WT 360: The market from all angles

Latest Episodes:

NextGov/FCW's Edward Graham on generative AI across Defense, Homeland Security Jul 22, 2024

Show notes

Just about every conversation about technology across the federal landscape seems to begin and end with generative artificial intelligence, a tool that spurs fears and hopes all at the same time.

Edward Graham has a front-row seat to many of those conversations in his role at our sibling publication Nextgov/FCW, where he reports on national security technologies and policies.

For this episode, Edward tells our Ross Wilkers all about the current state of play for where the Defense and Homeland Security Departments are at on their generative AI journeys.

Guardrails and pilots are more than just buzzwords for generative AI. As you will hear from Edward, they are the key words to hone in on for understanding where generative AI is today and the direction it is going in.

DOD’s generative AI task force will help set guardrails for broader use

DHS generative AI pilot embraces hiccups of emerging tech

AI can enhance border security but won’t close workforce gap, lawmakers say

DHS hires initial cohort of 10 to join its AI Corps

VA is already using AI to identify and assist veterans in crisis, officials say

KBR's Top 100 footprints extend across the globe Jul 15, 2024

Show notes

Byron Bright described KBR as a "big, large science, technology and engineering company" to open a presentation for investors in May on the vision and blueprint for the entire business.

His description to Wall Street is also the starting point for this episode, where Bright explains how Company No. 17 on our 2024 Top 100 tailors that idea to U.S. government work and sheds further light on the worldwide nature of what KBR does.

The trilateral AUKUS security partnership between Australia, the U.K. and U.S. is an example of how KBR thinks globally. Today's AUKUS activity remains mostly government-to-government, but Bright believes that will open up opportunities for industry after more is figured out.

Bright also overviews KBR's work to build out a franchise space business and the technology angle to everything the company does.

The 2024 Washington Technology Top 100

How we got our numbers

Our 2024 Top 100 reader's guide

Trends driving today's Top 100

Diversity gaps persist among the Top 100 C-suites

GovCIO's Top 100 journey from its transformative acquisition Jul 08, 2024

Show notes

GovCIO's starting point for its journey in the market might as well be the acquisition of Salient CRGT in 2020 that greatly multiplied both key measurements of scale: revenue base and workforce.

Joe Cormier, both chief operating officer and chief financial officer at GovCIO, explains in this episode how the technology integrator has become what it is today as a result of that transaction. For context: GovCIO was at 500 employees when its private equity owner entered the investment and now has 3,000 on staff.

Company No. 41 on our 2024 Top 100 is now almost solely focused on organic growth, including its capture of a recompete almost four times the size of its predecessor. Cormier describes that win to our Ross Wilkers in their wide-ranging conversation that also covers how GovCIO approached the integration and is thinking about what's next for itself.

Dive into the rankings and more surrounding them by clicking the links below:

The 2024 Washington Technology Top 100

How we got our numbers

Our 2024 Top 100 reader's guide

Trends driving today's Top 100

Diversity gaps persist among the Top 100 C-suites

Lumen's Top 100 strategy builds off its network core Jul 01, 2024

Show notes

As one of the federal government's primary carriers, Lumen Technologies also takes on the mantle of layering the latest innovations on top of the core network to make it more complete and well-rounded.

Jason Schulman, national vice president of federal government sales at Lumen Technologies, explains in this episode how the company works with agencies to make that happen regardless of where they are in their innovation comfort levels.

For Company No. 38 on our 2024 Top 100, that also means looking beyond the current Enterprise Infrastructure contract vehicle as the government is already thinking about its successor. Schulman tells our Ross Wilkers all about how the work begins now on that front for carriers and agencies alike.

Dive into the rankings and more surrounding them by clicking the links below:

The 2024 Washington Technology Top 100

How we got our numbers

Our 2024 Top 100 reader's guide

Trends driving today's Top 100

Diversity gaps persist among the Top 100 C-suites

More signposts to note from the 2024 Top 100 Jun 24, 2024

Show notes

Even with this year's Top 100 rankings out for all to see, sometimes it's never too early to start looking at next year's when we have certainty over how two companies will feature on it.

For this second in a two-part episode, Nick and Ross pick up where they left off in part one by highlighting how the complex merger of Amentum with Jacobs' government services businesses will affect the 2025 ranking. This is one of several examples they highlight of how mergers and acquisitions affect the rankings every year.

Nick and Ross also highlight how just about every IT systems integrator ties their strategy to working well with global commercial tech providers. Company No. 100 on the ranking also gets the spotlight in their discussion.

Dive into the rankings and more surrounding them by clicking the links below:

The 2024 Washington Technology Top 100

How we got our numbers

Our 2024 Top 100 reader's guide

Trends driving today's Top 100

Diversity gaps persist among the Top 100 C-suites

Our first snap judgments of the 2024 Top 100 Jun 17, 2024

Show notes

Edition number 31 of the Washington Technology Top 100 rankings is now live for all to use as a resource for more than just the numbers behind the federal market's largest technology and services contractors.

This latest episode of WT 360 has Nick and Ross start their talking through the companies and numbers that feature on the ranking, but particularly what they tell us about the government market's directions.

Here is *some* of what was on their agenda for this first in a two-episode series on the Top 100:

The top quadrant's significant market share concentration
How tech implementation and consulting are becoming more intertwined
What Science Applications International Corp.'s new CEO wants the company (No. 11) to grow into

We will post the second half of the discussion next Monday morning. Same time, same place.

Dive into the rankings and more surrounding them by clicking the links below:

The 2024 Washington Technology Top 100

How we got our numbers

Our 2024 Top 100 reader's guide

Trends driving today's Top 100

Diversity gaps persist among the Top 100 C-suites

All about Telos' post-IPO journey Jun 03, 2024

Show notes

Initial public offerings in the government market are a rare event, so it was natural to focus much attention on Telos Corp.'s IPO in the fall of 2020 and where the company wanted to go next.

Telos' chief executive John Wood spoke to us shortly after the completion of that IPO and returns for this episode to provide an update on the security technology company's execution since then.

A significant aspect of Telos' journey as a public company can be characterized as a transition. As Wood describes to our Ross Wilkers, that also involves going toward a destination and not just an exit from something.

The overall security landscape for government and industry also features prominently in their discussion, both in the cyber realm and elsewhere.

PROJECT 38: Inside Telos' path to its IPO and what's next

Telos lays out plan for its year of transition

Where to now for Telos & its IPO proceeds?

Why Telos decided the time is now for its IPO

Already somewhat public, Telos' IPO further illuminates strategy

How Iron Mountain works with the world's largest data collector May 20, 2024

Show notes

It is the law of the land that says federal agencies cannot simply discard any of the data they take in, no matter how much they already have and regardless of whether it is digital or physical.

Melissa Carson, vice president and general manager of Iron Mountain's government solutions business, starts out this episode with facts and figures to help quantify the volume challenge agencies have with one mind-boggling number on government forms to pay attention to.

She then tells our Ross Wilkers all about how the government, and companies like Iron Mountain, are connecting efforts to make data management easier with the overall customer experience agenda.

That work includes turning physical assets into the digital form, which is no easy feat, but becoming more so with the advent of generative artificial intelligence and other AI techniques. Having the right guardrails in place is key to making that a success though, according to Carson.

Astrion's quest to become the next great mid-tier May 13, 2024

Show notes

Dave Zolet, CEO of the newly-formed Astrion, has set an aggressive goal to double its annual revenue to around $1.5 billion in three years. That’s the needed size and scale to be a formidable mid-tier player today and fill a sweet spot in the market, Zolet says in this episode.

The 2,800-employee company was created through a pair of acquisitions by private equity firm Brightstar Capital. Zolet is busy creating a new company culture that he calls the "Astrion Way" -- a blend of technical skills with deep customer knowledge and focus.

As Zolet tells our Editor Nick Wakeman, he wants Astrion to be a company that can look around the corner and see what's coming so it can bring solutions to customers that help them meet their missions faster and more efficiently.

Zolet shares the company strategy and future plans in this conversation.

This is episode three in our 2024 series on mergers and acquisitions across the government market.

BlueHalo's next steps with Eqlipse in its fold May 06, 2024

Show notes

BlueHalo as the market knows it today is around four years old with a strategy centered around space, cyber, directed energy and other key tech priority areas for the U.S. military and allied forces.

Now the defense technology integrator is joining forces with another like it that has the same private equity owner in Arlington Capital Partners. In this episode, BlueHalo's chief executive Jonathan Moneymaker explains the decision to combine with Eqlipse Technologies and the overall demand landscape that is behind the move.

"Transforming the Future of Global Defense" is the tagline all over BlueHalo's website and other promotional materials, and one Moneymaker spoke to us about in 2021 early on in the journey. Moneymaker returns now to tell our Ross Wilkers about what that transformation looks like here in 2024 and shares some first-hand anecdotes of how he has seen it.

This is episode two in our 2024 series on mergers and acquisitions across the government market.

BlueHalo to combine with Eqlipse Technologies

PROJECT 38: BlueHalo's strategy for transforming modern warfare

Private equity drives high transaction volume in 2023

2024 M&A Round Up

WT 360: All about Guidehouse's vision to be a 'next-generation consultancy'