Former SAIC CEO Nazzic Keene Drove Growth, Diversity, Opportunity & Connection Throughout Her Career

Retirement often means taking it easy and catching up on things you’ve missed while working. But for Nazzic Keene, the former CEO of SAIC who recently retired, it’s a chance to change her focus and dive into new opportunities.

Since announcing her retirement Oct. 2, Keene has been working to ensure a smooth handover to the SAIC leadership team and the new CEO, Toni Townes-Whitley. She’s also been channeling her skills and energy into new areas.

In early October, Keene joined the board of directors of ITT Corp., a company based in Stamford, Connecticut, known for making engineered components for transportation, industrial and energy sectors. In addition, she is also on the board of directors at ADP, part of the Inova Health System board of trustees, and a board member at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Yet, reflecting on her career and accomplishments, Keene attributes much of her leadership style to her upbringing. She often credits her mother, a single parent, as a significant and supportive influence, describing her as a “strong and independent woman.”

Keene’s early life began in Tripoli, Libya, but she moved to the U.S. following a revolution in Libya in the late 1960s. She spent much of her youth in Tucson, Arizona, her mother’s hometown. Growing up in a household with modest means, Keene, as the eldest child, took on significant responsibilities from an early age, helping her mother in raising her younger sisters.

These responsibilities taught Keene a lot during her formative years ⏤ “the importance of family, responsibility, accountability and how to empathize with others and overcome challenges,” she said. “I was always guided by an important message my mother instilled in us growing up: Create a world where you have a choice.”

Keene’s mother encouraged them to pursue an education and a career, and to be in control of creating her own path in life.

So, Keene worked her way through college and enrolled at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She pursued a degree in management information systems, a relatively new field at the time, driven by her interest in the emerging industry and her natural affinity for IT.

“I believed there would be greater opportunity in something that was new and emerging,” she said. “And it complemented things that I enjoyed. I enjoyed math and the analytical side, but I also knew I wanted to be in business in some form or fashion.”

She went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in 1984 and had three major priorities when entering the workforce: leave Tucson, get more experience and be a part of something new.

Keene searched for job advertisements in newspapers from cities she wanted to live in, including San Francisco, Dallas, Boston and Washington, D.C. She noticed a company called Electronic Data Systems was hiring in Dallas.

That’s how Keene got her first job after college.

The Start of 30+ Years

Keene joined EDS in 1984, when it was led by Ross Perot.

“It was a very entrepreneurial company. It was high growth. It really was one of the pioneers in the IT services space,” Keene said.

For Keene, that meant opportunity, uncertainty and the ability for upward advancement. This was also a pivotal moment in her early career.

In the mid-1980s, Keene discovered the dynamic IT landscape and made a significant career shift at a relatively young age. The company’s rapid growth presented an exciting opportunity for her. She transitioned from a programmer/project manager role to leading a profit and loss organization. Keene eagerly embraced this chance and quickly gained a wealth of experience.

Keene stayed with EDS until 1996, departing as regional vice president of EDS’ Global Telecommunications Business. After joining E&Y as a consulting partner and working as a chief information officer for a start-up telecommunications company, she joined American Management Systems. She served as a senior vice president and managing executive director, moving her family to the Northern Virginia area, until her transition to CGI through an acquisition in 2004.

When AMS was purchased by CGI in 2004, she joined the U.S. executive leadership team, as senior vice president and general manager. Because CGI was a Canadian company, this merger also provided Keene with the opportunity to help CGI expand its U.S. business, and drive growth in a changing, dynamic company across the U.S. market in the commercial space.

It was also at CGI where Keene was impacted by a mentor, Donna Morea, president of CGI Technologies and Solutions. Keene says Morea had such a positive impact on her, and helped shape the leader she is today.

“She’s always been an advocate for women, and focused on providing great opportunities for women,” Keene said.

In 2012, Keene left CGI and joined SAIC as senior vice president of strategy to help drive the company’s year-long split into two companies, SAIC and Leidos, which it completed in 2013.

“I had experience with acquisitions . . . but I’d never ever been part of anything where you take a market leading, $11 billion company and form two strong, viable companies independent of each other,” she said. “And I liked the thought of that.”

SAIC also gave Keene the opportunity to work in the federal space.

“For me, it was another intriguing opportunity to do something different. I was willing to take that risk to see where it ended up,” she said.

Eventually, that decision made Keene chief operating officer in 2017, and in August 2019, CEO.

But her road to CEO wasn’t deliberate, and it was never about the title.

“It was always about my ability to make an impact, the ability to help transform, change, grow, regardless of what the title was,” she said. “So that to me is the most intriguing part of whatever role I’ve been in.”

Long-lasting Impact

Having spent most of her career in the commercial space prior to SAIC, Keene was excited to infuse innovation, transformation, modernization and technology into government for decades to come. And that’s exactly what she did during her four years as CEO.

Under Keene’s leadership, SAIC remained focused on bringing the right solutions to bear and engaging with the customers. These new solutions enabled government customers to modernize.

That was also the drive behind SAIC’s acquisitions of government contractor Engility in 2018, Unisys Federal in 2020 and other smaller acquisitions under Keene’s leadership.

Shortly after taking on the role of CEO, Keene faced an unprecedented challenge ⏤ leading a company at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This immediately shifted her focus to reshaping SAIC’s business model going forward as the workforce began teleworking.

During this challenging time, Keene was focused on driving profitable revenue growth for shareholders, customers and employees. These efforts yielded remarkable success, resulting in a total shareholder return increase of over 40% during her tenure as CEO.

Growth also provides employees with more opportunities for advancement and influences SAIC’s strategy. “You can’t grow if you don’t have the right people. You can’t get the right people if you’re not a growing viable organization,” Keene said. “All of these priorities have to link together.”

And it’s not just talent acquisition, but also ensuring SAIC invests in its people through development programs and having the right people do the right jobs. That’s why she was such an advocate for women in leadership roles and DE&I initiatives.

In fact, during Keene’s tenure, SAIC’s leadership transformed to reach parity between the percent of women leaders and the percent of women in the company. Additionally, under Keene’s leadership, SAIC launched a new program for high potential women called AcceleratHer, a program that includes training, mentorship and networking for women across the organization.

Keene placed significant emphasis on DE&I initiatives. SAIC received numerous accolades for its dedication to veterans, the LGBTQ community, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math initiatives, African-American and Latino employees during her leadership.

“The sense of purpose and the excitement and the enthusiasm when I talk to colleagues in SAIC about not just the job they do, not just the technology that they might develop or implement, it really is around the impact that each individual can make in serving our nation’s missions,” Keene said.

Spreading Impact Through Mentorship, Giving Back

During her time as CEO, Keene was most driven by engaging with people. While she felt “incredibly fortunate” and humbled to be in her position, she was most impacted by the people she worked with. She values learning from people, and having spirited conversations on important topics that lead to innovative, smart solutions.

In Keene’s professional life, that meant people on her team. She gets tremendous satisfaction out of watching them expand their careers, do what they love and receive the opportunities they want.

“To the extent that I can play a role in guiding, coaching, mentoring, leading, I get energized by that,” she said.

One of the most rewarding aspects of her career for Keene has been her mentorship relationships. She finds immense satisfaction in witnessing her protégés’ growth and their willingness to take on new challenges.

“That’s a big part of how I give back and how I lead and part of what I can do for the next generation of leaders,” she said.

She’s also passionate about giving back. Keene is an active supporter of several nonprofits, including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Feeding America. The LLS honored Keene with the 2022 James L. Eichberg Lifetime Achievement Award for her 20 years of dedication and commitment to the mission of LLS.

In her personal life, Keene is a family person. Having spent most of her career as a working mom, she understands first-hand the challenges of raising a family while working.

“As I retire and move into this chapter, I look forward to spending more time with my family,” Keene said. “I cherish the moments we have together, and I’ll always be there to give them advice and support in reaching their goals. I’m also excited about making more special memories with my grandchildren, which just goes to show how important family is to me.”

Although Keene’s tenure as CEO has ended, she still feels satisfied when connecting with people ⏤ whether she is engaging on the boards she continues to serve on, spending time with her family or traveling with her husband ⏤ she remains passionate about connection and impact.

Keene will be honored Nov. 16 with a Lifetime Achievement Award at WashingtonExec’s annual Pinnacle Awards, celebrating the career of an impactful industry executive whose contributions to the GovCon community are far-reaching.