Cogs of War

The future fight won’t be won by those with the biggest budgets, most polished strategies, or largest armies. It will be won by those who can translate breakthrough technology into usable capability at speed and scale. Ryan was joined by Horacio Rozanski, the CEO of Booz Allen, to talk about the role his company is playing in this race. Having reoriented Booz Allen into a technology integrator, he shares the cultural and organizational challenges of turning Booz Allen into a company of builders, the bets being made on emerging technologies, and how his personal journey — from immigrant to Booz Allen intern to CEO  —  shapes how he sees change.

A career-ending spinal injury during Navy SEAL training could have closed Joe Musselman’s chapter of service. Instead, it became the catalyst for a new one. He first founded The Honor Foundation to help special operators bring their elite standards to civilian leadership, then launched BVVC Capital, a venture fund backing relentlessly focused founders. He most recently assembled the founding team at Union, a munitions company designed to re-imagine munitions production. In this conversation, Musselman shares the through line in all of his work and how elite standards, trust, and execution can reshape people, networks, and organizations.

Bonnie Evangelista, an acquisition maverick and strategic advisor, dives deep into the challenges of Pentagon acquisition processes. She highlights the disconnect between the desired agility in acquisitions and the bureaucratic hurdles that impede progress. Evangelista shares her insights on the importance of fostering innovation through cultural change, advocating for streamlined processes and reduced bureaucracy. With her background in Army Defensive Cyber and the Joint AI Center, she emphasizes the need for building trust in federal contracting to enable meaningful reform.

Uģis Norītis, Latvia's Undersecretary of State for Planning at the Ministry of Defence, dives into the country's innovative defense strategy. He discusses how Latvia leverages battlefront experiences from Ukraine to enhance its drone industry. Listeners will be intrigued by Latvia's unique collaborative approach to defense, which emphasizes local production and international partnerships. The podcast explores how established testing ranges facilitate real-time drone evaluations and foster innovation, setting the stage for a robust future in military technology.

What does it take to push aerospace innovation from concept to battlefield? Ryan sits down with John Clark, Lockheed Martin’s senior vice president for technology and strategic innovation and former head of the legendary Skunk Works. They unpack the Skunk Works playbook for rapid innovation, reveal proven strategies for bending the cost curve, and explore why established defense giants may have an unexpected edge in the race for AI advantage.

How can you bring together technical directors, military officials, and competing commercial interests to craft effective defense tech policy? Whitney McNamara and Stephen Rodriguez, the co-author and commission director of the Atlantic Council's Commission on Software-Defined Warfare, sit down with Ryan to talk about guiding tech adoption and more in government and defense.

"Innovation adoption is a contact sport." As the chief technology officer of the Department of the Navy, Justin Fanelli is one of the leaders responsible for ensuring warfighters have access to bleeding edge solutions. Listen to his conversation with Ryan Evans, recorded live at an event in Washington, DC — our first episode of Cogs of War, a new vertical on defense tech and the defense industry brought to you by War on the Rocks and supported by Booz Allen Hamilton.