The finalists for WashingtonExec’s 2024 Pinnacle Awards were announced Sept. 20, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place live, in-person Nov. 21.
Next is Justin Fanelli, acting chief technology officer for the Department of the Navy, and finalist in the Cloud Executive of the Year, Government, category. Here, he talks about recent achievements, shares career advice and more.
What key achievements did you have in 2024?
In 2024 on the cloud front, my team and I made significant strides in supporting our Warfighters with cutting-edge solutions. In 2024, we delivered a best-in-class Zero Trust government cloud platform now serving 700K+ users with game changing capabilities validated by assessment. We expanded our offerings with Nautilus Virtual Desktop and Naval Identity Service, providing streamlined pathways into the cloud. Major new services like cloud afloat and bring your own device mobile solution have been piloted and are ready to scale to tens of thousands of users, enhancing personal and tactical communication advantage. Additionally, we stood up the Neptune Portfolio Management Office and a streamlined intake portal for the Department of Navy, completing 100 engagements and counting.
What are your primary focus areas going forward, and why are those so important to the mission?
Optimizing operations through accelerated innovation adoption, including divestments. The Navy’s Information Superiority Vision (ISV) 2.0 introduces a focus on Optimization. This means not only transforming naval capabilities but also cutting out redundant efforts to get mission-critical solutions to the Warfighter faster.
As the Atlantic Council’s report on defense reads, “The United States does not have an innovation problem, but rather an innovation adoption problem.” A unity of effort and intention is not only incentivized but indispensable when driving towards a unified Naval Information Environment. The Innovation Adoption Kit (IAK), alongside frameworks that encompass Agile-Centered Design Concepts and Driver Trees help bring both innovation and optimization to the Warfighter.
What is your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
Stretch yourself for surges, become a versatilist, learn to love the work and play to win not to avoid losing. These, plus surrounding yourself with thoughtful open minded winners is a pretty great work life.
Fun Fact: What is something about you that most people do not know?
I’ve become more and more into experiments. I think it started when I was bodybuilding or maybe in engineering lab, but whether it’s physical challenges or professional or academic or personal, I’m fascinated with how much we can learn about ourselves and the world by being scientists everyday. It can really compound.