CGI and Amazon Web Services have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to accelerate AI adoption, advance secure cloud and drive digital transformation across the U.S. public sector.

Under the multiyear deal, CGI will deliver cloud-based solutions targeting AI integration, zero trust cybersecurity, government data modernization and citizen-facing digital services.

“This agreement enhances our proven ability to better serve government, education, nonprofit and healthcare organizations in the U.S.,” said Tim Hurlebaus, president and chief operating officer at CGI. “As a Premier Tier Services AWS partner, this new agreement complements CGI’s deep understanding of public sector missions and enables us to co-deliver innovative and transformative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our clients.”

The agreement includes dedicated investments in cloud and AI training and certification programs for CGI professionals.

“Government agencies need AI that works at mission speed,” said David Levy, vice president, worldwide public sector at AWS. “This collaboration puts advanced cloud and AI capabilities directly into the hands of agencies tackling their toughest challenges, from stopping fraud to securing critical systems to delivering better citizen services.”

Astrion has appointed Tom Vice as executive chair and CEO, Eric Brown as president of space operations and allied missions and Conn Doherty as chief growth officer, all effective immediately.

“Mission demands are increasing in speed, complexity, and consequence,” Vice said. “Astrion’s strength starts with its people — a talented team with deep mission understanding, strong customer relationships, and a proven record of execution. We are building on that foundation with focus, urgency, and resolve — strengthening what we do best today while expanding the operational capabilities, integrated solutions, and innovative technologies we bring to our customers. We intend to build on Astrion’s strengths and deliver greater capability, broader innovation, and more decisive impact for the missions we serve.”

Vice succeeds Dave Zolet, who led Astrion since the company’s 2023 launch and helped establish the company’s strong operational base.

“Building Astrion from three separate businesses into a $1B+ company is something I will always be proud of,” Zolet said. “More than the numbers, I am proud of the team we built and the mission they show up for every day. Their talent, commitment, and mission focus is what makes Astrion truly stand apart in this industry.”

Vice served as CEO of Sierra Space, where he helped build the company into  a $5.4 billion enterprise and led $1.7 billion in Series A and B capital raises. Before that, he was chairman, CEO and president of Aerion Corp. Earlier in his career, he held senior roles at Northrop Grumman, including president of its Aerospace Systems sector and president of its Technical Services sector.

Brown most recently served as vice president of mission strategy and advanced capabilities at Lockheed Martin Space. He has also held roles at Booz Allen Hamilton, URS Corp./EG&G Technical Services and PwC.

Doherty most recently served as chief growth officer of CHAOS Industries. Earlier, he spent nearly two decades at Raytheon, RTX and Collins Aerospace, including as vice president and general manager overseeing battle management, command and control, and autonomy platforms.

In the competitive, evolving world of government contracting, companies must stay ahead by keeping up with technology trends that drive customer solutions. Companies must adapt their solutions and capabilities to align with customer mission needs, ensuring they provide efficient, compliant tools to the government. As technology reshapes both industry and government, the importance of chief technology officers has surged.

These professionals are key in modernizing IT infrastructure, advancing critical technologies, directing technology investments, recruiting and nurturing a top-tier technical workforce, and forecasting future technology focuses. Their technology strategies and solution development plans help customers and set their organizations apart. WashingtonExec’s Top Chief Technology Officers to Watch in 2026 list invites you to meet the CTOs who have the management and IT expertise to drive change from within.

Link to episode.

Don’t believe everything you see on TV. Courtrooms aren’t stages for finger-pointing theatrics — and if you try that in real life, you’ll probably get tossed out.

On this week’s “Rookies to Rockstars,” Amanda Ziadeh and Camille Tuutti sit down with Jim Rittinger, general counsel and corporate secretary at Empower AI.

Jim spent a decade grinding 3,000 billable hours a year at a top litigation firm before becoming one of the youngest general counsels Ross Perot ever hired. Along the way, he:

• Learned to unlearn “default aggressive” litigation habits when moving in-house

• Faced imposter syndrome at 36 running legal for a billion-dollar company

• Made mistakes (like winning a battle but losing a working relationship) that taught him the value of diplomacy

• Realized the best lawyers aren’t just advocates—they’re problem solvers

And yes, he even admits there’s something to admire about Saul Goodman’s creativity.

Tune in to hear Jim’s candid lessons on surviving 100-hour weeks, navigating corporate culture shifts, and redefining success as a lawyer in GovCon.

Aimee Dalton didn’t picture herself in defense. She came in as a junior analyst with a fresh MBA, a spiral notebook and zero clue what GovCon acronyms meant.

Promotions didn’t silence the doubt — every new role started with I can’t do this and ended a week later with actually, I can crush this.

Fast forward 22 years, and Dalton is chief of staff to the president at SPA. Think part Olivia Pope, part firefighter— the fixer everyone calls when the mission (or the carpet in the conference room) needs saving.

In this inaugural episode of “Rookies to Rockstars,” Dalton gets real about imposter syndrome, mentors who change everything, and why networking from day one is non-negotiable. She shares how she fought for leadership roles she wasn’t “ready” for, built influence without authority and turned setbacks into momentum.

If you’ve ever wondered how to move up when you don’t feel qualified — or how to thrive when everyone else in the room has more experience — Dalton’s story is your playbook.

Link to this episode. 

Amy Foy didn’t wait for someone to hand her a career plan.

Fresh out of college, she joined a leadership program that promised structure and direction. But when it ended, she realized no one was going to chart the next step. If she wanted a career, she’d have to build it herself.

Today, Amy is vice president for contracts and supply chain at Nightwing, leading complex transformation efforts across defense and intelligence missions. Along the way, she’s learned that success isn’t about titles or speed but about owning your path, asking for help when you need it and knowing when to step back.

In this episode of “Rookies to Rockstars,” Amy chats about:

• Why your career is your responsibility — and no one else’s

• The mindset that helps you survive high-stakes work and still have a life

• What the next generation needs to unlearn about communication and mentorship

• How she’s redefining ambition after 20 years in the business

It’s a conversation about drive, perspective and the lessons you only learn when you stop trying to do it all yourself.

Listen to this episode.

Michael Polmar didn’t plan on GovCon. He started as a chemistry major who loved science, broke more than a little lab glassware, and thought research was his future.

Four years in, he swapped experiments for programs — and discovered he liked leading people and solving business problems even more. That pivot launched a 30-year career across defense and intel, building and running growth engines for some of the industry’s biggest names.

Michael has learned what few will say out loud: growth is the hardest job in the company. The budget may be huge, but everyone’s fighting — and partnering — for the same dollars.

Now chief growth officer at Tyto Athene, Michael leads teams across the full federal acquisition lifecycle. Strategist, dealmaker, coach, fixer — sometimes all in one day. In this episode of “Rookies to Rockstars,” Michael gets real about risks that didn’t always pay off, the power of networking and mentors, and why technical chops plus business savvy is the ultimate edge.

He also shares the one mindset the next generation needs to let go of if they want to lead. If you’ve ever wondered how to survive — and thrive — in the high-stakes world of BD, Michael’s story is your blueprint.

Link to episode.

Garry Schwartz didn’t begin his career in a boardroom or even at an intern’s desk, for that matter. He joined the military just in time to spend his 18th birthday at boot camp as a kid seeking structure and a purpose beyond himself.

Turns out, it was exactly what Garry needed. After serving 21 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Garry left with a passion for mission, children and a wife to support and a deep understanding of the defense world. That’s when he transitioned to industry.

His path had its twists, but the plan stayed the same: stay close to the mission, add real value and keep growing.

“Don’t worry about failure. Don’t worry about not knowing enough, and don’t worry about looking weak,” Garry said.

On this week’s “Rookies to Rockstars,” Amanda Ziadeh sits down with Garry, chief operating officer of HII Mission Technologies, to talk about long-game leadership, turning obstacles into opportunities, learning from mistakes and building a career at the intersection of service, mission and innovation.

Today, Garry works with the executive team to drive performance of Mission Technologies’ business portfolio for customers. But getting there meant being bold, proving himself to leadership and trusting a lateral move to eventually lead to bigger and better opportunities.

We also talked about:

• The mindset shift that helped him transition to industry
• The emotional reality of leaving the military
• Why he now makes himself available to help other transitioning veterans
• The power of lateral moves
• The hiring mistake he still thinks about
• His advice to those who think their moment has passed: redefine success — because “it’s never too late” if you stay flexible, and
• How industry can better support both early-career professionals and transitioning service members.

Tune in for an honest, mission-driven conversation about service, ownership and the mindset that turns rookies into leaders in GovCon.

In this episode of “Humble Beginnings,” we sit down with Deb Alderson, CEO of ViaPath Technologies, as she shares her upbringing in Norfolk, Virginia, and how she’d later turn every challenge into an opportunity.

Deb was raised by her mother and grandmother in a farming community near a military area, where she learned early lessons in hard work, giving back and breaking barriers. She was the first woman in her family to earn a college and a graduate degree.

From starting as a GS4 clerk typist without knowing how to type to rising in male-dominated defense and tech, Deb shares candid stories of early setbacks, hard lessons from mentors and the moments that shaped her leadership. Today, she leads ViaPath with a mission to change lives for incarcerated individuals and their families, proving that empathy, transparency and grit drive real impact.

Tune in to hear how Deb’s upbringing, family values and unshakable resilience propelled her from humble beginnings to the C-suite — and why she believes there truly is no glass ceiling.

Link to episode.

The first lie you believe early in your career is that everyone else knows what they’re doing.

Ben Buckley didn’t. Trained as a biochemist, he walked away from medicine, pushed into technology without the “right” background and took risks that made sense only if you cared more about learning than comfort.

What he figured out early is what most people learn late: uncertainty comes with the work, not incompetence.

In the latest episode of “Rookies to Rockstars,” Amanda Ziadeh talks with the GDIT vice president and general manager about building a career by chasing opportunity instead of titles and why progress usually feels messy while it’s happening.

Ben has spent over 16 years at the company, rising from engineer to leading some of GDIT’s largest and most complex programs across defense and the intelligence community. He kept choosing roles that stretched him, even when staying put would have been easier.

The conversation keeps coming back to judgment: knowing when to ask questions, when to take a risk and when to slow down long enough to learn from a mistake.

This episode also covers:

• Nobody has it figured out. Buckley assumed early that everyone else was ahead of him. They weren’t.

• Your degree doesn’t decide your ceiling. Analytical thinking transferred across fields even when job titles changed.

• Risk is the cost of progress. Growth requires it, especially when you push ideas others aren’t ready for.

• Mistakes create experience. Success teaches less. The value comes from stopping long enough to understand what went wrong.

• Proactivity compounds. Asking questions, doing the work and taking initiative separates early leaders from everyone else.

Ben also pushes back on the idea that today’s early-career professionals need to unlearn something. In his experience, many are already ahead: technically sharp, confident and capable of building real things that matter.

Tune in for an honest conversation about risk, learning on the job and how leadership in GovCon is built over time.

Warren Kohm didn’t grow up with a silver spoon — he grew up learning how to make things work, and how not to take anything for granted.

In this episode of “Humble Beginnings,” we sit down with Warren, CEO of Aurex Defense, to trace the formative experiences that shaped his leadership philosophy, from growing up as the youngest of five in a modest Long Island home to leading a private equity–backed defense company.

Raised by two teachers, Warren learned early the value of independence, discipline and learning by doing. He started working at age 12, paid his own way through college, balanced academics with collegiate athletics and took on multiple jobs to stay afloat. Through it all, he gained lessons that would later inform his approach to leadership and finance, and define his values.

Warren shares candid stories from the early stages of his career, including his grind in commission-only sales at John Hancock, a humbling rejection from a movie theater job and the pivotal moments that led him from IT programming to finance leadership roles at Accenture, American Management Systems, Booz Allen Hamilton and CGI. Along the way, mentorship, curiosity and a willingness to say “yes” opened unexpected doors and ultimately led him to the C-suite.

Now a CEO, Warren reflects on what it takes to lead people well: knowing when to push, when to step back and why results matter — but people matter more. He also opens up about the deeply personal impact of mental health on his life, the loss of two sisters and why supporting employee well-being is essential.

Tune in for an honest look at work ethic, resilience, leadership, humanity and a reminder that long-term success is built one decision, one mentor and one lesson at a time.

Link to episode.

David Guffey’s trajectory wasn’t necessarily thought out. In fact, he mostly searched “for that next opportunity.” Once an Airman, guardsman and reservist, what began as a way to serve and see the world in the U.S. Air Force turned into a lifelong journey of learning, leadership and innovation.

On this week’s “Rookies to Rockstars,” Amanda Ziadeh is joined by David Guffey, director of U.S. Special Operations Command and intelligence community accounts at Intel Corp., to talk about how adaptability, military and commercial experience, and relationships shaped his path from Airman to industry leader supporting national security missions.

Today, David helps drive cutting-edge technology solutions for some of the nation’s most critical defense and intelligence partners — bridging the gap between commercial innovation and battlefield needs. Yet his path to this work started years earlier, when he left the Air Force and found himself sitting across from program managers and engineers, realizing he had to learn how to speak both languages. That lesson stuck. It taught him that success in defense tech isn’t just about hardware or code; it’s about connecting missions, people and possibilities.

We also talked about:

• The experiences that shaped his perspective on leadership and communication
• His three career principles: don’t expect entitlement, take risks and always be on time
• The culture shift from transitioning from military to industry
• Building trust across military, government and industry teams
• Why you should “never believe that success is guaranteed”
• The importance of building career relationships over time and maintaining them
• A risk he took early on that did not pay off,
• And the challenge of breaking old habits (like relying on military acronyms) and finding a shared language at Intel

Tune in for a conversation about growth, service, overcoming failures, and the evolving intersection of defense and technology.

A native of India, Aruna Mathuranayagam came to the United States to study engineering — a beginning that later broadened into deep dives into business, technology and government.

Her current role as vice president of growth for Leidos converges her previous paths as an engineer, solutions architect and portfolio manager into a unified growth focus.

“Each step in my career really built toward this role and gave me a broader perspective,” she explained. “I also love capturing new work and winning. Sometimes there is a stigma about BD professionals, but I’m a technologist at heart and I strive to enable growth powered by technology.” 

A long-time tech “nerd,” her curiosity brought her from an era of programming in COBOL and Fortran into the AI-centric platforms of today. Now, she helps organizations anticipate needs years down the line and devise strategies to solve customers’ mission priorities. She also brings two decades of GovCon experience including work with systems now considered legacy.

A different kind of BD professional

Mathuranayagam has always been an avid student. From a young age, she enjoyed learning about inventors, studying new ideas and admiring change that improves lives.

Her career has taken her deep into some of the most pivotal missions of the last two decades. During the shift to remote work that accelerated through the COVID-19 pandemic, Mathuranayagam worked with the Energy Department and other federal clients to help them along their zero-trust journeys.

In her current role, Mathuranayagam supports all of Leidos’ federal civilian customers across multiple agencies, including the State Department.

“They are all facing similar problems — how to maintain and operate their current systems, how to serve the American public, how to keep us safe, how to do that with a minimal budget, and how to investigate and invest in technologies that enable them to move faster and attain their outcomes,” she said. 

Few business development professionals have experience as chief technology officers. Mathuranayagam does.

“I’ve always loved technology,” she said. “I loved capturing new work, because I liked interacting with the frontline customers, understanding what their problems were and how we can solve them – this is what led me into growth and strategy,” she explained.

Her background allows her to work with customers on a deeper level, whether discussing how budgets strain priorities, addressing technical debt, or navigating shifting executive orders while trying to meet their missions.

Supporting effective change

Leidos combines engineering, mission knowledge and repeatable commercial-like capabilities to deliver the outcomes customers want, working with a vast network of vendor partners and OEMs to address challenges holistically, she said.

She also takes a collaborative approach in which Leidos’ subject matter experts work with customers to determine a path forward. Modernization without disruption is a key differentiator Leidos takes to every job, she added.

“If we can provide the maximum modernization without disrupting the current mission for the most return on investment, that’s the ideal situation for the customer,” she said. 

That includes avoiding introducing unnecessary complexity.

“I like to move really fast while solving a lot of problems,” she said. “Those are the things I emphasize with my team and those are the things I hear from our leaders.”

Mainframe modernization and navigating reliance on legacy code are two areas where Mathuranayagam is partnering with customers. Modernizing complex systems includes moving from on-prem to cloud and migrating away from mainframe.

Leidos partners with customers like the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security to enable their modernization initiatives.

“We have a lot of missions that are a priority now,” she said. 

Mathuranayagam said it all goes back to supporting the agencies serving the American public.

“There is always AI to consider, but if you don’t know how to infuse AI within an existing legacy environment, you’re just talking about AI and creating more work,” she said. “We ask what does AI really mean for a customer in their environment, and how can we bring meaningful AI insertions and meet them where they are to accelerate their current process to remove monotony while helping them improve and accelerate the mission delivery and mission outcomes.”

Up close

Mathuranayagam has many friends who are veterans and have served in multiple missions. The work connects for her on a personal level.

“Supporting the government requires you to put in as many hours as the mission requires, and we all sit in the room and sometimes we go late into the evening,” she said. “We enjoy dinner together while working. They share real war stories. I have great respect for my friends who have served and been in theater. They shape the course of my mission support and how disruption to the mission is really not acceptable.”

Mentors and sponsors make a huge difference in one’s career, she added. She specifically seeks out mentors who are technologically savvy, have access to broad data and take a strategic approach.

“I still have a Rolodex of people I call on to ask questions or solve problems or just run ideas by,” Mathuranayagam said. “They are invaluable to me.”

Outside of work, Mathuranayagam enjoys being outdoors and loves high-altitude hiking — a way to recharge and return to work with fresh perspective.

Bill McKenna was 24 when he was elected to office in Dunellen, New Jersey, the youngest in the town’s history. He was 51 when he graduated with a master’s degree in homeland security from George Washington University, working full-time to finish the degree. In between, he watched the Sept. 11 attacks unfold from the New York City area, losing people he knew, and spent months as a full-time caregiver when both parents fell ill simultaneously.

That’s the context behind how McKenna approaches federal mission work and why he takes it personally.

Now vice president of strategic growth and government affairs at Trilogy Innovations, McKenna brings over two decades of experience across financial services and federal IT, including work with DHS, the departments of Justice and Health and Human Services and the FBI. In this Q&A, he talks about where federal agencies are most vulnerable, why AI has to be operationally grounded to matter and what two decades of mission work taught him about building solutions that last.

Can you provide a brief overview of your professional background and career progression? 

My career has been shaped by building mission-driven technology solutions across both the private sector and the federal space. I began in the financial services industry, where I spent over a decade supporting large-scale transformation and risk-driven modernization efforts at organizations such as ING (now Voya), T. Rowe Price, and OneAmerica. That experience gave me a strong foundation in regulatory environments, operational discipline, and aligning technology investments to measurable outcomes.

I later transitioned into federal IT and national security work, where I found my long-term professional purpose. Over the past decade, I’ve supported major initiatives across DHS, DOJ, FBI, and HHS, working at the intersection of cybersecurity, cloud modernization, mission delivery, and emerging technologies.

To deepen that mission focus, I returned to graduate school and earned my Master of Professional Studies in Homeland Security from The George Washington University, which strengthened my understanding of interagency operations, emergency management, critical infrastructure protection, and national security policy.

That combination of industry experience, mission alignment, and academic grounding ultimately led me to my current role, where I focus on shaping strategy, partnerships, and growth across federal civilian and homeland security customers.

Why was this the path you chose, and how influential was it to your career?

I chose this path because federal mission work is one of the few environments where technology directly impacts national resilience, public safety, and trust. When you support homeland security or federal law enforcement, you’re not simply modernizing IT—you’re enabling the ability to respond faster, operate securely, and protect critical systems.

That mission-driven perspective has influenced every stage of my career and reinforced my focus on cybersecurity, modernization, and operationally relevant AI. My graduate work in homeland security further validated that the most effective solutions are those built with an understanding of both policy and real-world mission constraints.

Do you have a personal connection to the current mission you support? 

Yes. My commitment to the homeland security mission is both professional and deeply personal. I pursued my master’s degree in homeland security specifically to strengthen my ability to support real operational challenges—particularly those involving emergency response, critical infrastructure protection, and interagency coordination.

Earlier in my career, I worked in the New York City area during the September 11 attacks and personally knew individuals who were directly affected. That experience left a lasting impression on me and shaped how I think about preparedness, resilience, and the human impact of national security failures.

In addition, there was a period between my time in financial services and federal IT when both of my parents became seriously ill and required full-time care. That experience gave me a firsthand understanding of crisis response, system fragility, and the importance of coordinated support during high-stress, high-stakes situations.

Together, those experiences reinforced my desire to work in roles that contribute to public safety, infrastructure protection, and mission resilience. They also directly align with the work I support today, including cybersecurity resilience, modernization of federal systems, and the responsible adoption of emerging technologies like AI in mission-critical environments.

What are your current top priorities and responsibilities? How do these relate to your company’s overall mission/growth strategy?

My top priorities are helping teams grow responsibly in the federal market while ensuring we remain grounded in execution and mission outcomes. That includes identifying emerging requirements, shaping acquisition strategies early, building partnerships, and developing solution strategies aligned to customer needs.

A major part of my role is translating mission drivers and policy direction, such as Zero Trust, cloud modernization, AI adoption, cyber resilience, and post-quantum encryption, into actionable business development and delivery strategies. These responsibilities support the company’s broader growth goals by ensuring we pursue the right opportunities with credible, forward-looking solutions aligned to evolving federal security priorities.

Where do you and your team see growth opportunities in your current field or portfolio you support, or what do you anticipate to be your customers’ top pain points?

Federal agencies are under increasing pressure to modernize quickly while maintaining security, compliance, and mission continuity. Some of the biggest pain points include legacy systems, constrained workforces, slow acquisition cycles, and the growing complexity of cybersecurity requirements.

Growth opportunities are strongest in secure cloud transformation, DevSecOps modernization, AI-enabled automation, cryptographic modernization, and mission analytics. Agencies are also increasingly seeking integrated solutions that improve operational performance while meeting cybersecurity mandates.

How are you and your team planning to address/prepare for these opportunities?

We’re preparing by investing in strong partnerships, developing repeatable modernization approaches, and focusing heavily on mission-specific AI and automation use cases. A key part of that effort includes applied innovation work such as Radiant Expanse, which focuses on operational AI, edge analytics, and resilience for homeland security and defense missions, as well as VOICD, which emphasizes secure data, identity, and trust frameworks in complex mission environments.

Across these efforts, our goal is to ensure solutions are scalable, policy-aligned, and operationally relevant—not experimental or disconnected from real mission needs. We place a strong emphasis on early customer engagement and disciplined capture planning so we can help shape requirements and deliver solutions that agencies can adopt quickly, secure effectively, and sustain long term.

How important is mentorship & networking in GovCon? Were they influential to your career?

Mentorship and networking are essential in GovCon because this is an ecosystem built on trust, credibility, and long-term relationships. Some of the most meaningful progress in my career came from mentors and peers who offered guidance, challenged my thinking, and helped me navigate both the mission and business sides of the industry.

Equally important is giving back. I’m active in the Ascend WV program and the First Ascend initiative, where I mentor and support professionals building careers in West Virginia while engaging in national-level work. I’ve also been involved in community leadership efforts, including founding the Herndon Youth Advisory Council, which reflects my belief that leadership development should start early and be rooted in service.

What is something most people don’t know about you personally?

Most people don’t know that I’ve served in elected office twice. I was elected at 24 years old in Dunellen, New Jersey, in 1998, becoming the youngest elected official in the town’s history. Years later, in 2016, I was elected again in Herndon, Virginia, continuing my commitment to public service at the local level.

More recently, I returned to graduate school later in life and earned my master’s degree in homeland security, graduating at 51 while working full-time. Together, those experiences reinforced a belief I’ve carried throughout my career: leadership is grounded in service, accountability, and continuous learning—especially in a field as dynamic and consequential as national security.

Constellis Holdings has named Joseph J. Zobro chief legal and compliance officer, reporting directly to CEO Dan Gelston.

Zobro will oversee legal, regulatory and compliance functions and lead the company’s governance framework. His appointment follows the recent additions of a new CEO and an executive vice president leading the company’s LEXSO business.

Zobro brings over a decade of legal and regulatory experience across government and commercial technology contracting, including roles at Bell Textron, C3 AI and Anduril Industries. His background spans FAR-based contracts, Other Transaction Authority agreements and enterprise partnerships across defense and commercial customers.

“I’m honored to join Constellis at such an important moment in the company’s evolution,” he said. “The organization has earned its reputation by delivering integrated and comprehensive solutions in the world’s most challenging environments. I look forward to partnering with the leadership team to strengthen governance, support continued growth, and help shape the future of this remarkable company.”

Gelston said Zobro understands the complexities of high-consequence missions and fast-moving technology sectors, and will be instrumental in ensuring Constellis grows with both speed and discipline.

“He brings deep experience navigating government contracting along with a practical, business-minded approach to legal leadership,” Gelston added. “His impact will be immediate and foundational to our company success.”

Elizabeth Moellering

Interim General Counsel & Deputy General Counsel, Maximus

In less than two years at Maximus, Elizabeth Moellering improved the company’s litigation function from the ground up — creating a new infrastructure, outside counsel guidelines and an active management model that reduced the company’s annual legal spend by more than 30%.

She simultaneously led an evolution of the labor and employment practice, sizing the team to deliver faster, more consistent advice across a workforce that supports millions of government program beneficiaries. When the company’s general counsel left in early 2026, CEO Bruce Caswell tapped Moellering to serve as interim general counsel and promoted her to deputy general counsel — expanding her portfolio to include privacy, corporate ethics and compliance, plus oversight of the Office of General Counsel.

“Elizabeth has been a great leader over the last two years in building a more effective legal team that’s benefited our entire company,” Caswell said. “She brings a strong combination of experience, legal acumen and intrinsic leadership skills that are often hard to find in this role. She’s demonstrated strategic insights and judgment, a bias toward action, and a collaborative mindset that makes her a highly valued member of our leadership team.”

Why Watch

In 2026, Moellering’s team is focused on the legal dimensions of cybersecurity and emerging technology — working in close partnership with the Office of the Chief Digital & Information Officer to identify and mitigate risk as the company scales AI and cloud-based services across government programs. She’s also managing contract continuity in a shifting procurement environment by mitigating potential risks or disruptions. And her team is strengthening the company’s enforcement posture through disciplined, proactive risk triage and consistently applied internal processes.

Maximus has operated at the intersection of government efficiency and citizen services for 50 years, delivering programs that help federal and state agencies reduce administrative costs while improving outcomes for the people they serve, Moellering said. The company’s technology-enabled services — including AI-powered document processing that handles 8 million to 10 million pages daily for federal agencies — are directly aligned with the administration’s push to modernize government operations and reduce waste.

“For me, success in legal leadership means enabling growth while holding fast to integrity,” Moellering said. “I focus on building legal teams that operate as true business partners, delivering clear judgment and practical solutions at the pace of the company.”

Fun fact: Moellering is a lifelong team athlete who still enjoys playing volleyball, softball and coed flag football. Her flag football team competes every year in the Buffalo Bowl, a tournament supporting the Special Olympics of New York. She rarely misses it.

See the entire Top General Counsels & Compliance Execs to Watch in 2026 list here. 

Jim Rittinger

General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Empower AI

Jim Rittinger transformed Empower AI’s legal, contracts and compliance functions into proactive partners in business growth, helping the company quadruple profitability while strengthening trust and accountability.

By including contract professionals in business development teams and modernizing governance processes, his team improved pursuit execution and customer confidence. That transformation continues to scale as the company grows.

“With the speed at which the federal market space has evolved and transformed over the past year, to succeed, companies must be agile and adaptive,” Rittinger said. “This is especially true for risk management and compliance functions, which must quickly innovate to navigate a rapidly shifting regulatory landscape.”

Why Watch

In 2026, Rittinger and his team are focused on further integrating legal, contracts and compliance into Empower AI’s growth strategy to enable faster, lower-risk mission delivery for federal customers. They are also supporting disciplined expansion through improved past performance management, M&A readiness and responsible AI governance. The goal is to help the business move faster while maintaining integrity and trust.

Empower AI delivers mission‑ready innovation that advances the administration’s priorities to reduce costs, streamline operations, and improve government efficiency. The President’s Management Agenda calls on agencies to eliminate waste, strengthen accountability and leverage modern IT, data and AI to deliver better results for taxpayers. Empower AI meets this mandate through a vendor‑agnostic, outcome‑focused approach that modernizes legacy systems, automates manual processes and avoids costly vendor lock‑in, he said.

He said that strategy also aligns with OMB Memorandum M‑25‑22, which emphasizes performance‑based AI acquisition, competition and interoperability to protect taxpayer value.

Fun fact: Rittinger enjoys rucking — strapping a heavy pack on his back and hiking 5-6 miles at a stretch. It’s great exercise, he said, but also time alone to think, plan and strategize.

See the entire Top General Counsels & Compliance Execs to Watch in 2026 list here. 

Chris Gros spent 20 years in the Marine Corps before a friend talked him into HR — and he never looked back.

As chief people officer at Crimson Phoenix, Gros has dedicated the last several years to integrating seven acquired companies into a single culture — what the company calls The Crimson Way — while competing for some of the most sought-after talent in GovCon: cleared technical professionals. His background is unconventional by any measure: surface-to-air weapons, a literature degree, adjunct professor.

In this Q&A, Gros talks about building culture across a growing company, why HR is a business function first and a compliance shop second, and how military leadership translates to the national security contractor space.

Can you provide a brief overview of your professional background and career progression? 

I spent twenty years in the United States Marine Corps working in surface to air weapons and aviation command and control. That experience shaped how I view leadership, accountability, and teamwork. In the military you quickly learn that mission success depends on people and building teams that trust each other.

After retiring from the Marine Corps, I did not originally plan to work in Human Resources. A good friend of mine brought me in to run the talent organization at NT Concepts. He believed my leadership background would translate well because, at its core, HR is about leadership, culture, and developing people.

What started as a leap of faith quickly became a passion. Today, as Chief People Officer at Crimson Phoenix, I focus on building strong teams, developing leaders, and creating an environment where employees can do their best work supporting national security missions.

Why was this the path you chose, and how influential was it to your career?

At first, I was hesitant because it meant stepping into a completely different field. HR is not the typical career path for a Marine.

However, HR is not just about compliance and policies like many people assume. Compliance matters and we take it seriously, but HR should not operate as a back-office compliance shop focused only on rules. At its core, it is a business function that needs to deliver value to the organization.

Helping companies build strong teams and grow talent turned out to be both challenging and rewarding. Over time it became clear that the people side of an organization is often its greatest competitive advantage.

Do you have a personal connection to the current mission you support? 

Yes. Most of the programs our company supports are tied to national security missions. I went to VMI, spent twenty years in the Marine Corps, and the last dozen years in GovCon. Supporting national security is something I have either prepared to do or have been doing for my entire adult life.

While I am not on the client site every day anymore, our team takes pride in making sure our employees have what they need to support our government customers. When we talk about recruiting, retention, and building strong teams, it is not just about business metrics. It is about ensuring the people supporting these missions are the best in the field and have what they need to be successful.

What are your current top priorities and responsibilities? How do these relate to your company’s overall mission and growth strategy?

Just like during my time in uniform, we try to keep things simple at Crimson Phoenix. We focus on people and the mission.

A major part of my role has been integrating the seven companies we have brought together. That meant aligning healthcare plans, 401k plans, HR systems, policies, and cultures to form one team and one culture that we call The Crimson Way.

At the same time, we are focused on leadership development and building career paths that prepare the next generation of leaders across the company.

Where do you and your team see growth opportunities, or what do you anticipate to be your customers’ top pain points?

One of the biggest challenges in the national security space is competition for cleared technical talent. There are simply more mission requirements than there are people with the clearances and expertise needed to support them.

Customers also want partners who can move quickly, innovate, and bring new ideas to complex problems. Companies that recruit well, develop talent internally, and retain people who understand the mission will have a real advantage.

How are you and your team preparing for these opportunities?

We are investing in leadership development, team development, and internal career growth so employees see a future with the company, not just a role on a contract.

We are also fortunate to have an both an outstanding HR and an outstanding recruiting team. Pound for pound, we have the best team in GovCon. Our recruiters build relationships within the cleared community and understand the missions our customers support.

Our HR team focuses on supporting employees once they join the company. Responsiveness is a big part of our culture. Some companies operate with service models where responses take several days. Our small but dedicated HR team usually responds to employee questions within the hour, which builds trust across the organization.

How important is mentorship and networking in GovCon? Were they influential to your career?

Mentorship and networking are everything, not just in GovCon but in life. Both have played a major role in my career.

From leaders during my time in uniform to the friend who encouraged me to move into HR, people offered guidance and opened doors. Nearly every position I have held, both in the military and in GovCon, came through relationships and networking.

Because of that, I try to give back by mentoring veterans transitioning from the military and encouraging leaders across our company to invest in developing their people.

What is something most people do not know about you personally?

My background is a bit unusual. I worked with Stinger missile systems, earned a degree in literature, and somehow ended up in HR. Until a few years ago I was also teaching writing and literature as an adjunct professor at Northern Virginia Community College.

Studying literature teaches you to understand people, their motivations, and how they see the world. It turns out those skills translate pretty well to leadership.

We’re thrilled to unveil the finalists for the 2026 Chief Officer Awards — a premier recognition of the executives shaping the future of government contracting.

From groundbreaking innovators to steadfast mission leaders, this year’s finalists represent the very best in federal leadership across industry and government.

Join us June 2, 11:30 a.m. at The Hilton in Tysons Corner, Virginia, for an in-person event and luncheon. In the coming weeks, we will be posting Q&As with some of the finalists, so keep your eye out for that.

Below are the industry finalists.

Private & Public Company

Artificial Intelligence Executive of the Year

• Vishal Deshpande, Unissant
• Rod Fontecilla, Harmonia
• Mike Pansky, Agile Defense
• Kathleen Featheringham, Maximus
• David Larrimore, Amivero
• Brandy Durham, MANTECH

Private Company

CEO of the Year

Annual Revenue Less than $100M

• Warren Kohm, Aurex
• Shawn Gundrum, CATHEXIS
• Robert Miller, Future Technologies Inc
• Irina Denisenko, Knox Systems
• Chad Kim, B/CORE
• Bob Etris, Evans Inc

CEO of the Year

Annual Revenue Greater than $100M and Less than $500M

• Richard Pineda, CALIBRE Systems, Inc.
• Mark Drever, Xcelerate Solutions
• Katie Selbe, GRVTY
• Julie Myers Wood, Guidepost Solutions
• Jon Rucker, Ultra I&C
• David Popelier, Acclaim Technical Services

Private & Public Company

CEO of the Year

Annual Revenue Greater than $500M

• Kevin Kelly, Arcfield
• Jonathan Dalrymple, Chugach Alaska Corporation
• John Wasson, ICF
• John Steckel, AMERICAN SYSTEMS
• Bruce Caswell, Maximus
• Adel Al-Saleh, SES

Private Company

CFO of the Year

Annual Revenue Less than $100M

• Michael Cavalier, Victory Solutions
• Bob Deegan, Unissant
• Alvin Church, Chartis Federal

CFO of the Year

Annual Revenue Greater than $100M and Less than $500M

• Sarah Otchet, GRVTY
• Matt McElroy, B&A
• Jon Meyer, ERT
• Jackie Adams, PingWind, Inc
• Chuck Hicks, Thomson Reuters Special Services
• Angela Rothwell, Precise Systems, Inc.

Private & Public Company

CFO of the Year

Annual Revenue Greater than $500M

• Shawn Mural, V2X
• Ryan Garner, ECS
• Jeffrey MacLauchlan, CACI
• Gordon Foster, Serco
• David Mutryn, Maximus
• Darin Cabral, Constellis

CGO or BD Executive of the Year

Annual Revenue Less than $100M

• Rob Bocek, Virtualitics
• John Moberly, Ibeos
• Jason Souza, Alluvionic
• Curt Hall, Aretec, Inc.
• Brian Westhoff, Gunnison
• Alexander Forti, Olympus Solutions Inc.

CGO or BD Executive of the Year

Annual Revenue Greater than $100M and Less than $500M​

• Thomas Fogarty, Kentro
• Ray Holder, Capgemini Government Solutions
• Oliver Sadorra, Dark Wolf
• Jennifer McCollough, Thomson Reuters Special Services
• Greg Bitel, Two Six Technologies
• Christopher Rodriguez, ERT

CGO or BD Executive of the Year

Annual Revenue Greater than $500M

• Richard Caputo, V2X
• Paul Aronhime, Peraton
• Kent Wilcher, KBR
• Henry Meyer, CGI Federal

CHRO or HR Executive of the Year

• Tanja Guerra, Alpha Omega
• Nicole Peace, Applied Information Sciences
• Marissa Holdorf, Constellis
• Madelyne D’Angelo, Riverside Research
• Donna Diederich, LMI
• Christina Payne, Precise Systems, Inc.

CIO of the Year

• Steve Hittle, ECS
• Srinivas Rautwar, AMERICAN SYSTEMS
• Raj Badhwar, Systems Planning & Analysis

CISO Executive of the Year

• Shane Barney, Keeper Security
• Ron Bushar, Google Public Sector
• Michael Baker, DXC Technology
• Jennifer Roberts, FGS-LLC
• Fouzan Pal, AMERICAN SYSTEMS

Public Company

CMO or Marketing Executive of the Year

• Shab Nassirpour, ECS
• Roela Santos, Amentum
• Marni Puente, SAIC
• Eliot Hamlisch, Amtrak

Private Company

CMO or Marketing Executive of the Year

• Tom Mahoney, Optiv + ClearShark
• Michelle Lammers, Nightwing
• Joy Jarrett, Guidehouse
• Ben Ingham, GRVTY
• Amanda Rudolph, Ultra I&C
• Alex Bender, Core4ce

Private & Public Company

CSO Executive of the Year

• Mario Orsini, Nightwing
• James Kennedy, The Boeing Company
• Isaiah Rivers, Astranis

Public Company

CTO of the Year

• Mike Raker, Maximus
• Marshall Thames, ECS
• Kyle Tuberson, ICF
• Eric Moore, Leidos

Private Company

CTO of the Year

• Peter O’Donoghue, Tyto Athene
• Nitin Vartak, Alpha Omega
• Kimberly Sablon, Riverside Research
• Eric Brown, MANTECH
• Christopher Hein, Google Public Sector
• Abir Ray, Expression Networks, LLC

Private & Public Company

Cybersecurity Executive of the Year

• Tim Miller, Dataminr
• Steve Hoffman, Fortinet Federal
• Douglas Norton, Everfox
• Curtis Arnold, Core4ce
• Cindi Bassford, Guidehouse
• Chris Townsend, Elastic

DOD Executive of the Year

• Young Bang, Two Six Technologies
• Vincent DiFronzo, SAIC
• Terry Benedict, Systems Planning & Analysis
• Glenn Hickok, Noblis
• Debbie De La O, Leidos
• Cedric George, MetroStar

Executive Assistant of the Year

• Nancy Edwards, AMERICAN SYSTEMS
• Jenae Shank, DDC
• Catherine Pikula, AmeriTech Contracting

General Counsel and / or Compliance Executive of the Year

• Ryan Litrakis, B&A
• Jim Rittinger, Empower AI
• Hilary Hageman, SAIC
• Adam DeJulio, Epoch Concepts

Healthcare Executive of the Year

• Tammy Czarnecki, Aptive
• Jerry Hogge, Claritev
• Eugene Sayan, Softheon
• Dr. Fredrick Hauser, HSG, LLC

Space Executive of the Year

• Vir Thanvi, ERT
• Tom Hendricksen, HSG, LLC
• Pete Rodriguez, Victory Solutions
• Audrey Schaffer, Slingshot Aerospace
• Travis Dawson, GDIT

Government

CIO of the Year

• Shantrell (Nikki) Collier, DOJ
• Pavan Pidugu, Transportation
• Kirsten Davies, DoW
• Keith Hardiman, Air Force
• Dustin Goetz, ICE
• Doug Cossa, ODNI

CTO of the Year

• Sunil Madhugiri, CBP
• Justin Fanelli, Navy
• Joy Angela Shanaberger, CENTCOM
• Emil Michael, DoW
• Carlos Azuero, DOJ

Government TEAM Project of the Year – IT

• Tracey Quamie, IRS
• Nael Samha, CBP
• Jaspreet (Jas) Dhillon, OUSW
• Howard Osborne, DOC
• Caleb Judy, OPM

Space Executive of the Year

• Peter Atkinson, Army
• John Riordan, Space Force
• Jessica Powers, Space Force
• Heather Campbell, SDA
• Chris Povak, NRO

Leidos has completed its $2.4 billion acquisition of ENTRUST Solutions Group from Kohlberg, expanding its energy infrastructure business with over 3,100 professionals in electric grid engineering and natural gas infrastructure.

The deal doubles Leidos’ presence in the energy infrastructure market and broadens its utility customer base.

“As we welcome our new teammates, we continue to strengthen our position as a leading provider of power engineering and design services,” said Roy Stevens, Homeland Sector president at Leidos. “As utilities address accelerating load growth and resilience requirements, integrating ENTRUST’s capabilities enables us to deliver comprehensive infrastructure solutions that help strengthen and secure the grid.”

The acquisition is part of Leidos’ NorthStar 2030 strategy.

Elastic Cloud Hosted has achieved Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program High authorization on Amazon Web Services GovCloud (US), the program’s most rigorous security baseline, requiring over 400 security controls to protect sensitive unclassified government data.

“FedRAMP High expands our ability to support agencies operating in highly sensitive environments and underscores Elastic’s enduring commitment to help improve our national security posture while driving operational efficiencies,” said Chris Townsend, global vice president of public sector at Elastic.

The authorization allows U.S. federal agencies to deploy Elastic Cloud Hosted for high-impact workloads including cyber defense and investigations, zero trust initiatives and AI-powered mission applications. Agencies responsible for law enforcement, emergency response, public health, financial systems and national security operations can now use the platform for security information and event management, threat detection and response, large-scale logging and compliance programs, and AI-driven search experiences.

Elastic Cloud Hosted is also Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program Moderate authorized on Amazon Web Services GovCloud (US), giving agencies flexibility to match deployment options to mission requirements.

The authorization builds on Elastic’s federal presence, including a security information and event management-as-a-service program with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and ECS for federal civilian executive branch agencies and a volume-based discount agreement with the General Services Administration to simplify procurement.

Joshua Vo

Director of Compliance, Koniag Government Services, LLC

A business development program for experienced small business owners who are socially and economically disadvantaged, the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) requires participants like Koniag Government Services to maintain robust compliance. That’s where Joshua Vo comes in.

Vo manages federal regulatory and SBA compliance for KGS and its 30 subsidiary entities, architecting internal processes and communication infrastructure that educate personnel across the enterprise while ensuring 100% adherence to both the letter and intent of SBA regulations.

Vo’s comprehensive oversight included conducting internal audits; monitoring Business Activity Targets to prevent over-reliance on 8(a) awards; verifying North American Industry Classification System code compliance; proactively preparing entities for 8(a) program graduation; collaborating with programs, contracts and procurement to verify compliance with SBA and limitations on subcontracting regulations (FAR 52.219-14); and producing detailed annual SBA reports — all integrated seamlessly into daily operations.

“My role is to build the infrastructure that allows KGS to scale with integrity,” Vo said. “When we succeed in compliance, we are not just checking boxes, we are strengthening trust with our federal partners, protecting our 8(a) community’s reputation, and honoring our responsibility to our Alutiiq shareholders.”

Why Watch

Vo has architected a scalable compliance infrastructure with integrated quality assurance mechanisms that enables KGS to grow rapidly while preserving federal agency confidence that expansion will never compromise regulatory adherence or ethical standards. As steward of the KGS Corporate Code of Business Ethics and Conduct, he ensures compliance principles are embedded throughout company policies and clearly communicated across all subsidiaries, while his active participation in industry organizations keeps KGS ahead of evolving regulations.

Vo regularly represents KGS in outreach supporting Alutiiq shareholders and Native American communities — including annual sponsorship of the Advancing Indigenous Science and Engineering Society National Conference — demonstrating that compliance excellence and community commitment are inseparable at KGS.

“Josh exemplifies the strategic leadership that defines excellence at KGS,” said KGS CEO Kevin Wideman. “His proactive approach to compliance isn’t just about meeting regulatory requirements — it’s about building the foundation of trust that enables our growth and strengthens our partnerships across the federal landscape. His work ensures that as we scale, we do so with unwavering integrity, and that makes him invaluable to our mission and our future.”

KGS directly supports administration efficiency goals through proactive compliance infrastructure that reduces government oversight burden while maintaining program integrity. Vo’s scalable framework delivers transparency, accurate reporting and rapid response to data calls — enabling federal partners to minimize duplicative oversight costs and redirect resources from administrative contractor management to mission-critical outcomes. This approach exemplifies how responsible small business contractors can be force multipliers for government efficiency rather than administrative burdens, Vo said.

Fun fact: As an Alaska Native leader, Vo brings traditional indigenous values from his upbringing into every facet of his work at KGS. Beyond his professional responsibilities, he actively serves indigenous organizations in his personal capacity. These deeply rooted traditional values form the ethical foundation upon which his entire leadership approach is built.

See the entire Top General Counsels & Compliance Execs to Watch in 2026 list here. 

Matthew Madalo

Senior Vice President – General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer & Corporate Secretary, Siemens Government Technologies

At Siemens Government Technologies, Matthew Madalo ensures compliance with evolving regulatory requirements so project managers can focus on the mission while solving some of their customers’ greatest challenges.

He’s involved in projects spanning digital transformation, energy resiliency, automation, industrial AI and more as SGT delivers increasingly advanced technologies to customers.

Why Watch

Just as technology is rapidly transforming the national security landscape, Madalo’s team is working hard to ensure governance structures are in place to maximize success in serving customers and their missions of national consequence.

“Matthew and his team are partners with our business leaders and committed to solving for ‘yes’ when it comes to meeting the urgent needs of our customers and their vital national security missions,” said SGT President and CEO John Ustica.

Fun fact: Madalo is an adjunct professor at Catholic University School of Law where he teaches a risk management program as part of a certificate program in compliance, investigations and corporate responsibility.

See the entire Top General Counsels & Compliance Execs to Watch in 2026 list here. 

Command Holdings, a Pequot Company, has been named 30th on Inc. magazine’s Regionals Northeast List, which ranks the fastest-growing private companies in the Northeast.

“This Inc. recognition reflects the strength and diversity of our business,” said Jon Panamaroff, CEO of Command Holdings. “Because it is based on measurable revenue growth and performance data, it is especially meaningful. Over the past few years, we have expanded into new markets and continued to innovate across every part of our organization. None of this would be possible without the dedication and vision of our team. They are the driving force behind our success and the reason we can create lasting opportunities for our communities.”

The list recognized 151 private companies with a median growth rate of 73% that added $2.3 billion to the local economy across nine Northeastern states.

“The honorees on the 2026 Inc. Regionals list achieved exceptional growth at a time when the odds were
against them,” said Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. “Amid inflation and ongoing uncertainty, they did not just persevere – they innovated, adapted, and thrived. Their resilience made them standouts in their industries and true growth engines in their regions.”

Command Holdings is the Section 17 corporation of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, owned by the tribe and led by an all-Native board of directors and CEO. The company’s revenue supports economic development for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

The first time Andy Henson watched technology bend the tempo of real-world conflict, he was standing inside a system that hadn’t been built for speed. Europe was back at war, and the machinery of command was creaking under the weight of decisions that couldn’t wait.

Henson was there on loan from the Defense Intelligence Agency, embedded at U.S. European Command as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. He worked on the watch floor, pushing new technology into live operations as Europe’s command infrastructure relearned how to function under wartime pressure.

Years later, Henson is still chasing the same challenge: making technology work inside government, not just look good on paper.

At SAIC, that means starting with the unglamorous parts: aging infrastructure, slow processes and organizations that are typically built to avoid risk, even when the mission demands speed.

“We don’t have the three-year life cycle anymore,” he said. “We’re going to develop something, field something, see if it works and iterate quickly.”

A Builder’s Instinct

Solving problems runs in Henson’s DNA. Both his parents were engineers.

“When I would dream of something, we would go in the garage and build it, whether it be rockets or airplanes,” he said.

Alongside that maker culture, he grew up steeped in government service. He’s a third-generation government contractor. That sense of purpose came into focus in his teens after a conversation with his grandfather.

“He was telling me about how he worked on the spacesuits for the Apollo missions,” Henson said. “I thought, ‘Wow, what an incredible legacy it is to have put your hands and your head toward something so legendary.’”

By college, Henson was already working in GovCon. He took an entry-level geospatial role in his junior year and worked full time while carrying a full course load.

A few years later, Henson moved into counter-IED work. He was drawn to it because it put technology in direct service of saving lives. He wanted to figure out how engineering could be applied to defeating improvised explosive devices killing U.S. troops.

For him, it was a concrete example of technology applied to a hard problem with real consequences.

“I wanted to spend some time trying to save lives,” Henson said. “How could I invent something that can defeat improvised explosive devices that are killing our troops?”

Finding His People

Today, Henson runs a $615 million portfolio inside SAIC’s Air Force, Space and Intelligence business group. The move from research and development to owning outcomes changed how he approaches innovation. Ideas only matter if they hold up in real operations.

“I’m responsible for the outcomes of those R&D efforts,” Henson said. “We’re taking prototypes we already had and aligning innovation with accountability for delivering impactful results for our customers.”

A core focus is closing the gap between research and operations.

“We can’t have R&D off in a corner,” he said. “We’ve got to have it actively in real mission spaces with real data, securely making a difference quickly.”

Henson joined SAIC for the people he’d gotten to know overseas. He had worked alongside the company’s engineers on live mission efforts and came to trust how they approached hard technical problems.

“I happened to work with some real visionary engineers,” he said. “If there was somebody I could work with, it’d be these people.”

The move also lined up with changes in his personal life. His family was growing, and he wanted to be closer to home. SAIC brought him in as a strategic hire on the research and development side, the part of the work he’d always gravitated toward.

Where AI Helps and Where it Runs into Walls

Not long after joining, Henson became part of the group that started building SAIC’s internal AI capabilities, before enterprise AI became a buzzword. The goal wasn’t experimentation for its own sake but to give employees real tools, with guardrails.

With backing from other leaders and executives, he helped start SAIC’s AI team, which later fed into the AI Council and the company’s early generative AI rollout. That work led to secure generative AI access across the company at a time when many organizations were blocking the tools outright.

He knew the risks. He also knew the cost of waiting.

“Leaning into that and pulling that in was something I’m really proud of,” he said.

When Henson talks about where AI is cost efficient, he points to the slowest parts of government work: acquisition, compliance and onboarding. He also sees near-term gains in cyber operations and IT service management, where automation can ease pressure on understaffed teams. The bigger constraint is infrastructure. In some environments, even adding compute isn’t trivial.

“We have customers we can’t turn on all the servers or we’ll blow a circuit,” Henson said. “It’s not just, can we do it? It’s should we be doing it when things aren’t ready?”

That reality pulls attention back to foundational work.

“It’s not as cool as the AI,” he said. “But arguably more impactful.”

Designing with Customers, Building with Partners

Henson spends time with customers before anyone starts pitching solutions. Those early sessions get to the real problem, not just the one people think they have. SAIC brings technologists, business leaders and visual methods into the room so teams can see how their systems fit together and where they break.

Partnerships sit at the center of that work. As an integrator, SAIC depends on a broad ecosystem of commercial tech companies, including firms new to the government space. Speed is the constant pressure point.

Henson thinks in systems. He looks at how tools, processes and people connect and he challenges setups that exist mainly because no one has revisited them.

“I’m a systems thinker first and foremost,” he said. “I see how things interdepend on each other.”

That mindset shapes how he approaches risk. He would rather try things in the open and learn fast than wait for perfect conditions that never arrive.

“What if we tried it and if it didn’t work, that’s OK, we’ll iterate and go fast,” he said.

Hands-on, Even Off the Clock

That instinct to build doesn’t switch off when the workday ends.

At home, Henson’s still taking things apart, putting them back together and testing new things, driven more by curiosity than any formal goal. If he weren’t in GovCon, he already knows where he’d put that impulse to build and fix things. He looks at industries people assume will stay low-tech the longest.

“I think I’d start a plumbing business,” Henson said. “It’s an area that’s ripe for disruption.”

He isn’t thinking about another app or dashboard. He’s thinking about machines taking on physical work in industries that most people still assume will stay solely human for decades. In his version of the future, automation leaves the server room and shows up in basements, crawl spaces and utility closets, changing how everyday services get delivered.

“The robots that make coffee in the airport, I’m thinking the same idea for plumbing and HVAC,” Henson said. “I think I would bring machines to a market like that.”

That same forward-looking posture shapes how he looks at what’s happening in government technology right now. Even with all the churn across the GovCon landscape, Henson sees the moment less as chaos and more as overdue change.

“Even with all the heightened focus of our industry right now, I’m excited for where it’s headed,” he said. “I think it’s going through a revolution, not an evolution, and I think that change has been needed.”

Arcfield’s Orion Space Solutions has secured initial contracts worth over $24 million to build over 25 advanced payloads for an undisclosed space customer.

These awards have a total potential contract value of over $100M as batch deliveries are completed. The contracts cover design, manufacturing, testing and calibration of mission-specific instrumentation over multiple years.

“Orion’s high-performance payloads are at the heart of the future of space-based intelligence,” said Kevin Kelly, chairman and CEO at Arcfield. “This effort reinforces Arcfield’s role as a leading hardware provider for novel commercial and defense space initiatives.”

Gregg Burgess, president and general manager at Orion, said the partnership reflects the company’s focus on advancing space-based environmental monitoring.

“With these payloads, we are leveraging decades of advanced sensor development to support space-based intelligence and next-generation satellite systems,” he added.

Sarah Lynn

General Counsel, Nightwing

2025 was a year of significant change for Nightwing, as the company completed its IT and support services transition and welcomed several new senior leaders.

“Looking back, I am most proud of how my legal and compliance team was able to provide both compliance counsel and project leadership as part of our IT and support services transitions, jumping in wherever needed to ensure that we were moving with speed and agility and providing the appropriate resources to our employees to help them navigate these changes,” Sarah Lynn said.

Nightwing CEO Bob Coleman said Lynn embodies the leadership and expertise needed to guide Nightwing through complex legal and compliance frameworks.

“Her dedication to fostering a culture of compliance and mission readiness strengthens our foundation for growth and sets a standard of excellence across our organization,” Coleman said.

Why Watch

In 2026, Lynn and her team are focused on further enhancing Nightwing’s internal compliance program from 1.0 to 2.0, focusing on effective and efficient processes to quickly identify and mitigate risk and enable business mission. They are also attentive to the ever-changing regulatory environment, constantly evaluating new or changing compliance requirements.

As a services company, Nightwing is always looking to improve operational efficiency, balancing the need to be competitively priced while maintaining the level of back-office infrastructure needed to support programs as they perform sensitive and important missions for the government, she said. Nightwing is also very focused on using AI to enable more effective and efficient service delivery, both for customers and within its own support functions.

“Nightwing does incredibly innovative, important and cool work, and my team’s mission is to do all we can to provide clear and practical risk guidance tailored to the unique missions of each of our programs,” Lynn said.

Fun fact: Though she has no scouting background of her own, Lynn helps lead her son’s and daughter’s Cub Scout pack. She’s found it a whole family activity that teaches the kids about community, friendship, citizenship and the outdoors — enough to overcome her own aversion to sleeping in a tent.

See the entire Top General Counsels & Compliance Execs to Watch in 2026 list here. 

Nicole Ottmer Saunders

Deputy General Counsel, Accenture Federal Services

By championing a culture of innovation, Nicole Ottmer Saunders spearheaded the reinvention of Accenture Federal Services’ legal team.

Today, the company is strategically integrating advanced technologies, including AI, to automate routine processes and deliver more sophisticated, data-driven legal insights. This transformation empowers attorneys to operate as true strategic advisors and ensures the legal function is a forward-thinking enabler of the business, not just a guardian, Saunders said.

“My priority has always been to build a culture where brilliant people feel empowered to challenge the status quo,” she added. “Our recent success in driving legal innovation is the direct result of that culture in action, brought to life by an exceptionally dedicated team. They make coming to work for the last 18 years a privilege, and they are the reason we will continue to lead from the front.”

Why Watch

In 2026, Saunders and her team are heavily focused on deepening their partnership to move at the speed of the business. They provide proactive, strategic direction on responsible AI principles, which is critical for driving innovation in the swiftly changing federal marketplace. Their goal is to transform legal and regulatory complexities into competitive advantages, ensuring Accenture Federal Services leads with both agility and integrity.

Accenture Federal Services’ mission is intrinsically linked to clients’ priorities of reducing costs and streamlining operations while delivering greater value and impact, she added.

“We are actively partnering with our federal clients to co-create and deploy technology-driven solutions, such as AI and advanced analytics, that directly target operational inefficiencies and drive down long-term costs,” Saunders said. “From a legal and compliance standpoint, our focus is on creating frameworks for responsible innovation that accelerate modernization efforts, ensuring our government partners can achieve their missions more securely and effectively.”

Deborah Ringel, general counsel for Accenture Federal Services, said Saunders’ transformative leadership combines unflappable legal skills with genuine business partnership.

“She’s grounded in integrity, empathy and pragmatism, and focuses on what’s right for our clients and people and then delivers,” Ringel said. “A champion of tech innovation and tools, she leads by example and, critically, inspires our team to amplify their impact and reinvent how they work. Her unwavering commitment empowers us all to achieve excellence and embrace change, ensuring our team remains forward-thinking and client focused.”

Fun fact: Saunders’ father was an Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps officer, providing legal services to the Army, soldiers and families. She grew up with a deep appreciation for the intersection of law and federal service. Those dinner-table conversations about contracts and regulations were her first lessons in the field — a foundational purpose that still drives her commitment to helping the business navigate its mission with integrity.

See the entire Top General Counsels & Compliance Execs to Watch in 2026 list here. 

TekSynap has won a position on the General Services Administration’s Alliant 3 Governmentwide Acquisition Contract, a Best-in-Class multiple-award vehicle that gives federal agencies a faster, more consistent path to enterprise IT services and solutions.

Alliant 3 builds on earlier Alliant vehicles, giving agencies a single acquisition path for systems engineering, cloud services, cybersecurity, data solutions, software development and emerging technology support.

The contract is unrestricted and structured around 11 emerging technology tracks, with a 50% small business participation target designed to expand competition and teaming opportunities across socio-economic categories.

“As an Alliant 3 contract holder, TekSynap is ready to help agencies accelerate modernization through a flexible and competitive acquisition path,” said Fabian Plath, TekSynap growth and corporate development lead. “This vehicle strengthens our ability to bring broad technical capabilities, innovation, and a strong record of mission delivery to major federal IT efforts while expanding teaming opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses.”

GSA announced Phase 1 awards Feb. 20, 2026. The vehicle opened for ordering March 10, 2026.

Acentra Health has named Mohamed Karama as senior vice president of growth acceleration and performance and promoted Nirav Dalal to senior vice president of sales leadership.

Karama brings over 25 years of executive leadership across healthcare, government, financial services and technology. He oversees cross-functional execution and revenue growth across the company. He has advised leadership teams on enterprise growth strategy and go-to-market execution, and held senior roles at Guidehouse, PwC and Unisys, supporting federal clients including the CDC, HHS and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“I am thrilled to join Acentra Health during such an exciting growth period and am inspired by the company’s mission to innovate solutions that accelerate better health outcomes,” Karama said. “I look forward to joining the team to advance clarity and growth acceleration through sales excellence, market development, data-driven decision-making, and strategic partnerships.”

Dalal joined Acentra Health in August 2024 as vice president of capture management and will now lead the company’s business development and capture management functions. He has held senior roles at Optum, IBM and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, where he built sales governance structures and data-driven pricing approaches that drove a 75% win rate on multimillion-dollar deals.

“I am excited for this new leadership opportunity at Acentra Health,” Dalal said. “Since I joined the company over a year and a half ago, I’ve been extremely impressed with the dedication of our team members as we work to bring value to our clients and the populations they serve. I look forward to partnering with Acentra Health leaders in this next phase of growth.”