In the defense industrial base, everyone knows the primes dominate the big programs, but that leaves a huge gap in the middle. 

Startups don’t scale, the primes can’t move fast, and decades of consolidation have hollowed out the space in between.

For years, everyone has recognized this gap, but no one has really solved it. The primes are getting bigger, the small innovators get attention but struggle to scale, and the middle tier keeps shrinking. 

Meanwhile, the need for companies that can deliver speed, value, and scale has only grown more urgent.

That’s starting to change. A new class of “next-gen primes” is emerging, companies that can think like small disruptors but deliver like established contractors. They’re leaner, faster, and built for the kind of problems the bigs won’t touch.

One of the leaders of this movement is John Albers, retired Marine Colonel and now CEO of Albers Aerospace. After diving into entrepreneurship, he became a voracious student of business and started building what he calls a next-gen prime. 

In less than a decade, he’s grown Albers Aerospace into a nine-site operation by combining organic growth, acquisitions, and a relentless focus on lean execution and leadership development.

In this special replay episode, John shares how Albers Aerospace is reshaping the defense industrial base, what it really takes to scale in this space, and why leadership culture, not technology alone, drives speed and impact.

You’ll also learn;

Guest Bio

John Albers is the founder and CEO of Albers Aerospace, a Dallas-area defense and aerospace company organized into three business units. Since its founding in 2015, Albers Aerospace has grown rapidly through acquisitions and organic expansion, delivering innovative products and services to today’s warfighter. A retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel with 24 years of active duty, John served as a fleet pilot, flight instructor, and developmental test pilot. As an entrepreneur and senior executive, John brings more than 35 years of leadership and operational experience across defense acquisition and private industry. He thrives in fast-paced environments, excels at building and aligning teams, and is deeply committed to developing people while driving organizational growth. Visit https://www.albers.aero/ and connect with John on LinkedIn. 

About Your Host

Craig Picken is an Executive Recruiter, writer, speaker and ICF Trained Executive Coach. He is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives in the aviation and aerospace industry. His clients include premier OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing/financial organizations, and Maintenance/Repair/Overhaul (MRO) providers, and since 2008, he has personally concluded more than 400 executive-level searches in a variety of disciplines. Craig is the ONLY industry executive recruiter who has professionally flown airplanes, sold airplanes, and successfully run a P&L in the aviation industry. His professional career started with a passion for airplanes. After eight years’ experience as a decorated Naval Flight Officer – with more than 100 combat missions, 2,000 hours of flight time, and 325 aircraft carrier landings – Craig sought challenges in business aviation, where he spent more than 7 years in sales with both Gulfstream Aircraft and Bombardier Business Aircraft. Craig is also a sought-after industry speaker who has presented at Corporate Jet Investor, International Aviation Women’s Association, and SOCAL Aviation Association. 

Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and don't forget to leave a review if you like what you heard. Your review feeds the algorithm so our show reaches more people. Thank you! 

For more aerospace industry news & commentary: https://craigpicken.com/insights/. 

To learn more about Craig Picken, visit https://craigpicken.com/. 

“The AI data center build-out is already the biggest infrastructure project, inflation-adjusted, that we've ever undertaken as a society.” 

That’s Sebastian Schaal, co-founder and Managing Director of Luminovo, an AI software company specializing in electronics supply chain management.

I wanted to talk to Sebastian about how executives respond when key components are seeing 20X the demand of pre-2022 levels.

What You’ll Discover In This Episode 

About the Guest

Sebastian Schaal is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Luminovo, an AI software company that aims to turn electronics supply chain into a competitive advantage. He is also the Revenue department lead, overseeing and aligning activities across Growth, Sales, Customer Success and Revenue Operations. Connect with Sebastian on LinkedIn or sign up for the Luminovo newsletter.

About Your Host

Craig Picken is an Executive Recruiter, writer, speaker, and ICF Trained Executive Coach. He is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives in the aviation and aerospace industry. His clients include premier OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing/financial organizations, and Maintenance/Repair/Overhaul (MRO) providers, and since 2008, he has personally concluded more than 400 executive-level searches in a variety of disciplines. Craig is the ONLY industry executive recruiter who has professionally flown airplanes, sold airplanes, and successfully run a P&L in the aviation industry. His professional career started with a passion for airplanes. After eight years’ experience as a decorated Naval Flight Officer – with more than 100 combat missions, 2,000 hours of flight time, and 325 aircraft carrier landings – Craig sought challenges in business aviation, where he spent more than 7 years in sales with both Gulfstream Aircraft and Bombardier Business Aircraft. Craig is also a sought-after industry speaker who has presented at Corporate Jet Investor, International Aviation Women’s Association, and SOCAL Aviation Association. 

Resources

For more aerospace industry news & commentary: https://craigpicken.com/insights/. 

To learn more about Craig Picken, visit https://craigpicken.com/.  

The transition from being a rockstar in your vertical to leading at the C-suite level is one of the hardest jumps in modern business. 

Not because you aren’t capable, but because the job changes faster than anyone prepares you for, and the timeline to become effective has collapsed from years to months.

You used to have a multi-year runway to listen, learn, and settle in. Now the proving ground has accelerated, and you’re expected to think enterprise-wide, set direction, shape culture, and operate with conviction almost immediately.

And that’s where so many leaders get blindsided. They step into the role with deep expertise, strong track records, and every intention of succeeding. But they quickly discover that the behaviors that powered their rise don’t automatically translate to the top job. 

The stakes are higher, the scrutiny is sharper, and the margin for a slow learning curve is gone. Boards, investors, and teams are already forming judgments before you’ve even taken your seat. And without realizing it, new executives find themselves operating on outdated instincts in a completely different environment.

Bill Koch is a former CEO who now coaches leaders navigating some of the most high-pressure environments. He helps new CEOs compress the transition, build real executive presence, and operate with clarity and confidence.

In this episode, we talk about how to accelerate that transition, how to understand how you’re actually being perceived, and how to adapt fast enough to avoid losing ground in your first critical months.

You’ll also learn;

Guest Bio

Bill Koch is an executive coach with more than 25 years of C-suite and senior leadership experience across public companies, private enterprises, and private equity–backed firms. A former CEO himself, Bill brings a rare blend of operational depth, boardroom insight, and executive maturity to his coaching practice. His work centers on one mission: helping high performers become highly effective enterprise leaders. For more than a decade, Bill has served as a trusted advisor to CEOs and senior executives navigating high-pressure, high-visibility roles. He coaches leaders across Fortune 500 companies, growth-stage organizations, and academic institutions—guiding them through pivotal transitions, accelerated timelines, and complex leadership challenges. His clients turn to him to gain clarity, sharpen judgment, and build the confident executive presence required to lead at the top. Bill’s clients include American Express, Apple, Boeing, Goldman Sachs, John Deere, Mars, MGM, McKesson, Toyota, and others. To learn more, visit https://www.kochleadership.com/ or read Bill’s latest insights on Forbes. 

About Your Host

Craig Picken is an Executive Recruiter, writer, speaker, and ICF Trained Executive Coach. He is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives in the aviation and aerospace industry. His clients include premier OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing/financial organizations, and Maintenance/Repair/Overhaul (MRO) providers, and since 2008, he has personally concluded more than 400 executive-level searches in a variety of disciplines. Craig is the ONLY industry executive recruiter who has professionally flown airplanes, sold airplanes, and successfully run a P&L in the aviation industry. His professional career started with a passion for airplanes. After eight years’ experience as a decorated Naval Flight Officer – with more than 100 combat missions, 2,000 hours of flight time, and 325 aircraft carrier landings – Craig sought challenges in business aviation, where he spent more than 7 years in sales with both Gulfstream Aircraft and Bombardier Business Aircraft. Craig is also a sought-after industry speaker who has presented at Corporate Jet Investor, International Aviation Women’s Association, and SOCAL Aviation Association. 

Resources

For more aerospace industry news & commentary: https://craigpicken.com/insights/. 

To learn more about Craig Picken, visit https://craigpicken.com/. 

Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and don't forget to leave a review if you like what you heard. Your review feeds the algorithm, so our show reaches more people. Thank you! 

Aerospace has always been a cyclical industry, one sector up, another down, capital moving cautiously between them. That’s not what’s happening right now. Every major sector is ripping at the same time, for completely different reasons.

Commercial is coming back online. Aftermarket and MRO have been running hot since COVID. Defense is being pulled forward by geopolitical demand. Business aviation has settled into a stronger, more stable “new normal.” 

It’s rare to see this kind of synchronized momentum across the entire ecosystem, and when it happens, it changes how capital behaves.

For years, aerospace exits were predictable. You built a solid business, ran an M&A process, and sold. IPOs were barely part of the conversation. Industrial manufacturing wasn’t exactly exciting to public market investors.

Now, IPOs are not only viable, but they’re also often the better option. Industrial businesses that used to be seen as slow, capital-heavy, and unsexy are suddenly being revalued as AI-proof, infrastructure-critical, and in some cases, direct beneficiaries of the AI boom. 

And that shift is forcing a new level of sophistication from operators.

Because today, you’re not just deciding whether to sell; you’re deciding how to exit in a market with more options than ever before. At the same time, there’s a quiet risk underneath all of this. Fuel prices, geopolitical instability, and supply chain pressure. None of these have gone away.

So the question isn’t just how long this run continues; it’s whether operators are actually prepared for the version of the market we’re in now.

In this episode, I’m joined by the Global Head of Aerospace and Aviation Investment Banking at Jefferies, Nick Fazioli. He breaks down what’s really driving this moment across aviation, defense, and industrials, and what it means for operators thinking about growth, capital, and exit strategy.

You’ll also learn;

About the Guest

Nick Fazioli is the Global Head of Aerospace and Aviation Investment Banking at Jefferies, where he leads one of the most active practices across commercial aviation, business aviation, and aerospace services. Over the past 16 years, he’s been at the center of some of the most significant transactions in business aviation, including the sale of Marquis Jet to NetJets and West Star Aviation’s exit to Greenbriar Equity Group. With a front-row seat to M&A, capital markets, and the evolving investor landscape, Nick brings a unique perspective on where capital is flowing and how operators should be thinking about growth and exit strategy in today’s market. Connect with Nick on LinkedIn. 

About Your Host

Craig Picken is an Executive Recruiter, writer, speaker, and ICF Trained Executive Coach. He is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives in the aviation and aerospace industry. His clients include premier OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing/financial organizations, and Maintenance/Repair/Overhaul (MRO) providers, and since 2008, he has personally concluded more than 400 executive-level searches in a variety of disciplines. Craig is the ONLY industry executive recruiter who has professionally flown airplanes, sold airplanes, and successfully run a P&L in the aviation industry. His professional career started with a passion for airplanes. After eight years’ experience as a decorated Naval Flight Officer – with more than 100 combat missions, 2,000 hours of flight time, and 325 aircraft carrier landings – Craig sought challenges in business aviation, where he spent more than 7 years in sales with both Gulfstream Aircraft and Bombardier Business Aircraft. Craig is also a sought-after industry speaker who has presented at Corporate Jet Investor, International Aviation Women’s Association, and SOCAL Aviation Association. 

Resources

For more aerospace industry news & commentary: https://craigpicken.com/insights/. 

To learn more about Craig Picken, visit https://craigpicken.com/. 

Most people think the aerospace supply chain is crawling back to normal after the pandemic. But that’s not what’s happening.

The industry is scaling in a permanently elevated demand environment. Commercial aviation is rebuilding. Defense budgets are structurally higher. New platforms like EVTOL, drones, hypersonics, and space are moving into production.

This isn’t a strain; it’s a structural transformation.

And in a world obsessed with engines and airframes, the real leverage sits in the smallest parts. At the same time, complexity is rising. Aircraft are lighter, more electronic, and more integrated. Tolerances are tighter, and the margin for error is gone.

This is where FDH Aero comes in: distribution reimagined as a strategic capability. In a high-velocity, high-complexity market, reliability becomes a strategy.

How is FDH embedding itself within OEM production lines while operating under private-equity intensity? And what kind of leadership does that require?

In this special replay episode, I’m joined by the CEO of FDH Aero, Ian Walsh. 

We unpack how FDH Aero scaled to a billion dollars by mastering the parts that make flight possible. We also discuss why the next decade of aerospace growth may be less about building more airplanes and more about controlling the hardware layer beneath them.

You’ll also learn:

About the Guest

Ian Walsh is the CEO of FDH Aero. He brings over 35 years of executive leadership across the U.S. Marine Corps, commercial and general aviation, defense, and industrial end markets to FDH. Most recently, Walsh served as Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Kaman Aerospace Corporation, a provider of highly engineered components and subsystems to commercial aviation, aerospace, defense, and medical end-markets. At Kaman, Walsh led the evolution of the global company into customer-centric operating segments. Before that, Walsh was COO at REV Group, Inc., a provider of specialty vehicles and related aftermarket parts, and spent more than 15 years in operational and P&L leadership at Textron, Inc. At both companies, Walsh drove new product development and process optimization. Earlier in his career, he served as an officer and naval aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps with combat tours in Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia. He is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt in operations and continuous improvement. Connect with Ian on LinkedIn. 

About Your Host

Craig Picken is an Executive Recruiter, writer, speaker, and ICF Trained Executive Coach. He is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives in the aviation and aerospace industry. His clients include premier OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing/financial organizations, and Maintenance/Repair/Overhaul (MRO) providers. Since 2008, he has personally concluded more than 400 executive-level searches in a variety of disciplines. Craig is the ONLY industry executive recruiter who has professionally flown airplanes, sold airplanes, and successfully run a P&L in the aviation industry. His professional career started with a passion for airplanes. After eight years’ experience as a decorated Naval Flight Officer – with more than 100 combat missions, 2,000 hours of flight time, and 325 aircraft carrier landings – Craig sought challenges in business aviation, where he spent more than 7 years in sales with both Gulfstream Aircraft and Bombardier Business Aircraft. Craig is also a sought-after industry speaker who has presented at Corporate Jet Investor, International Aviation Women’s Association, and SOCAL Aviation Association. 

Resources

For more aerospace industry news & commentary: https://craigpicken.com/insights/. 

To learn more about Craig Picken, visit https://craigpicken.com/.  

What is the minimum level of leadership an aerospace company needs to survive constant change?

Because technical excellence is not enough anymore.

Aerospace and aviation companies are being pushed to move faster, scale highly specialized teams, cut through bureaucracy, and make decisions before every variable is known. But many are still promoting great engineers, operators, and technical specialists into management with almost no preparation for the job they are actually being asked to do.

Then leadership wonders why information gets trapped, accountability disappears, teams slow down, and high performers burn out.

That is the problem behind Matt Gjertsen’s concept of the Minimum Viable Manager.

The name sounds modest. The standard is not. At a minimum, managers need to know how to build trust, set clear expectations, and give useful feedback. Without those fundamentals, all the talk about innovation, speed, ownership, and high performance is just noise. You cannot scale technical capability if the people leading it do not know how to align a team, push performance, or create the conditions for others to succeed.

And this matters because the aerospace companies pulling ahead are not just hiring better talent. They are building cultures that can move. 

In this episode, I sit down with Matt, author of The Minimum Viable Manager and former Head of Training and Development at SpaceX.

We talk about what aerospace companies can learn from SpaceX about hierarchy, ownership, and execution, and why technical expertise does not automatically produce strong leaders. We also discuss why companies that fail to develop managers alongside their workforce will eventually hit a wall.

What You’ll Discover In This Episode 

About the Guest

Matt Gjertsen is the founder of Built Leaders and the author of The Minimum Viable Manager. A former SpaceX learning and development leader, Air Force pilot, speaker, facilitator, and trainer, Matt helps innovative hard-tech companies build leaders capable of guiding teams through complex, high-stakes challenges. Through Built Leaders, he works with aerospace, defense, and energy companies to identify the leadership issues limiting team performance and develop practical, behavior-focused solutions. Over the past four years, his programs have trained hundreds of leaders across more than a dozen organizations. Connect with Matt on LinkedIn, visit https://www.amazon.com/Minimum-Viable-Manager-Essential-Technical/dp/1774587270/ref=sr_1_1 to grab a copy of Matt's new book.

About Your Host

Craig Picken is an Executive Recruiter, writer, speaker, and ICF-trained Executive Coach. He is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives in the aviation and aerospace industry. His clients include premier OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing/financial organizations, and Maintenance/Repair/Overhaul (MRO) providers, and since 2008, he has personally concluded more than 400 executive-level searches in a variety of disciplines. Craig is the ONLY industry executive recruiter who has professionally flown airplanes, sold airplanes, and successfully run a P&L in the aviation industry. His professional career started with a passion for airplanes. After eight years’ experience as a decorated Naval Flight Officer – with more than 100 combat missions, 2,000 hours of flight time, and 325 aircraft carrier landings – Craig sought challenges in business aviation, where he spent more than 7 years in sales with both Gulfstream Aircraft and Bombardier Business Aircraft. Craig is also a sought-after industry speaker who has presented at Corporate Jet Investor, International Aviation Women’s Association, and SOCAL Aviation Association. 

Resources

For more aerospace industry news & commentary: https://craigpicken.com/insights/. 

To learn more about Craig Picken, visit https://craigpicken.com/. 

The aerospace supply chain does not only break at final assembly. Some of the most important pressure points sit much farther upstream, inside the specialized materials businesses; most of the industry only notices when something goes wrong.

About Your Host

Craig Picken is an Executive Recruiter, writer, speaker, and ICF-trained Executive Coach. He is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives in the aviation and aerospace industry. His clients include premier OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing/financial organizations, and Maintenance/Repair/Overhaul (MRO) providers, and since 2008, he has personally concluded more than 400 executive-level searches in a variety of disciplines. Craig is the ONLY industry executive recruiter who has professionally flown airplanes, sold airplanes, and successfully run a P&L in the aviation industry. His professional career started with a passion for airplanes. After eight years’ experience as a decorated Naval Flight Officer – with more than 100 combat missions, 2,000 hours of flight time, and 325 aircraft carrier landings – Craig sought challenges in business aviation, where he spent more than 7 years in sales with both Gulfstream Aircraft and Bombardier Business Aircraft. Craig is also a sought-after industry speaker who has presented at Corporate Jet Investor, International Aviation Women’s Association, and SOCAL Aviation Association. 

Resources

Private equity is no longer a small corner of the market that only dealmakers, investors, and portfolio executives need to understand.

About the Guest

About Your Host

Resources

Private aviation is no longer serving the same buyer, the same use case, or the same expectation set that it was built around twenty years ago.

About the Guest

About Your Host

Resources

Business aviation has spent decades climbing the same performance ladder: more range, more speed, larger cabins, better engines, better avionics, and more capable aircraft. That evolution created the modern business jet market and pushed the high end into a category that would have been difficult to imagine when the first purpose-built business aircraft entered service.

About the Guests

About Your Host

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