Cindy Gruensfelder

President, Leidos Defense Systems Sector

Cindy Gruensfelder is entering her second year leading Leidos’ defense sector with a commitment to delivering on her customers’ need for speed.

“We have brilliant problem-solving teammates who are passionate and mission driven,” she said. “We know there’s no greater calling than serving the men and women who put themselves in harm’s way to protect our freedoms.”

In 2024, she guided the business through several important milestones such as leveraging the strategic Dynetics integration to achieve scale, transitioning critical development programs to franchise programs of record, and delivering 14% year-over-year revenue growth and a record $4.7 billion backlog for the third quarter.

Having focused her team of nearly 5,000 on operational excellence last year, she now has them playing offense with a clear focus on speed and scale across a deep portfolio that includes space sensing, hypersonics, airborne ISR and effectors, integrated short-range air defense, and maritime sensing and autonomous systems.

“We have an unmatched ability to rapidly integrate the most complicated and disparate commercial products into coherent, operationally relevant solutions in remarkable cycle times,” she said. “I’m beyond excited about this team’s potential.”

Why Watch

Leidos has a unique combination of capabilities, products and talent that make them a big disruptor to watch in 2025: in-depth customer, threat and mission understanding; disruptive, commercial-based hardware solutions; and unparalleled expertise in software, cyber, AI and signals processing.

“These elements are the exact ingredients to successfully deliver disruptive mission solutions to our customers around the world,” said Gruensfelder, “and by unleashing the full potential of our team and portfolio, we will help ensure U.S. military advantage.”

A hands-on leader, Gruensfelder spends a lot of time with employees at all levels ensuring they’re aligned with the strategy and operate with a bias for action and sense of urgency.

“It’s all about serving customers in the best possible ways,” she said. “It’s up to us to show our customers the value they can only get from Leidos.”

Fun fact: Gruensfelder brings a competitive spirit home, where she and her husband and four adult children enjoy a variety of sports. In the summer, they focus on wakesurfing, their favorite activity, as it avoids the chaos of competing against each other. When playing flag football as teams of six, the competition gets intense.