Doug Keating has over three decades of leadership experience spanning military service and the private sector. As strategic account executive at Rohirrim, he brings a mission-first mindset and a continued dedication to advancing missions that matter.
In this Q&A, Keating reflects on how his military background shaped his approach to innovation and why he believes generative AI is the key to transforming government acquisitions at the “speed of need.”
Can you provide a brief overview of your professional background and career progression?
During the first decade of my career, I served as an Army Officer in numerous leadership positions. It was an honor and a privilege to serve in uniform. Over the past two decades, I have worked at several world-class companies, including Accenture, Booz Allen Hamilton, Microsoft, and Vibrint. At Booz Allen, I received my high-level clearance and served for many years as a technology leader supporting multiple Intelligence Community customers. I recently joined Rohirrim because I am impressed with our AI solutions and know that the need to accelerate acquisitions is long overdue and finally being addressed by leadership.
Why was this the path you chose, and how influential was it to your career?
I come from a proud military family. My father, my uncles, and my brother all served in uniform. I also heard the call to serve our great nation and defend it from those who wish us harm. I learned a lot about the world and leadership as an Army Officer, which greatly influenced my career. For example, my worldview expanded greatly when I lived in Europe, deployed to Bosnia multiple times, and spent time in Ukraine back in the mid-1990s. Both Bosnia and Ukraine were eye-opening experiences for me. Also, the Army did an excellent job developing my leadership skills. I was fortunate early in my career. My first assignment was in the 82d Airborne Division. As a young officer, I was surrounded for four years by phenomenal leaders. The best practices I learned from those leaders have paid huge dividends over my career. I spoke about these lessons on the Kind Leadership podcast. Here is a link to the episode.
Do you have a personal connection to the current mission you support? If so, please explain.
Yes – having served in the military, I understand the mission urgency of delivering solutions at the speed of need. Also, I collaborated with multiple acquisition professionals in the Intelligence Community, which gave me insight into the challenges they face at the strategic level and in their day-to-day activities. They need our help.
What are your current top priorities and responsibilities? How do these relate to your company’s overall mission/growth strategy?
My focus is on getting Rohirrim’s generative AI solutions that accelerate acquisitions into the hands of Department of War components and the companies that support them. Rohirrim was founded with one mission. We enable both government and commercial companies to execute acquisitions at the speed of need, leveraging our genAI solutions.
Where do you and your team see growth opportunities in the portfolio you support, or what do you anticipate to be your customers’ top pain points?
Executing acquisitions for government customers is a huge pain point that is long overdue for solutions. The current reality is that the government acquisition workforce is shrinking with many recent retirements, while senior leaders are telling everyone to go faster. Business as usual will not cut it anymore. Similarly, responding to RFPs effectively and efficiently is difficult for all the commercial companies we talk to. No one has enough resources. Everyone is looking for AI solutions like ours to deliver transformative impacts.
How are you and your team planning to address/prepare for these opportunities?
Rohirrim is talking with government acquisition leaders about how we can help accelerate their processes, leveraging our genAI solutions. We recently attended the 2025 AUSA conference and walked away inspired by the vision the Secretary of the Army shared there. Everyone seemed energized. We want to help make Secretary Driscoll’s vision a reality for the warfighter and DIB members. We are also meeting with commercial companies to demonstrate how our RFP response tool is a game-changer for their proposal operations.
How important is mentorship & networking in GovCon? Were they influential to your career?
I talked about mentorship and networking on a podcast last year.
What is something most people don’t know about you personally?
I am a huge European football (aka soccer) fan. Bayern Munich is my favorite team. I don’t care much about who wins the English Premier League, so I randomly select a PL team to support each season. My approach is considered sacrilege by some, but it is a clever way to attend as many games as possible at the various stadiums located all over the UK. This season I am supporting Everton, and I look forward to visiting Liverpool for the first time.