In this episode, David tells our Ross Wilkers all about how federal agencies are working to recover and learn from an event that was truly historic in scale.Blue screens of death were everywhere on July 19 and the entire situation was weird. As David explains, the scale of the outage is leading agencies to re-examine how they approach cyber and keeping tech assets healthy.Summer-only sessions helped blunt CrowdStrike outage impact on US schoolsCrowdstrike IT outage linked to update using new threat detection systemHow the CrowdStrike outage carved out new opportunities for hackersBiden briefed on CrowdStrike IT outage as multiple federal systems impacted

Generative artificial intelligence is only the newest example of how federal agencies have different comfort levels with adopting new technologies and in this instance, intelligence agencies appear to be bolder in charting their path forward.Frank Konkel, editor-in-chief for GovExec's publications including us, wrote a deep dive article earlier this month that includes his conversations with some intelligence community leaders on where their agencies are at in Gen AI.In this episode, Frank tells our Ross Wilkers all about what they told him and what else he found in putting together that story to explore what IC agencies are up to in Gen AI and their grander visions for the technology.As you will hear from Frank, they want to go fast and also be thoughtful about mitigating some of the risks in doing so.The US intelligence community is embracing generative AIThe CIA is taking a ‘crawl, walk, run' approach to GenAI2023 was just the start of generative AI's rise, government and industry leaders sayProceed with caution: Industry advises a careful approach to generative AI3 in 4 Americans Worry AI Will Take Their JobsCIA Awards Secret Multibillion-Dollar Cloud ContractPentagon awards $9B cloud contract to Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle

Just about every conversation about technology across the federal landscape seems to begin and end with generative artificial intelligence, a tool that spurs fears and hopes all at the same time.Edward Graham has a front-row seat to many of those conversations in his role at our sibling publication Nextgov/FCW, where he reports on national security technologies and policies.For this episode, Edward tells our Ross Wilkers all about the current state of play for where the Defense and Homeland Security Departments are at on their generative AI journeys.Guardrails and pilots are more than just buzzwords for generative AI. As you will hear from Edward, they are the key words to hone in on for understanding where generative AI is today and the direction it is going in.DOD's generative AI task force will help set guardrails for broader useDHS generative AI pilot embraces hiccups of emerging techAI can enhance border security but won't close workforce gap, lawmakers sayDHS hires initial cohort of 10 to join its AI CorpsVA is already using AI to identify and assist veterans in crisis, officials say

Byron Bright described KBR as a "big, large science, technology and engineering company" to open a presentation for investors in May on the vision and blueprint for the entire business.His description to Wall Street is also the starting point for this episode, where Bright explains how Company No. 17 on our 2024 Top 100 tailors that idea to U.S. government work and sheds further light on the worldwide nature of what KBR does.The trilateral AUKUS security partnership between Australia, the U.K. and U.S. is an example of how KBR thinks globally. Today's AUKUS activity remains mostly government-to-government, but Bright believes that will open up opportunities for industry after more is figured out.Bright also overviews KBR's work to build out a franchise space business and the technology angle to everything the company does.The 2024 Washington Technology Top 100How we got our numbersOur 2024 Top 100 reader's guideTrends driving today's Top 100Diversity gaps persist among the Top 100 C-suites

GovCIO's starting point for its journey in the market might as well be the acquisition of Salient CRGT in 2020 that greatly multiplied both key measurements of scale: revenue base and workforce.Joe Cormier, both chief financial and operating officer at GovCIO, explains in this episode how the technology integrator has become what it is today as a result of that transaction. For context: GovCIO was at 500 employees when its private equity owner entered the investment and now has 3,000 on staff.Company No. 41 on our 2024 Top 100 is now almost solely focused on organic growth, including its capture of a recompete almost four times the size of its predecessor. Cormier describes that win to our Ross Wilkers in their wide-ranging conversation that also covers how GovCIO approached the integration and is thinking about what's next for itself.Dive into the rankings and more surrounding them by clicking the links below:The 2024 Washington Technology Top 100How we got our numbersTrends driving today's Top 100Diversity gaps persist among the Top 100 C-suites

As one of the federal government's primary carriers, Lumen Technologies also takes on the mantle of layering the latest innovations on top of the core network to make it more complete and well-rounded.Jason Schulman, national vice president of federal government sales at Lumen Technologies, explains in this episode how the company works with agencies to make that happen regardless of where they are in their innovation comfort levels.For Company No. 38 on our 2024 Top 100, that also means looking beyond the current Enterprise Infrastructure contract vehicle as the government is already thinking about its successor. Schulman tells our Ross Wilkers all about how the work begins now on that front for carriers and agencies alike.

Even with this year's Top 100 rankings out for all to see, sometimes it's never too early to start looking at next year's when we have certainty over how two companies will feature on it.For this second in a two-part episode, Nick and Ross pick up where they left off in part one by highlighting how the complex merger of Amentum with Jacobs' government services businesses will affect the 2025 ranking. This is one of several examples they highlight of how mergers and acquisitions affect the rankings every year.Nick and Ross also highlight how just about every IT systems integrator ties their strategy to working well with global commercial tech providers. Company No. 100 on the ranking also gets the spotlight in their discussion.As a reminder, dive into the rankings and more surrounding them by clicking the link below:The 2024 Washington Technology Top 100

Edition number 31 of the Washington Technology Top 100 rankings is now live for all to use as a resource for more than just the numbers behind the federal market's largest technology and services contractors.This latest episode of WT 360 has our Nick Wakeman and Ross Wilkers start their talking through the companies and numbers that feature on the ranking, but particularly what they tell us about the government market's directions.Here is *some* of what was on their agenda for this first in a two-episode series on the Top 100:The top quadrant's significant market share concentrationHow tech implementation and consulting are becoming more intertwinedWhat Science Applications International Corp.'s new CEO wants the company (No. 11) to grow intoWe will post the second half of the discussion next Monday morning. Same time, same place.In the meantime, dive into the rankings and more surrounding them here: 

Initial public offerings in the government market are a rare event, so it was natural to focus much attention on Telos Corp.'s IPO in the fall of 2020 and where the company wanted to go next.Telos' chief executive John Wood spoke to us shortly after the completion of that IPO and returns for this episode to provide an update on the security technology company's execution since then.A significant aspect of Telos' journey as a public company can be characterized as a transition. As Wood describes to our Ross Wilkers, that also involves going toward a destination and not just an exit from something.The overall security landscape for government and industry also features prominently in their discussion, both in the cyber realm and elsewhere.PROJECT 38: Inside Telos' path to its IPO and what's nextTelos lays out plan for its year of transitionWhere to now for Telos & its IPO proceeds?Why Telos decided the time is now for its IPOAlready somewhat public, Telos' IPO further illuminates strategy

It is the law of the land that says federal agencies cannot simply discard any of the data they take in, no matter how much they already have and regardless of whether it is digital or physical.Melissa Carson, vice president and general manager of Iron Mountain's government solutions business, starts out this episode with facts and figures to help quantify the volume challenge agencies have with one mind-boggling number on government forms to pay attention to.She then tells our Ross Wilkers all about how the government, and companies like Iron Mountain, are connecting efforts to make data management easier with the overall customer experience agenda.That work includes turning physical assets into the digital form, which is no easy feat, but becoming more so with the advent of generative artificial intelligence and other AI techniques. Having the right guardrails in place is key to making that a success though, according to Carson.

Dave Zolet, CEO of the newly-formed Astrion, has set an aggressive goal to double its annual revenue to around $1.5 billion in three years. That's the needed size and scale to be a formidable mid-tier player today and fill a sweet spot in the market, Zolet says in this episode.The 2,800-employee company was created through a pair of acquisitions by private equity firm Brightstar Capital. Zolet is busy creating a new company culture that he calls the "Astrion Way" -- a blend of technical skills with deep customer knowledge and focus. As Zolet tells our Editor Nick Wakeman, he wants Astrion to be a company that can look around the corner and see what's coming so it can bring solutions to customers that help them meet their missions faster and more efficiently.Zolet shares the company strategy and future plans in this conversation.This is episode three in our 2024 series on mergers and acquisitions across the government market.

BlueHalo as the market knows it today is around four years old with a strategy centered around space, cyber, directed energy and other key tech priority areas for the U.S. military and allied forces.Now the defense technology integrator is joining forces with another like it that has the same private equity owner in Arlington Capital Partners. In this episode, BlueHalo's chief executive Jonathan Moneymaker explains the decision to combine with Eqlipse Technologies and the overall demand landscape that is behind the move."Transforming the Future of Global Defense" is the tagline all over BlueHalo's website and other promotional materials, and one Moneymaker spoke to us about in 2021 early on in the journey. Moneymaker returns now to tell our Ross Wilkers about what that transformation looks like here in 2024 and shares some first-hand anecdotes of how he has seen it.This is episode two in our 2024 series on mergers and acquisitions across the government market.BlueHalo to combine with Eqlipse TechnologiesPROJECT 38: BlueHalo's strategy for transforming modern warfarePrivate equity drives high transaction volume in 20232024 M&A Round UpWT 360: All about Guidehouse's vision to be a 'next-generation consultancy'