In national security, budgets have been flat, yet mission needs keep expanding. While increased defense funding may be on the horizon, agencies still are struggling to operationalize the latest and best solutions offered by new technologies that have the potential to deliver more effective, efficient solutions.
“Emerging technologies offer a lot of promise, but it can be difficult for agencies to evaluate and plan for these, and difficult to find time and resources to invest in the future while they’re also trying to maintain current-generation systems,” said Tom Lash, chief executive officer of Vibrint.
Lash added that the private sector can offer federal agencies a way forward. “It’s important that industry steps up and helps the government do these early technology evaluations, to identify the high-value applications of these technologies within the customer’s mission,” he said.
To that end, Vibrint brings to the table both products and services to help national security agencies enhance the quality and speed of mission-critical decisions. It offers a full lifecycle of IT engineering support through customized solutions developed by solutions architects, drawing upon deep expertise in high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, cyber security, quantum computing and unique emerging technologies.
On the products side, its deep relationships with technology original equipment manufacturers and innovative start-ups helps agencies get access to the most impactful technologies relevant for agency mission needs, Lash said.
When it comes to services, “we give them the ability to do the product design and installation, operations and maintenance, and cybersecurity” — all of the operational components that bring these solutions to life, he said.
Vibrint’s mid-tier size helps it to deliver effectively on agency needs.
“We are big enough to have resources, but small enough to be really agile. Our team can very quickly and nimbly show customers proof of concepts and complete technology evaluations to help them make decisions very quickly,” Lash said.
In practical terms, that means the company can bring to the table solutions like Vibrint LiFi, which uses light instead of radio waves to enable secure digital connectivity. That’s appealing to national security agencies.
“Because it’s based on light, it’s much easier to contain the signal. You simply need to close the door,” he said. As compared to conventional Wi-Fi, “this really lends itself to wider deployment in classified environments.”
As Vibrint looks to expand its footprint in the government space, Lash said, the breadth of its expertise will drive its growth strategy.
In systems engineering, there’s a lifecycle: From design to implementation, through to operations, maintenance, and cybersecurity. “We’ve been working very hard to cover all aspects of the system lifecycle,” he said.
The ability to address all those individual-yet-interrelated aspects can help to open doors. An agency “may not procure for the entire lifecycle,” he said. As contracts emerge addressing various aspects of the lifecycle, “it certainly helps to be big enough to understand the entire systems lifecycle, and also small enough to be able to move quickly to help them address those needs.”
As Vibrint pushes ahead, Lash echoes the priorities of many across the GovCon space in defining the human element as perhaps the highest hurdle to clear. “The biggest challenge is our workforce, finding talented and cleared individuals,” he said.
Vibrint takes a two-pronged approach to staying ahead of that. “We are making sure that we’re recruiting the best, and also that we are developing the best,” Lash said.
In terms of recruiting, “where we stand in the marketplace really resonates. The idea of being a mid-tier with resources, with agility, is attractive to candidates, and we’re having good success on the recruiting side,” he said.
At the same time, “we’re also developing our current staff, helping them to think about a career at Vibrint beyond their immediate program — to think about additional skill sets so they can continue to develop, to prepare them for new opportunities in their careers,” Lash said.
To that end, the company in 2024 created an internal organization called the Vibrint Technical Consortium, or VTC.
“It’s a coalition of like-minded employees who self-organize around a technical topic. We have a VTC group for AI/ML, another for quantum computing, another for high performance computing,” he said. “It helps give our entire team a technical support system together with mentorship opportunities. It also gives our more senior engineers an opportunity to identify early-career talent and show those high performers how they can have a longer-term career in the industry.”
In support of VTC, “we give them overhead resources to participate in these things, and we’ve seen a lot of benefit. We are really happy with the program, it has received a lot of positive feedback from across our team,” Lash said.
With a 30-year history in the national security space, Lash said he’s proud to be part of the work that Vibrint is doing.
“I’ve had the privilege of participating in lots of very meaningful applications and missions. And I feel like I understand the challenges that our national security customers feel when it comes to adopting and learning about new technologies,” he said.
Overall, “I feel very strongly that my personal calling — and this should be the calling of industry — is to help bridge that gap between the emerging technologies and national security,” Lash said.
He added that a warmer relationship between GovCon and government could help bring that to life.
“I remember in the mid-’90s, when there was much more of a partnership in the true sense of industry being invested in the customer. The customer freely shared some of their challenges with industry, and it was a really constructive time, with government benefitting from industry’s expertise and investment in them,” he said. “It would benefit everyone if we could get back to that.”