Episode 422 - Nic McKinley - From the CIA to Hunting Human Traffickers

Dec 29, 2025

Nic McKinley, a former U.S. Air Force Pararescueman and CIA operative, founded DeliverFund to combat human trafficking using technology. He shares his transition from military service to tackling modern slavery, revealing how disrupting illicit markets can increase risks for traffickers. Nic discusses the exploitation of online platforms and the complexities of prosecuting traffickers. He highlights alarming trends in child exploitation and urges parents to be cautious of certain gaming platforms while advocating for identity verification to deter online predators.

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INSIGHT

Intelligence At Scale Beats Solo Raids

DeliverFund built a trafficker-centric intelligence pipeline delivering thousands of reports to law enforcement.
Automation and data integration let agencies detect trafficking at scale without needing DeliverFund on every case.

ANECDOTE

Hacking Evidence Can Be Useless In Court

A hacker dumped pedophile site data but the FBI couldn't use it because the evidence was illegally obtained.
Illegally collected intelligence often becomes useless in prosecution despite good intentions.

ADVICE

Automate Checks Into Existing Investigations

Integrate trafficking data into law enforcement workflows so detectives get automated alerts during investigations.
Use that automation to create thousands of new human trafficking cases without manual searches.

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This episode focuses heavily on the massive risk facing children on many of the most popular games targeted and marketed towards their age group, and parents. Specifically, Roblox, Minecraft, and the communication platform Discord.

Nic McKinley is a former military special operator and ex-CIA operative who founded and led two multimillion-dollar tech companies. A pioneer in building technical solutions to protect society from predators, Nic is passionate about solving society's most pressing issues through cost-effective technical solutions.

Nic grew up in Montana but left to join US military special operations as a US Air Force Pararescueman. After more than a decade in Pararescue, Nic worked in private intelligence start-ups before being recruited into a specialized unit at the Central Intelligence Agency that provided unique capabilities and expertise in response to the critical operational needs of the Intelligence Community.

With 30 combat deployments under his belt in both Special Operations and the CIA, Nic experienced the power of technology during the Global War on Terror and set out to use his skills and training with that experience to combat modern slavery.

In 2014, Nic founded DeliverFund, the only donor-funded solution to human trafficking that delivers proprietary data and technology to law enforcement, allowing them to take down human traffickers effectively. Along with DeliverFund, Nic founded a venture capital-backed software company and has a technology leadership consulting practice.

Despite being dubbed "The Real Jack Ryan" by VICE Media, Nic's most important role is as a husband and father leading his family in a life of service and adventure in Montana. When he is not in his office, Nic can be found on a lake, on the ski slopes, camping, climbing vertical rock or ice in the mountains, with his nose in a book learning something new, or spending downtime with his extraordinary wife.

Deliverfund: https://deliverfund.org/

Today's Sponsors:

Montana Knife Company:

https://www.montanaknifecompany.com

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