Katie Gray, a senior partner at In-Q-Tel, joins host Frank Cilluffo to pull back the curtain on the venture firm's role in advancing U.S. national security through tech innovation. As head of In-Q-Tel's cyber investment practice, Gray offers rare insight into the organization's dual-use investment model, its evolving priorities, and the technologies it believes will define the next 25 years. They discuss how In-Q-Tel identifies emerging threats, evaluates startups, and bridges the gap between cutting-edge technology and urgent government needs. Topics include AI, quantum, cyber-physical security, and the vulnerabilities shaping today's threat landscape. The conversation also highlights In-Q-Tel's unique role as both strategic investor and national security partner.

Main Topics Covered

• In-Q-Tel's origin, mission, and evolution beyond the intelligence community
• How In-Q-Tel identifies promising startups and matches them with agency needs
• The shifting threat landscape in cyber, including Volt Typhoon and AI-driven attacks
• Investment priorities in space, supply chain security, and operational technology
• The dual-use tech model and building resilience at machine speed
• A case study: VulnCheck and its impact across multiple government agencies

Key Quotes

"We are dramatically under invested as a nation in our cyber defenses… as we look to the future conflict, we're so vulnerable from a cybersecurity standpoint. " – Katie Gray

"[For] every dollar that In-Q-Tel invests in a company, there's $40 that are invested from the private sector." – Katie Gray

"One of the things we do look for is to try and fund dual-use technology that has strong commercial [and] government market." – Katie Gray

"We're going to be in a world where 80-90% of the code that is being written is being written by AI systems. – Katie Gray

"We can't be responding to [AI-driven cyber attacks] at human speed. We have to be responding to that at machine speed." – Katie Gray

Relevant Links and Resources

• https://www.iqt.org/mission
• https://mccraryinstitute.com/time-to-designate-space-systems-as-critical-infrastructure/

Guest Bio Katie Gray is a senior partner at In-Q-Tel, where she leads the organization's cyber investment practice and supports mission-driven innovation across the U.S. national security landscape. She previously spent more than a decade in software product management, leading development for mobile devices at Palm, HP, and Plastic Logic.