Vikram Manikonda
CTO, BlueHalo
BlueHalo has been making waves in the defense and national security sector, establishing itself as an enduring platform offering critical capabilities and technologies across space, air and cyber domains. The company’s success and reputation have grown through its innovative solutions and technologies, led in large part by CTO Dr. Vikram Manikonda.
Manikonda leads the company’s Independent Research and Development program to accelerate capabilities to mission and mitigate customer risk. He is spearheading cross-sector collaboration, setting the vision and path to execution for technology developments across BlueHalo’s defense, intelligence and labs sectors.
Part of this collaboration includes working closely with BlueHalo’s Science and Technology Council. His focus on cross-sector innovation is addressing near-term and long-term obstacles in space and leading to the development of disruptive technologies in space, UxS, C-UAS, C4ISR, and machine learning and autonomy.
“Have no fear of failure,” Manikonda said. “It’s a motto that I’ve lived by and led with. It has guided our work to develop new technologies and meet our nation’s most critical needs. And it’s a motto that has led me to this incredible team. I take so much pride in the work we are doing and the problems we are solving ⏤ and in doing it all with the best and brightest minds in our industry.”
Why Watch
Since joining BlueHalo in 2021, Manikonda’s focus on interdisciplinary solutions has helped mold the company’s technological capabilities and focus. Using BlueHalo’s artificial intelligence and machine learning expertise, Manikonda is developing a companywide MLOps and DevSecOps framework to mitigate security risks and accelerate innovation cycles across all products and programs.
As more and more of these capabilities are developed, Manikonda is turning his attention to transitioning technologies from research to product ⏤ already seeing success with products like the SCRAAWL data analytics tool, ARGUS perimeter security system and nxtRF, a suite of advanced RF products and solutions to address the challenges of next-generation tactical radio and military communications.
“As BlueHalo continues to expand and deepen our portfolio of disruptive technologies, products and solutions, Vikram has served as a driving force behind that success,” said Jonathan Moneymaker, BlueHalo CEO. “His ability to connect solutions across our customers’ mission areas, create rapid development roadmaps and unique product offerings to address near-peer and asymmetric threats faced by our nation sets both he and BlueHalo apart as we establish ourselves as the new alternative prime in the market.”