2026 Tech Disruptors

[Skip to content](https://defensenewsindex.com/2026-tech-disruptors/#wp--skip-link--target) # 2026 Tech Disruptors The 2026 Tech Disruptors is an annual list of top tech leaders shaping defense technology with an emphasis on operational impact, disruption, strategic influence, scale of programs, and recency of achievements. Disruptors are selected based on their contributions to the military and defense space. ## Major Defense Primes & Platform Integrators | Name | Title | Company | LinkedIn | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **David R. Alexander** | President | General Atomics Aeronautical Systems | | | **Todd Citron** | CTO | Boeing | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-citron-264104111/) | | **Juan M. de Bedout** | CTO | RTX Corporation | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/juanmdebedout/) | | **Ben Gianni** | CTO | General Dynamics IT (GDIT) | | | **Todd Giles** | CTO | Honeywell Aerospace | [](http://linkedin.com/in/todd-giles-2071a787) | | **Andy Green** | Executive VP & President, Mission Technologies | HII | [](http://linkedin.com/in/andygreen88) | | **Dr. Craig Martell** | Senior VP & CTO | Lockheed Martin | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/craighmartell/) | | **Dr. Philip Perconti** | SVP, CTO | Leonardo DRS | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/drphilperconti/) | | **Dr. Ravi Ravichandran** | VP & CTO | BAE Systems | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravi-ravichandran-aa91835/) | | **Greg Simer** | VP & CTO | Northrop Grumman | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-simer-32875688/) | | **Melanie Smith** | VP & CIO | Textron Systems | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-smith-72416413/) | | **Ed Zoiss** | VP of Engineering & Innovation | L3Harris Technologies | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardzoiss/) | ## GovCon & System Integrators | Name | Title | Company | LinkedIn | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **Jason Bales** | Senior VP and Chief Technology Officer | CACI International | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-bales-2a4278a/) | | **Todd Borkey** | CTO | Peraton | [](http://linkedin.com/in/todd-borkey-41210022) | | **Jill Bruning** | CTO | Amentum | [](http://linkedin.com/in/jill-bruning-322a35249) | | **Stephen Chambal** | CTO, KBR Government Solutions | KBR (KBR Government Solutions) | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-chambal-59601936/) | | **Michael Cole** | CTO – Federal Civilian Division | General Dynamics IT (GDIT) | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-cole-gdit/) | | **Kyle Fox** | CTO | SOS International (SOSi) | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylefox1/) | | **Rico Lorenzo** | CTO | Parsons Corporation | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rlorenzo1/) | | **Greg Lundy** | VP Technology | V2X | | | **Chris Radich** | Public Sector CTO | UiPath | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-radich/) | | **Bob Ritchie** | Senior VP and Chief Technology Officer | SAIC | [](http://linkedin.com/in/bob-ritchie-896a654) | | **Jared Summers** | CTO | LMI | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-summers/) | | **Ted Tanner** | CTO | Leidos | [](http://linkedin.com/in/theodoretanner) | | **Bill Vass** | CTO | Booz Allen Hamilton | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/billvass/) | ## Commercial Cloud & Software | Name | Title | Company | LinkedIn | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **Matthew Bromberg** | CEO & President | Unity Technologies | [](http://linkedin.com/in/matthew-bromberg-79836b13) | | **Will Grannis** | VP & CTO | Google Cloud | [](http://linkedin.com/in/wgrannis) | | **Dane Knecht** | CTO | Cloudflare | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dknecht/) | | **George Kurtz** | CEO & Founder | CrowdStrike | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgekurtz/) | | **Matt Leonard** | VP Product OCI | Oracle | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgl001/) | | **Shyam Sankar** | CTO & EVP | Palantir Technologies | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shyamsankar/) | | **Kevin Scott** | CTO | Microsoft | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkevinscott/) | | **Werner Vogels** | VP & CTO | Amazon (AWS) | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/wernervogels/) | ## Space, Geospatial & Resilient Communications | Name | Title | Company | LinkedIn | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **David Broadbent** | President & CEO | SES Government Solutions | [](http://linkedin.com/in/david-broadbent-9694a459) | | **Girish Chandran** | CTO | Viasat | [](http://linkedin.com/in/girish-chandran-1837561) | | **Kevin Kirn** | Chief Product & Chief Technology Officer | Planet Labs | [](http://linkedin.com/in/kevinkirn) | | **Dave Limp** | President & CEO | Blue Origin | [](http://linkedin.com/in/davelimp) | | **John Serafini** | Founder and CEO | HawkEye 360 | [](http://linkedin.com/in/john-serafini-950793a) | | **Gwynne Shotwell** | President & COO | SpaceX | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gwynne-shotwell/) | | **Arvind Srinivasan** | CTO | Vantor (Formerly known as Maxar Technologies) | [](http://linkedin.com/in/srinivasan-arvind) | | **Dr. Jack Sudarev** | CTO | DTC (a Codan Company) | [](http://linkedin.com/in/jack-sudarev-3aba61152) | | **Peter Swartz** | Chief Science Officer | Altana | [](http://linkedin.com/in/pgswartz) | ## AI, Autonomy & Cybersecurity Startups | Name | Title | Company | LinkedIn | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **Jon Burgoyne** | COO | Sierra Nevada Corp (SNC) | [](http://linkedin.com/in/jon-burgoyne-0789ab4) | | **Jason Droege** | CEO | Scale AI | [](http://linkedin.com/in/jasondroege) | | **Ron Gula** | President | Gula Tech Adventures | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rongula/) | | **Palmer Luckey** | Founder | Anduril Industries | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/palmer-luckey-21a16959/) | | **Paul Lwin** | Co-Founder & CEO | HavocAI | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-lwin/) | | **Dino Mavrookas** | CEO &  Co-Founder | Saronic Technologies | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dino-mavrookas/) | | **Wahid Nawabi** | Chairman, President & CEO | AV | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/wahid-nawabi-99a14aa/) | | **Joe Saunders** | Founder & CEO | RunSafe Security | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joesaunders/) | | **Ian Swanson** | Founder & CEO | Protect AI (purchased by Palo Alto Networks) | [](http://linkedin.com/in/ianswanson) | ## Federal Technology and Innovation Leaders | Name | Title | Company | LinkedIn | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **Gabe Chiulli** | CTO | U.S. Army Enterprise Cloud Management Agency | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabe-chiulli-6a658331/) | | **Hon. Kirsten Davies** | Department of War CIO | Office of the Department of War CIO | [](http://linkedin.com/in/kirstendavies) | | **Hon. Michael Dodd** | Assistant Secretary of War for CT & Acting Deputy Director of the DIU | Office of the Under Secretary of War (R&E) | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-dodd-aa70a11/) | | **Justin Fanelli** | CTO | Department of the Navy (DON) | [](http://linkedin.com/in/justinfanelli) | | **Rylan Knight** | Chief Warrant Officer 5, G-6 | U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Staff | [](http://linkedin.com/in/rylanknight) | | **Emil Michael** | Under Secretary of War for R&E & CTO | Office of the Secretary of War / DoD | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilmichael/) | | **Lakshmi Raman** | Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer | Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) | | | **Dr. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo** | Acting Director | Space Development Agency (SDA) | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gurpartap-gp-sandhoo-21062080/) | | **Thomas M. Sasala** | Now Deputy Director, Army Business Transformation Office | U.S. Army Enterprise Cloud Management Agency | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomassasala/) | | **Cameron Stanley** | Chief Digital and AI Officer (CDAO) | Office of the Secretary of War / DoD | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameron-stanley-9a35026/) | ## Disruptive Neo-Primes & Emerging Startups | Name | Title | Company | LinkedIn | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **Colby Adcock** | Founder | Scout AI | [](http://linkedin.com/in/colby-adcock-277ab42a) | | **Adam Bry** | Co-Founder & CEO | Skydio | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adambry/) | | **Jonny Dyer** | Co-Founder & CEO | Muon Space | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonny-dyer-1870085/) | | **Ben FitzGerald** | CEO | Rebellion Defense | [](http://linkedin.com/in/ben-fitzgerald-32ab483) | | **Zach Franke** | VP, Mission Solutions | Kägwerks | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-franke/) | | **Brett Granberg** | Co-Founder & CEO | Vannevar Labs | [](http://linkedin.com/in/brett-granberg) | | **Bryon Hargis** | Co-Founder & CEO | Castelion | [](http://www.linkedin.com/in/hargsb/) | | **Mike Hiatt** | CTO | Epirus | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-hiatt-06420ba/) | | **Richard Jenkins** | Founder & CEO | Saildrone | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-jenkins-066a163/) | | **Jason Kim** | CEO | Firefly Aerospace | [](http://linkedin.com/in/jason-kim-0a8a0a1) | | **Jeff Kunins** | CPO & CTO | Axon | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkunins/) | | **Bo Marr, Phd.** | CTO | Chaos Industries | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bo-marr-phd-2822404/) | | **Cameron McCord** | Co-Founder & CEO | Nominal | [](http://linkedin.com/in/cameron-mccord) | | **Ian Muceus** | Co-Founder, Lead Inventor, & CTO | Firestorm | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianmuceus/) | | **Sankaet Pathak** | Founder & CEO | Foundation Robotics Labs | [](http://linkedin.com/in/sankaet) | | **Chris Power** | Founder & CEO | Hadrian | [](http://linkedin.com/in/powerc) | | **Nicolaus Radford** | Co-Founder & CEO | Persona AI | [](http://linkedin.com/in/nicolaus-radford) | | **Tyler Saltsman** | Co-Founder & CEO | EdgeRunner AI | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylersaltsman/) | | **Scott Stapp** | CTO | Defcon AI | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-stapp-4986b35/) | | **Ethan Thornton** | Founder & CEO | Mach Industries | [](http://linkedin.com/in/ethan-thornton-74417024a) | | **Ryan Tseng** | President | Shield AI | [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryantseng/) | | **Alex Tseng** | Founder & CEO | Ares Industries | [](http://linkedin.com/in/alextseng1) | [](https://subscribe.sightlinemg.com/products/tech-disriptors-plaque) **Did you make the list?** Get your custom plaque to share the good news! 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