Securing Tomorrow at the Defense Ventures Summit
The annual event most focused on catalyzing defense innovation was not to be found in the halls of the Pentagon bathed in the greenish hue of fluorescent overhead lights or hidden away behind thick concrete walls and vault doors in a classified military facility - it was in the heart of Navy Yard at the 2023 Shift Defense Ventures Summit hosted by Shift.
The fact that this invite-only event drew attendees from around the globe focused on improving U.S. and allied security, highlights the outsized role a collaborative public-private partnership can play in the modernization of defense capabilities.
This year’s summit brought together technology founders, private investors, and military members - weaving a vibrant tapestry representative of the changing defense innovation ecosystem filled with players at all levels. All of whom are aligned around the central unifying principle that failure to address problems in sourcing and fielding cutting-edge capabilities in the service of national security will encourage adversarial powers to accelerate their efforts to destabilize the geopolitical landscape.
Defense investment luminaries like Katherine Boyle of a16z, John Coogan of Founders Fund, and Jake Chapman of Marque Ventures took center stage. Their professional insights and honest assessments of today’s innovation roadblocks ignited frank conversations about how to tangibly bridge gaps between start-up companies and government procurement. Summit attendees also heard directly from leaders responsible for molding the contours of the defense technology landscape including the Office of Strategic Capital (OSC), the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), In-Q-Tel, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Capitalizing on the learnings from these sessions could mean we are at the precipice of a new era in defense innovation - one that will be marked by collaboration, technological breakthroughs, and policy advancements.
“… we are at the precipice of a new era in defense innovation - one that will be marked by collaboration, technological breakthroughs, and policy advancements.”
However, our work is not even close to being done and our mission extends beyond ideation - it demands concrete results and proof that our ambitious visions are not merely theoretical. While organizations like Shift have clearly demonstrated the potential for creating thriving defense-industrial partnerships, they will not flourish without continued support from all sides and a reminder that we do not yet have buy-in from everyone who should be a part of this conversation. Among the over 700 attendees, there were undoubtedly future architects of policy, future general officers, and future founders. Yet, key decision-makers for defense policy were notably absent.
America's calculated approach mandates that we all have a role in shaping our collective destiny, where being a bystander only ensures our nation's eventual demise. Amidst ongoing global conflicts and the ominous prospect of WWIII, current policy-makers should be urgently and actively involved in these discussions.
5 Attendees We Hope to See at the 2024 Defense Ventures Summit
1. House and Senate Armed Services Committee Members
Committee staff members play an integral role in shaping national defense policy. As warfare evolves, Congress must be actively focused on understanding emerging issues and influencing technology advancements. Attending this event will allow staff to directly engage with industry leaders, technology founders, and other key stakeholders - providing invaluable insights informing legislative decisions.
2. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy
As the office responsible for improving the defense industrial base, Dr. Laura D. Taylor-Kale and her staff should take center stage at the 2024 Defense Ventures Summit. Her office’s role in advising top defense leaders on industrial base resilience, innovation, and international engagement demands a front-row seat at an event shaping the future of defense technology. Their active participation will further fortify the summit's impact and ensure that the emerging defense industrial base remains resilient amid dynamic national security threats.
3. Component Combatant Commanders
Deterrence requires real-time innovation driven by warfighters on the battlefield who improvise with existing technologies to field platforms in the 24-26 months. The commanders of forces such as U.S. Pacific Fleet, Special Operations Command Pacific, Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber, and other leaders need to understand how technology can immediately support their service members. They also must reciprocally communicate their needs to the builders of technology to invigorate the industrial base to deliver at the speed of need. Innovative ideas must be disseminated onto the field and not confined to labs, think tanks, or white papers. Additionally, fostering a culture that encourages frontline feedback will ensure that these innovative solutions are not only feasible but also practical in the dynamic context of actual combat scenarios.
4. Defense Acquisition University (DAU)
In DoD program offices today, there are typically two distinct groups: those with less than 5 years of acquisition experience, managing heavy workloads beyond their compensation, and seasoned program experts with routines rigidly shaped by decades of business acumen. Both require on-the-job training from DAU for their bedrock education. The President of DAU, James P. Woolsey, and other acquisition branch service leaders play a pivotal role in shaping the education and training of the workforce and yet were notably missing at one of most educational environments this year. These leaders must be actively engaged to stay abreast of developing technologies and expand their knowledge of the industrial base to discussions beyond the six major defense contractors. Adapting acquisition education to align with commercial sector practices ensures that the workforce remains agile and responsive to evolving industry standards and truly collaborative with the patriotic founders who want to eliminate the laughs when something is labeled “military grade”.
5. New Defense Contractor Primes
Leaders of the defense investment community showed up in force with over 70 venture capital and private equity firms represented. There were also defense mavericks like Palantir’s Chief Technology Officer, Shyam Sankar, who described the brutal path defense tech founders follow and the arrows they accumulate when they are communicating a truly disruptive message to the DoD. He and other sponsors of the event have witnessed first-hand the defense industrial base consolidation in the early 1990’s that led to today’s conformity. What is needed now is more first-hand accounts of the daunting DoD roadblocks and pathways to overcome them from other senior executives from the companies evolving to be the next defense primes. The next summit should not only have support in the form of sponsors and representatives but also recognizable senior managers from companies such as Anduril, Shield, Epirus, Skydio, and others who are at the forefront of shaping military capabilities.
It is imperative to recognize that the weight of today's wars cannot rest solely on the shoulders of future leaders to drive impactful change. Current senior leaders across government and DoD must actively engage in cutting-edge events like the Defense Ventures Summit complimentary to events like the Reagan National Defense Forum.
There must be a convergence of assessing national defense policies while also prioritizing involvement of the industrial ecosystems affected by those decisions. This dual engagement ensures that leaders benefit from diverse perspectives, fostering a robust civil-military fusion with American characteristics.
“… the weight of today's wars cannot rest solely on the shoulders of future leaders to drive impactful change.”
Victory in the complex landscape of defense innovation is not confined to the field of battle and success echoes, not only in military engagements, but reverberates through the halls of Congress, where decisive actions shape the course of defense policy.
This year’s Defense Ventures Summit underscored the need for collective pursuit of innovative solutions that can only be created by breaking conventional boundaries.
So, as we begin to look toward next year’s event, we must ask ourselves: who else was missing?
Haley Spletzer is a USAF Contracting Officer currently serving as an Education with Industry fellow embedded at Marque Ventures.
Maddy Goncalves is the Veteran In Residence at Marque Ventures and former DVP fellow. After 6 years as an Active Duty Army Finance and Comptroller, she continues to serve part-time in the Utah Army National Guard as a Counter Threat Finance analyst.
Todd Coulard is a Master Chief in the U.S. Navy and a DVP fellow. He holds a master’s degree from Norwich University, is a Peter Tomich Leadership award recipient, and has received multiple combat awards with “V” for valor.
Images courtesy of Shift.org and Gavin Aydelotte