Brad Antle, CEO of Salient CRGT
In 2017, the company completed the integration of Triple-I into Salient CRGT, cementing its leadership in the health market. Acquisitions like these will allow the company to position itself for growth and ensure the right breadth of customers, capabilities and contracts are available to support that objective. The addition of Triple-I helps set a path to provide health care analytics to a broader range of customers as the company look to cover the entire spectrum of what health care agencies require in today’s challenging environment. “We have built a reputation of trust, always meeting the highest standards of quality, while driving greater productivity and efficiencies,” Antle says. “With the newly expanded capabilities, we will continue to build on this reputation.”
Why Watch:
Salient CRGT has positioned itself as a contractor who can aid federal agencies address the challenges that continually evolve as they work to deliver maximum value for the taxpayer dollar. The company will continue to earn contract awards in various areas of expertise including updating legacy systems, providing mobile technology, implementing cloud hosting capabilities, even machine learning.
John Avalos, chief operating officer, SOSi
In 2017, Avalos was hired as SOSi’s first chief operating officer, charged with leading day-to-day operations of the $300 million company with more than 800 employees worldwide, including 300 in Northern Virginia. In his first six months with SOSi, he led integration of the company’s second acquisition, Defense Group Inc., a data analytics and cyber solutions firm in Vienna, Virginia, that serves the intelligence and national security community. The acquisition expanded SOSi’s customer base, adding new technical capabilities in cyber intelligence. He also spearheaded the hiring of SOSi Senior Vice President of Business Development Michele Cook, tasked with leading the company’s aggressive growth targets for the new year.
Why Watch:
In 2018, Avalos and the SOSi team will focus on penetrating new markets to identify new customers and offerings. Avalos will lead the company’s continued efforts to grow organically and help identify new acquisition targets. Also essential in 2018 is the continued maturation of SOSi’s back-end infrastructure as the company plans for future growth.
Greg Baroni, chairman and CEO, and Manish Agarwal, president and COO, Attain
Baroni and Agarwal leveraged their decades of consulting expertise as partners and executives at KPMG and Unisys to establish now 8-year-old Attain. They grew a team of over 600 employees committed to the firm’s mission of disrupting the status quo to change the world and improve the lives of those they serve. The duo also successfully completed Attain’s first acquisition at the end of 2016 and its integration in 2017. And along the way, Attain earned recognition, ranking #8 among Consulting Magazine’s 2017 list of “Best Firms to Work” as well as #28 on Consulting’s 2017 global list of fastest-growing firms. “As a next-generation consulting firm,” Baroni says, “our team is delivering services at the forefront of disruption and digital transformation to meet the evolving business needs of our clients. We’re elevating the digital experience and empowering clients’ agility in the new technology landscape, as well as accelerating the advancement mission success.” To that end, the firm is continually evaluating and establishing partnerships with the industry’s leading tech companies.
Why Watch:
Watch for this pair to continue driving Attain’s accelerated growth (the consultancy’s Federal Services group performed at five times the consulting industry average in 2017 and the overall Attain team is now at over 600 employees) with more potential M&A activity. “We continue to achieve outperforming revenue growth and will build on that momentum, deepening our capabilities and building new ones through an acquisition strategy that doesn’t dilute our culture and values, or threaten our built-to-last philosophy,” Agarwal says.
Bruce Caswell, president, MAXIMUS
After four years as president, Caswell is getting ready to take the reins as the company’s next CEO, starting in April. Among various notable achievements, Caswell led the company’s latest technology and digital initiatives. Noting “participants in government programs expect the same types of digital engagement they rely on when interacting with consumer-oriented businesses,” MAXIMUS infused digital engagement solutions into core business process outsourcing operations to make it easier for beneficiaries to engage with government programs. In 2017, MAXIMUS launched the new Healthy Louisiana app for the state’s Medicaid managed care program. The state immediately saw a 20 percent uptake in digital Medicaid enrollments during the first open enrollment period.
Why Watch:
In his new role as CEO, Caswell says he’s most excited about spearheading the enhancement of the company’s technology, automation, operational analytics and digital solutions, which enable greater operating leverage through standardized shared services and produce more streamlined operations for government programs.
Mac Curtis, president and CEO, Vencore
Curtis has led the Veritas Capital-owned Vencore since 2013, a 4,000-employee IT services behemoth serving the federal government. Late last year came the announcement that Vencore would merge with DXC Technology’s public sector business and KeyPoint Government Solutions to establish a leading independent publicly traded federal IT services contractor. The merger is expected to be finalized by late March, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. By no means is this Curtis’ first merger: most recently, he successfully led Vencore’s integration and rebranding efforts after acquiring QinetiQ North America’s services unit — a move that nearly doubled Vencore’s size.
Why Watch:
Once this deal is finalized, all eyes with be on Curtis on his next move to consolidate the cultures and the workforces of this newly formed public company — and unveiling the new name as well. The new entity starts with roughly $4.3 billion in combined revenues and over 14,000 employees.
Karen Dahut, executive vice president, Booz Allen Hamilton
A former U.S. Navy officer, Dahut today leads Booz Allen’s civil commercial business, directing the delivery of the firm’s strategic, technology, cyber and analytics capabilities to federal and commercial sectors. She was the first to lead an internal team focused on strategic innovation, developing and delivering new and creative solutions to BAH’s clients’ toughest challenges. During her tenure, that team imagined and built a dynamic innovation agenda that transformed the firm with new capabilities in cyber, data science and digital microservices. She was also charged with transforming the firm’s culture by creating a series of cultural components and systems to source, supply and mature innovation practices while inspiring talent.
Why Watch:
A recognized expert in public sector asset management, Dahut has led a transformation for a defense client; driven innovative financial solutions and improved processes for military services; and led asset management improvement programs in a number of federal agencies. Expect her to not shy away from similar large undertakings as the year gets underway.
Paul Dillahay, president and CEO, NCI, Inc.
Dillahay became president and CEO of NCI in October 2016. A well‑known industry leader and change agent, he directed NCI through a transformational acquisition and privatization in his first year. Moreover, Dillahay put his 25-year track record of driving innovation and growth to work by immediately refocusing the company’s key capabilities and service offerings. While NCI’s heritage is in delivering and supporting major infrastructure and cyber programs, Dillahay and his revamped executive team swiftly invested in agile software development, data analytics and artificial intelligence. In October, NCI entered into an exclusive partnership with CrossChx, Inc., to bring commercial-quality AI solutions to government customers, solidifying once again, NCI’s reputation for innovation.
Why Watch:
Last fall, Dillahay’s team rebranded NCI to bring this new vision and energy to life, effectively repositioning around three key principles — navigate, collaborate and innovate — to create even more value for all stakeholders.
Lynn Dugle, CEO, Engility
In 2016, Dugle took over as CEO of Engility, a $2 billion company with approximately 10,000 employees globally. No small task, she transformed the company from low-cost provider work to delivering best-value solutions to its main customer, the federal government. Under Dugle’s leadership, Engility secured notable contract wins, including a spot on the $50 billion ceiling Alliant 2 deal with the General Services Administration to provide IT services. Other previous deals include intelligence community-related awards totaling over $100 million, a combination of sole source, recompete and new contract wins. The defense industry veteran previously served in various leadership roles at Raytheon, where she most notably was president of Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services until she retired in March 2015. A member of the Defense Science Board, Dugle last year was honored by Washington Business Journal, earning an inclusion on its yearly “Women Who Mean Business” list.
Why Watch:
Dugle’s track record shows she’s able to weather challenging times and press ahead in an increasingly competitive market. Be on the lookout for additional significant contract wins in the defense, intelligence and space sectors.
Sid Fuchs, president and CEO, MacAulay-Brown, Inc.
Fuchs has a long history of corporate turnarounds and putting companies on growth trajectories in the public sector. As the president and CEO of TASC, he led the business unit to cross the billion dollar mark in 2005 and in 2010, was able to position OAO Technology Solutions for a successful sale after taking just three years to get the company repositioned and growing. At MacB since 2011, he’s transformed the company to an engineering services and solutions leader that is on path to deliver double digit organic growth in 2018.
Why Watch:
In 2017, MacB booked a record $550 million in contract wins and has captured over $1.2 billion in awards in the last three years while increasing its sole source work to almost one-third of the company’s annual revenue. In addition to MacB, Fuchs keeps busy with various interests, including sitting on the Buchanan and Edwards, Inc. board of directors, frequent public speaking to universities, companies and government agencies on leadership, business strategy and operations, and networking, and playing lead guitar in MacB’s band, “The Operators.” The Operators are an annual favorite at the Spookstock Battle of the Bands and won the event in 2014.
John Hillen, executive in residence and professor of practice, George Mason University’s School of Business
There’s perhaps no better-known name in the GovCon community than Hillen’s. A former national security official turned CEO turned faculty, Hillen successfully parlayed his years of experience and leadership in government contracting and business into a role as executive in residence and professor of practice at GMU’s School of Business. There, he teaches courses in leadership, strategy, international business strategy, entrepreneurship and specialty EMBA and MBA courses on business issues in national security and the GovCon industry. He also writes a regular column for Washington Technology, highlighting topics such as Trump and the GovCon Market and problem employees.
Why Watch:
Hillen isn’t content being idle — ever. He remains active in the GovCon and business communities, serving on a number of GovCon boards, teaching and sharing insight on executive leadership, strategy and entrepreneurship. Keep an eye on his most recent endeavor: co-writing the book, “What Happens Now?: Reinvent Yourself as a Leader Before Your Business Outruns You,” due out in May. The book talks about how to avoid the “organizational wreckage” that happens when the growth of an organization outruns executives’ skills.
Dan Harris, senior vice president, general manager, SAIC’s Information Technology Solutions Market Segment
Harris joined SAIC in 1999 with the acquisition of Boeing information Services, where he spent the first 22 years of his government contracting career. He became an integral part of SAIC’s corporate evolution and ran some of the company’s largest contracts prior to its first IPO in 2006, and following the strategic separation from its former parent company, Leidos, in 2013. Immediately after the restructure in 2013, Harris was heavily involved in implementing an enterprise matrix management organizational model while serving as SVP of the Federal and Civilian Customer Group. As the leader of the Federal and Civilian Customer Group, Harris successfully managed more than $1 billion of revenue, including support to teams that won major $100+ million and $1 billion contract awards with NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, the General Services Administration and other civilian agencies. These major contract awards supported the growth of SAIC as a new company and have continued to contribute significantly to its success as a major technology integrator in the government market.
Why Watch:
SAIC continues to support some of the most critical missions for government clients under Harris’ leadership that builds upon his over 40-year continuous career with Boeing and SAIC.
Angela Heise, president, Civil Group, Leidos
The Leidos Civil Group has one of the most diverse and dynamic portfolios within the company. Heise has led this $3.6 billion business since August 2016, unifying and expanding the reach of the Civil Group to serve as a trusted partner for U.S. cabinet-level civil agencies and major elements of the public and private sector across the globe. Focus areas include air traffic automation, energy and the environment, federal infrastructure and logistics, IT and cybersecurity, and homeland security.
Why Watch:
With a rich, technical background in computer science, a disciplined program management approach honed on civilian and defense programs valued at more than $1 billion, and a drive for building trusted partnerships that better enable customer missions, Heise is a leader synchronizing technology, process and people at a critical time in the IT modernization era. During a recent Federal News Radio Executive Roundtable titled “Maintaining the IT Transformation,” Heise noted “one of our roles is to give customers confidence in the out-year value that they need — from a mission perspective as well as a savings perspective.” Heise is one to watch as she leads an organization carrying out that critical role.
Barbara Humpton, president and CEO, Siemens Government Technologies
Humpton spent her three-decade career supporting a range of federal customers. She previously served in senior leadership roles at Lockheed Martin and Booz Allen Hamilton. Humpton joined SGT in October 2011 as senior vice president for business development, and in October 2015, was named SGT’s first chief operating officer. Not long after, she became president and CEO, and in just two short years, led her team to double-digit growth.
Why Watch:
By leveraging a strong core business for federal customers through Energy Savings Performance Contracting, Humpton is expanding relationships and building new portfolios for Siemens with government customers in electric propulsion systems for the sea and air domains, and software solutions driving greater efficiencies in product lifecycle management across the uniformed services. “Now that our country is getting closer to energy independence, we must focus on becoming more energy secure and resilient,” Humpton told WashingtonExec last June.
Mike Leff, vice president, defense, AT&T Public Sector
In just four years at AT&T’s Public Sector unit, Leff has led its federal Civilian Sector business, Global Public Sector Strategy and operations and, now, its Defense sector business. He spearheaded the teams that secured AT&T opportunities to compete on major contracts such as the $50 billion GSA Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions and the $50 billion Alliant 2 contracts. In addition, he’s led advanced technology solutions for the U.S. Census Bureau, the Veterans Affairs Department, the Social Security Administration, NASA’s Deep Space Network and dozens of other major federal agencies. Leff also led AT&T’s push into innovative territory, including the work AT&T is doing with NASA to research safe and highly secure operation of drones in the national air space and its agreement with GSA’s Office of Fleet Management to offer fleet management capabilities to dozens of agencies.
Why Watch:
Leff brings AT&T’s vision for a “network of the future, today” driving innovation that defend the nation by addressing DOD’s needs with advanced solutions spanning network, cybersecurity, mobility, unified communications and cloud services. Under his leadership, his team is working to bring AT&T’s Smart Cities capabilities to military bases, delivering IoT solutions that can automate and improve perimeter security, base access, network protection, smart grid, and emergency communications. He is also going to help AT&T deliver the benefits of FirstNet — AT&T’s national broadband network dedicated to helping first responders — across DOD.
Ed Meehan, chief operations officer, Accenture Federal Services
Meehan views Accenture Federal Services as a company that acts like a startup inside a global company. “We’re champions for new technology, with the proven ability to bring innovative solutions and commercial best practices to government,” he says. AFS uses digital and innovation to help clients re-imagine what they do and how they do it, backed by significant investments in capabilities, acquisitions, luminaries and approaches focused on the “new”; including digital, cloud, cyber, artificial intelligence and agile. As COO, Meehan shapes the vision of AFS’ “growth-oriented operations,” and his creative, entrepreneurial perspective is formed by his own personal journey, having joined Accenture 28 years ago. Over that time, he has led large delivery programs, AFS Sales, the Civilian portfolio, the Safety & Citizen Services portfolio, among other initiatives.
Why Watch:
AFS constantly evolves its business model to the cutting edge of digital and innovation. For example, the FedRAMP-approved AIP platform for Government is a new analytics solution platform that lowers costs, deploys quickly, and provides consumption pricing on a customized analytics platform. The company also brings disruptive trends like artificial intelligence to government: from at-scale robotic process automation that applies and adapts government’s complex business rules to deep learning models that truly amplify the work of government employees, so they can perform more value-added activities in support of their mission.
Jonathan Moneymaker, president, Altamira Technologies Corp.
When Moneymaker joined Altamira in 2014, he rolled up his sleeves and got to work. Expanding on his track record of success across startup ventures, mid-market private equity and Fortune 100 enterprises, he spearheaded Altamira’s 3-year, year-over-year, double-digit growth strategy, and led its two acquisitions to accelerate its position as a dominant player in data analytics and advanced engineering by adding cyber operations and cloud migration to the organic portfolio. “It is incredibly humbling to have been asked to lead such an amazing organization,” Moneymaker told WashingtonExec earlier this year. “I’m excited to integrate our vision of the evolving market and mission landscape, deep customer intimacy, and exceptional customer delivery that will accelerate success for Altamira and its partners for years to come.” Outside of his responsibilities at Altamira, Moneymaker serves on the board of directors of the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering, advancing the development of tomorrow’s engineers.
Why Watch:
In a short time, Moneymaker has continued to enhance and build on Altamira’s brand and reputation, recognized for its innovation and ability to solve problems, personal touch to customer success, commitment to mission delivery – collectively advancing and transforming how it helps solve today’s most pressing national security problems. Expect more bold moves from this California native who’s dedicated his whole career growing and executing diverse portfolios of business.
Zachary Parker, president, CEO and board director, DLH Corp.
Parker led the strategic acquisition of Danya International, Inc., expanding DLH’s service portfolio to include a broader range of technology-enabled government services. Under his leadership, DLH nearly tripled its revenue from roughly $40 million to over $115 million and turned its operations from a loss to delivering over 7 percent EBITDA. Other accolades include: FedHealthIT Innovation Award Winner for leading an overhaul of the Health and Human Services Department’s Administration for Children and Families Aligned Monitoring System 2.0.; FedHealthIT100 Award for improving the accuracy and quality of service delivered nationwide on behalf of DLH’s client Veterans Affairs Department; and GovWin IQ’s recognition as a Top 5 Veterans Affairs Budget Account.
Why Watch:
Parker led company transformation into an influential health IT innovator resulting in multiple awards throughout 2017 for contributions to the advancement of the federal health market. We’re likely to see more of that type of success in 2018.
Kevin Phillips, president and CEO, ManTech Int.
ManTech’s growing success demonstrates the close alignment between its mission-focused core capabilities and customer need. Its hallmark traits are speed, agility, precision and efficiency and so “we can scale quickly to handle any complex customer challenge, then map the ideal solution to their mission on time and within budget,” Phillips says. It’s an approach that earned ManTech recognition as a leader in best-in-class cyber, data collection and analytics, secure enterprise IT, and systems engineering and application development solutions. And all this success, Phillips credits to his mentor and source of inspiration. “I am proud to have served and learned from one of the government services industry’s founders, George Pedersen, and I am committed to continuing his legacy to provide value added differentiators for our customers and return strong results for investors,” Phillips says.
Why Watch:
This year, ManTech celebrates its 50th anniversary. Phillips says all company achievements happen because of the contributions of the thousands of ManTech employees in developing its reputation as a company focused on national and homeland security and its customers’ missions. “Looking ahead, our mandate will not change,” Phillips says. “We will build on our proud history of ‘securing the future.’”
Robin Portman, president and CEO, Atlas Research
This is shaping up to be a breakthrough year for Atlas, with the July 2017 announcement that Portman would be named CEO and president, coming off a stellar career as an executive vice president at Booz Allen and as director of the Strategic Innovation group at Georgetown University’s School of Nursing. In just six months at Atlas, Portman has implemented a new markets- and services-oriented strategy grounded in digitization and innovation, and set up new disciplines and capabilities to tackle market challenges. The firm is best known for its ground-breaking work in research and evaluation, human capital solutions, health data management and interoperability, and optimizing organizational performance. It’s now on a trajectory to “break out” as a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business to become a full-service provider in the federal health research and advisory space.
Why Watch:
In September 2017, Atlas was named the 12th fastest-growing company in D.C. by Inc. magazine, and four months later, the firm gained recognition by Inc. 5000 as the 12th fastest-growing veteran-owned firm in America. With game-changing wins in HHS, VA and DOD health markets as well as the National Science Foundation, Atlas is poised to expand and accelerate its reach on mission-critical programs such as Veterans Affairs Department modernization, expanding educational benefits for veterans, and improving long-term support for veterans and caregivers through the Choose Home initiative.
Stu Shea, CEO, Peraton
A long-time industry executive who recently stepped into the CEO role, Shea established the new stand-alone business entity and Peraton brand as a next-generation national security company. Under his leadership, Peraton has won several key awards — the Transportation Security Administration’s Integrated Logistics Support contract and the Army’s Deployable Adaptive Global Responder Support contract — which solidified Peraton’s place in the market as a formidable competitor. “I want us to be ‘The Company’ that is seen as taking on the most difficult and daunting challenges that national security customers would want us to take on,” Shea told WashingtonExec last month.
Why Watch:
Shea has positioned Peraton for growth in a series of bold moves including the strategic realignment of the business organization. On top of that, he’s built a forward-leaning leadership team, appointing existing Peraton leaders to new roles while attracting key industry executives with demonstrated track records and a deep understanding of Peraton’s customers’ missions
In 2018, expect continued focus on strategic technology development, business development and pipeline expansion in priority areas to grow organically, and execution of bold corporate growth strategy, including M&A opportunities.
Gary Slack, president and CEO, XLA
Slack came to XLA in January 2016, charged with leading its strategy and business plan execution, focusing on corporate growth. Since then, he’s improved business operations by aligning processes for business development, to recruiting, to pricing, to human capital delivery. He’s strengthened the company’s financial position by delivering above-average bottom line results and re-building a viable pipeline of business opportunities. Leveraging blanket purchase agreement and IDIQs, Slack was able to go deep into supporting client needs resulting in additional expansion contract actions. Finally, he also streamlined operations to focus on the company’s strengths in the areas of managed services, program management support and acquisition support, all while adding to its capabilities in the areas of data analytics and cyber.
Why Watch:
Slack says he will continue to execute on the strategic plan with emphasis on securing new business opportunities in the company’s managed services offerings. XLA plans to participate in selective M&A opportunities that add to its client base in its areas of strength. The company also plans to execute on its theme to “Engage, Embrace and Drive,” which, in short, means engaging with stakeholders, embracing company objectives and driving company performance to the highest level.
Karen Trowbridge, president and CEO, Trowbridge & Trowbridge
Founded by President and CEO Karen Trowbridge in 2006, T&T experienced a year of transformation in 2017. Based on a foundation of excellent past performance, financial solvency and quality principles, the company grew revenues by over 20 percent augmented by its strategic next-generation IT capabilities in support of the Defense Department. The company was recognized by the Washington Business Journal on its 2017 “Fastest Growing Companies” list and this marks the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth for the company, with an average annual growth rate of 40 percent.
Why Watch:
Under Trowbridge’s leadership, the company will bolster an already strong executive leadership team and continue the shift to middle-market unrestricted opportunities that leverage its existing customer sets and core capabilities in cybersecurity, insider threat, cloud engineering and IT modernization — while continuing to invest in its employees, service offerings and industry partnerships.
George Wilson, CEO, ECS Federal
Wilson started working with ECS in 2011 and took over as CEO in 2014. His purpose when joining was to build a company driven by exceptional service, highly skilled employees and a culture centered on integrity, leadership and teamwork. Wilson’s vision helped to transform a small, services-oriented business into a large technology-focused provider of delivered solutions. Under his leadership, ECS has experienced organic growth while making tactical acquisitions to build technical depth in cloud services, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Revenue has more than doubled twice during his tenure, from just over $100 million in 2010 to over $600 million targeted in 2018.
Why Watch:
On Jan. 31, On Assignment, Inc. signed a definitive agreement to acquire ECS Federal, from Roy Kapani, the company’s majority owner and founder, and Lindsay Goldberg, a private investment firm, for $775 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close on or about April 2, 2018.
ECS will become a division of On Assignment and continue to operate under the ECS brand name. Wilson and the current leadership team of ECS Federal will continue to execute the strategy and oversee the day-to-day operations of the business. Wilson and the team are energized by the possibilities of this acquisition.
Dave Zolet, president, CEO, LMI
LMI is preparing for growth. The 56-year old government consulting stalwart has been problem-solving for the federal government since its founding by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. Now under the leadership of Zolet, LMI leverages its long-term customer relationships, exceptionally talented people and disciplined rigor to take the company to the next level. Zolet is focused on scaling services while improving the company’s effectiveness and maintaining its treasured culture. As the leader of the public sector business at DXC Technologies, formerly CSC, he turned around programs and yielded the highest margins in the sector by improving competitiveness and reshaping portfolios. After leading commercial work for the company, he has returned to public-sector consulting to expand LMI’s mission as a leading provider of program management to the federal government.
Why Watch:
2018 is a year of bold moves, acquisition, hiring and innovation for LMI. The company has successfully served 11 administrations through peace and war through reliable innovation, and Zolet is ensuring it sticks to the basics of team building and winning recompetes, coupled with acquired growth and bigger deals. “LMI is a mid-sized not-for-profit, and we’re going to be a formidable force against the large, public primes,” he says.
