The finalists for WashingtonExec’s Chief Officer Awards were announced March 17, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place live, in-person May 10.
Next is Chief Marketing Officer finalist in the Private Company category Brad Mascho of Empower AI. Here, he talks door knocking to get his first job in Washington, how perfectionism can hamper progress and how a writing project aimed at inspiring his daughters grew bigger than he could have imagined.
What are you most proud of having been a part of in your current organization?
I’m most proud to have been part of the company’s transformation into a genuine AI thought leader. When I joined NCI in 2018 as the chief AI officer, artificial intelligence was a budding interest in government and government contracting.
Five years later, and after winning some of the most significant contracts in our 30-plus year history, we knew we had carved a very important niche and differentiator.
In 2022, I was proud to lead the complete rebrand of NCI into Empower AI. The rebrand wasn’t our story’s end but the start of a new chapter. It has jumpstarted employee engagement and become an exciting outlet for the enthusiasm everyone at Empower AI shows for elevating our customers’ mission.
What key achievements did you have in 2022 / 2023?
In addition to leading the rebrand from NCI to Empower AI in 2022, I’ve directed our marketing and communications to be digital-first and data-driven. That means more than just improving our online presence but focusing on the results.
Our approach has allowed us to quantify the impact of our work – like increasing engagement 6x, media coverage 5x, website traffic 4x, etc. But it also allows us to get highly targeted in our message and advertising and see results down to the most granular level. Being digital-first and data-driven helps manage resources and priorities to ensure the highest return on investment for the company and our nation.
Which rules do you think you should break more as a government/industry leader?
There is an aphorism attributed to Voltaire that “perfect is the enemy of good.” It is easy to find a graveyard of projects that never get off the ground because someone was waiting for that little piece of magic to make it perfect.
Unfortunately, in creative tasks, this happens all too often. “Pixel pushing,” as we like to say, is how creative projects can end up being obsolete before they are even finished. Coming from a bit of a perfectionist personally, it’s important to find the point where good is sufficient.
What’s the biggest professional risk you’ve ever taken?
My wife and I moved from Ohio to Washington, D.C., with the dream of working on Capitol Hill. We printed off 500 resumes each and walked the House and Senate office buildings daily – quite literally knocking on doors. Within a month, we both got our first jobs on the Hill. It was a great lesson in taking a leap and following a dream.
What’s your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
Remember the mission. Setting aside the givens – that you must control costs and maintain profits – nothing is more important than outcomes for our customers. This is especially important in our industry because no mission is more significant than the public mission.
We all enter this industry because we believe in elevating the federal workforce and improving government. We believe in the goodness of America, and for that reason, nothing is more important than the mission we serve.
Looking back at your career, what are you most proud of?
Rather than a professional accomplishment, I am most proud of my three daughters – Georgie (11), Charlie (9), and Ruthie (2). They ground, challenge, and make me a better person. I think of them often when I interact with others. Everyone is someone’s son or daughter, so seeing my daughters in the people I interact with helps me give grace.
I also look for every opportunity to support and strengthen my children. Outside of my professional career, I’m a lifelong baseball fan. I started a project five years ago to teach my daughters that baseball players are not all men. What began as a project to write to inspiring female baseball players – think of those in “A League of Their Own” – has morphed into hundreds of letters, books, photos and even meetings with amazing female astronauts, scientists, legislators, generals, entertainers and athletes.
They’ve all shared a similar message for my three daughters – work hard, be honest, believe in yourself, and you can achieve great things. It’s a message and a project that is very important to me.