The finalists for WashingtonExec’s Chief Officer Awards were announced April 8, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place live, in-person June 4.
Next is Tom Afferton, president of the Cyber Mission Sector at Peraton and a Cybersecurity Executive of the Year finalist. Here, he talks professional achievements, focus areas going forward, shaping the next generation of leaders and more.
What key achievements did you have in 2024/2025? What are your primary focus areas going forward, and why are those so important to the mission?
The stakes have never been higher in cybersecurity. The advancement of technologies, like AI, is enabling adversaries to attack faster, at a wider scale, and under better disguises. Further, we have seen strong evidence of adversary efforts to use influence campaigns around the globe to undermine U.S. efforts to promote democracy and advance U.S. interests.
This is why Tom Afferton and his team at Peraton have remained focused on bringing advanced capabilities to their customers’ missions to stay ahead of adversaries, particularly focusing on cyberspace and information environments.
The team developed and deployed a strategic capability for enterprise-wide threat intelligence sharing to help customers quickly make sense out of threat intelligence and malware data. Using AI and large language models to identify relevant and actionable threat intel, they alleviated the burden for analysts and increased actionable information sharing.
Because AI will play a critical role in shaping both offensive and defensive strategies in the information war, Afferton and his team are applying AI to cognitive warfare to combat influence campaigns directed at overseas populations. Born out of Peraton Labs, the capability was able to rapidly analyze open-source media in over 100 foreign languages.
Afferton and his team then combined that technology, including LLM, with capabilities from innovative small business partners to create comprehensive assessments of the information environment. All of this enables faster decision making and more targeted, effective campaigns to counter malign influence.
What’s your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
Afferton is a strong advocate for employee development programs. As a mentor, he is sometimes asked, “how did you get to position XYZ?” Afferton’s frequent response is that career progress is rarely a linear path. His career began in the commercial telecommunications industry, progressed into engineering management, transitioned to supporting the intelligence community as an individual contributor, shifted into the public safety market and then eventually Afferton made his way to his current line of business leadership supporting government customers.
Many of his roles didn’t even exist before he took it on — it was based on his experiences and the value he brought to the company.
“Do not obsess about building a career ladder to climb,” Afferton said. “Your professional path is more of a matrix that you traverse, gathering different experiences that may later apply in future roles. Say yes to new challenges, particularly opportunities to diversify your experience, even if the opportunity is a lateral move.”
What is something about you that most people do not know?
An avid fan of the Grateful Dead, Afferton recently used a book on lessons learned from their innovative business practices as inspiration for a gathering of his leadership team. They talked about the Dead’s knack for “strategic improvisation” in business and how music applies to our human need to adapt in a very dynamic market environment, not unlike the cyberspace.