As a kid, Gabe Camarillo wanted to be an astronaut. Years later, he’s not in orbit, but he’s part of a company helping build what makes it possible.
“Depending on the age, that was probably the dream,” he said with a laugh. “Once I realized how much math and science were involved, I shifted to being a lawyer.”
That choice to attend Stanford Law School launched a career that would eventually take him far closer to the mission than he ever expected.
Camarillo spent over a decade practicing election and campaign finance law, arguing First Amendment cases before federal courts.
But his career took an unexpected turn when he was asked to work on national security issues, a return to a subject he’d fallen in love with years earlier while serving on Capitol Hill.
“When I worked in Congress, one of my portfolios was national security,” he said. “I loved it. Supporting service members, working on real missions, it brings a sense of shared purpose you don’t find anywhere else.”
That calling led him to the Pentagon, where he most recently served as the Army’s 35th under secretary and helped lead major modernization and software reform efforts. In that role, Camarillo was the chief operating officer of a $186 billion military department with over 1 million soldiers worldwide. During his tenure, he oversaw transformation during a time marked by major events like the invasion of Ukraine and recruiting challenges.
Today, he’s channeling that same urgency for innovation in the private sector as senior vice president of KBR’s defense and technology business, having worked at SAIC and McKinsey & Co. as well.
Bridging Two Worlds
When Camarillo left government earlier this year, he wanted to continue supporting warfighter missions and modernization.
Having run industry business units and managed enterprises like the Department of the Army, he knows how rare — and valuable — his perspective is.
“When I was at the Pentagon, many of the people crafting acquisition policy had not served in an industry profit & loss role,” he said. “They didn’t always understand the dynamics and pressures of running a business unit.”
Likewise, many in industry don’t see what drives government decisions: tight budgets, evolving threats and constant tradeoffs. Bridging that gap, he said, is where he believes he can make the biggest difference.
He also sat on the Deputies’ Management Action Group, which finalizes the Department of War’s budget. It gave him a vantage point of how investments move across services and programs and what truly shapes modernization priorities.
“What I brought from the Pentagon is a sense of urgency,” Camarillo said. “The department is facing complex threats and rapid technological change. There’s a real need to adopt innovation quickly and creatively.”
That urgency — and the sense of mission behind it — defines how he leads KBR’s 7,500-person defense and technology business, operating across 85 locations worldwide.
“Execution, especially in the services business, is imperative,” he said. “If you can’t execute well, your customer won’t rely on you.”
Camarillo stresses to his team the need to connect with customers as much as possible, both in Washington and overseas, to understand what influences their decisions.
“You can’t just know your customer in isolation,” he said. “You have to understand how they fit into the broader ecosystem of government and allies — what their priorities are and how you can help solve their challenges.”
A recent example is KBR’s work with the U.S. Space Force on space domain awareness capabilities. The transfer of the tools and capabilities to KBR’s Australian team has created synergies across the company and with its space customers, improving information sharing across allied nations.
Why KBR
Camarillo describes KBR as a company that’s grown with the mission. Once known for boots-on-the-ground logistics, KBR today is an engineering and technology powerhouse shaping defense modernization and space missions. He points to missile defense as an example.
“We’re one of the largest and long-standing engineering support partners to the Army and the Missile Defense Agency,” he said, referencing the engineering and integration KBR does on major missile defense systems. “Those missions, whether in Guam, the Middle East or within the homeland, are critical to U.S. readiness.”
That mix of mission focus, modernization strategy and engineering expertise is what drew him in.
“It’s a very different company from the one I first met 10 years ago,” Camarillo said. “It’s now positioned exactly where the Department of War is headed.”
The company reported $7.7 billion in revenue for fiscal 2024, up about 11% year over year, with net income of roughly $375 million — evidence of how far it’s evolved from its logistics roots.
Camarillo said leading a global company feels less hierarchical than the Pentagon — and that agility is exactly what defense modernization now demands.
AI Moves from Promise to Practice
Camarillo sees artificial intelligence as standard now, an expected part of every mission.
“AI-enabled capabilities are table stakes now,” he said. “Whether it’s space domain awareness, tracking sustainment for naval fleets or analyzing lifecycle costs for combat vehicles, we’re using AI technologies to help our customers make smarter decisions.”
The goal, he said, is simple: save the government money, help it modernize faster and keep critical systems mission ready. Ultimately, it’s about ensuring warfighters have the equipment they need, when they need it, Camarillo said.
If there’s one recurring challenge in modernization, it’s the clash of old and new.
“All agencies deal with a mix of legacy and new capabilities that somehow have to work together,” Camarillo said. “That’s true whether you’re talking about Social Security IT systems or air and missile defense assets on the battlefield.”
That’s where KBR’s systems engineering work matters most — the glue that helps systems communicate and ensures joint and coalition forces can operate as one.
A New Chapter for KBR
Camarillo’s arrival comes as KBR undergoes a major transformation. The company plans to split into two public entities: one focused on energy and global customers, and another dedicated to government services, engineering support and international consulting, set to launch next year.
It’s a rare opportunity to build a brand-new government services firm with a new name and brand, leadership team and global reach, Camarillo said.
“I’m excited to help define its strategy and shape what comes next,” he added.
The timing feels fitting. After decades moving between government and industry, he’s once again standing at the intersection of change — this time, helping a legacy company reinvent itself for the next era of defense modernization.
One of his colleagues reminded him, “KBR has trained every U.S. astronaut since the 1960s.”
“Sounds like a third career move,” Camarillo laughed. “It’s never too late!”
After all, the kid who once dreamed of space never really left the mission — he just found another way to reach it.