Building the Base

Michael Morell is Former Deputy Director and twice Acting Director of CIA from 2009 to 2013. A 33-year veteran of CIA, including time as the head of analysis and daily intelligence briefer to President George W. Bush. Only person to be with President Bush on 9/11 and with President Obama on May 1st, 2011 when Osama bin Laden was brought to justice. Author of The Great War of Our Time, a New York Times bestseller. Member of President Obama’s 2013 Review Group on Intelligence and Telecommunications Technology. Member of the 2018 National Defense Strategy Commission.

Listen as he engages with our own Jim “Hondo” Geurts and Lauren Bedula about his experience being the Acting Director of CIA, 9/11, The China Problem, the Next 10 years of Globalization and Hunting Tech Talent.

Retired three-star general VeraLinn “Dash” Jamieson sits down to discuss her experience in the armed forces and pressing national security issues facing the country’s ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) efforts. Currently, she sits on multiple boards of directors for organizations like Digital Realty Trust, ArQit, Beacon Global Strategies, and Primer Technologies..

Gen. Jamieson discussed how her service to the country originated with her grandmother, a Red Cross nurse during World War I who found herself leading a charge in the trenches. She elaborated on this by discussing the importance of those who serve and the need to take a wide-ranging view in filling public service roles.

Mac Thornberry served as the U.S. Representative for Texas’s 13th Congressional District from 1995 to 2021, with service on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and was Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) from 2015 to 2019. During his time in Congress, Thornberry developed a reputation for problem-solving and for his expertise in national and domestic security policy. He helped establish the Department of Homeland Security, prepared the military for new domains of warfare including space and cyber, and championed reforms to improve innovation and acquisition at the Department of Defense. Thornberry shares his perspectives on strengthening collaboration between DoD and the technology sector and how the Pentagon can work more effectively with startups.

Technologist and data expert Dr. David Bray is a leader with the World Economic Forum and a scholar with civil service experience. Bray served as an adviser to the Department of Defense focused on increasing adaptability of the military services and as a senior executive and CIO for the Federal Communications Commission. From 2010 to 2013, he led the National Commission on R&D for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The conversation explores how the U.S. can shift the defense industrial base to an industrial network to capitalize on the capabilities of our international partners. Bray also comments on disruptive technologies impacting national security, the future of green jobs, making AI more accessible to democratize big data insights, and more.

Kirsten Bartok Touw is Co-Founder of New Vista Capital and Managing Partner of AirFinance. She is an active early-stage investor in new and emerging advanced air mobility (AAM) technologies. Bartok Touw shares her perspectives on sourcing investments in AI, machine learning, autonomy, vertical take-off and landing aircraft, and battery technology. The discussion explores Kirsten’s pathway from politics to investment banking to entrepreneurship, building relationships, and the intersection of AAM and finance.

Steve Blank is co-creator of the Lean Startup movement and has been part of, or co-founded, eight Silicon Valley startups in fields such as semiconductors, video games, personal computers and supercomputers. In this discussion, hosts Hondo Geurts and Lauren Bedula explore the role universities play in the national security industrial base, Stanford’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, forward-looking trends of the semiconductor market, and impacts of globalization.

James Cross is the Founder of Silicon Valley Defense Group, a nonprofit connecting the people, capital, and ideas that will ensure the U.S. and its allies achieve a durable advantage in the global tech & security competition. Listen to hear how Silicon Valley Defense Group is powering the digital evolution of the defense industrial base.

Tina Dolph is an accomplished executive leader with more than two decades of government industry experience. She is widely known as a collaborative leader. Prior to leading Siemens Government Technologies, Ms. Dolph was instrumental in Lockheed Martin’s integration of and subsequent divestiture of PAE, Inc., where she served in executive leadership positions culminating as Executive Vice President, Company Operations for a $2 billion enterprise.

Hear insights on the importance of mentorship, maintaining the innovation ecosystem, and developing high-tech talent.

Shaun Modi is the founder and CEO of a new venture-backed Startup, Capitol AI. As founding designer at Airbnb, and co-founder of the design and innovation group TM, Shaun has launched over 55+ products. Airbnb is now worth $100b+.  

Recognized as one of Business Insider’s Top 75 Designers in Technology, Shaun’s skills are a culmination of 14+yrs experience from tremendously successful companies and institutions including Airbnb, Google, RISD, and MIT. 

The discussion explores his inspirations for a career in technology, his passion for the national defense mission, and steps the DoD can take to improve innovation and participation among smaller companies in the defense industrial base.