John Heneghan

President, ECS

As the ECS president, John Heneghan said he measures his success around the impact the company has on the missions it supports. For instance, ECS designed, built and operates a secure, cloud-based information sharing and collaboration environment complete with machine translation and multilingual support to ensure 32 international member nations can cooperate effectively in providing critical equipment and training to Ukraine in its fight for democracy.

ECS develops and maintains the FBI’s CODIS DNA index system, which has now supported over 650,000 investigations. It’s providing AI and digital transformation support to improve services to veterans. Additionally, it’s supporting DHS CISA with cybersecurity, threat intelligence and data solutions that protect U.S. critical assets.

ECS focuses on recruiting and training the best experts in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence through its Cyber and Data & AI Centers of Excellence. A key part of the company’s recent success involves using AI-enhanced cybersecurity solutions to add more value to missions, and securing AI solutions to advance customer goals. ECS uses AI to customize solutions and improve user experience, maintaining top security standards. The company employs AI-driven cybersecurity methods that actively detect and respond to changing threats, and develops solutions that share threat information with government partners.

Why Watch

ECS has been a leading provider of operational AI solutions for defense customers for the past seven years. Heneghan believes ECS’ experience will set it apart in the market and appeal to defense, civilian and health agency customers now adopting this technology. He anticipates these customers will quickly see the benefits of using ECS for their AI needs.

Heneghan is also looking forward to growing ECS’ work with the departments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services. As a new major participant in the VA’s T4NG 2 contract, ECS plans to use its deep understanding of the VA’s mission, along with its expertise in cybersecurity, AI and digital transformation, to bring new solutions to VA’s requirements. Additionally, ECS’ recent successes with HHS, drawing on its experiences with other health clients like the VA and Defense Health Agency, are creating more opportunities for ECS to significantly contribute to essential HHS services.

Fun fact: The Heneghan clan is a large, close-knit family that stays connected via regular online game playing sessions. “I believe the strategy and tactics involved in game playing helped prepare me as a business leader,” Heneghan said. “While it is no surprise that other CEOs and C-suite executives are competitive, I know through conversations with many of them that game-playing has been and still is a big part of their lives, too. Could this be a hidden secret to executive success?”