Babak Nouri
Vice President of Corporate Development, AMERICAN SYSTEMS
Babak Nouri’s most recent noteworthy achievement is working with his fellow employee‑owners to complete AMERICAN SYSTEMS’ largest acquisition to date with the purchase of Epsilon, Inc., in August 2025.
This acquisition brought in approximately 400 new employee‑owners and positioned the company for its next phase of growth around large, high‑value national priority programs.
“Together, we have new and expanded capabilities in digital modernization, cloud, data center and ‘as-a-service’ offerings,” Nouri said.
He said those capabilities, along with complementary innovations, greater customer synergies and increased scale, enable the company to address the rapidly evolving needs of current and future customers.
AMERICAN SYSTEMS is also helping government customers operate more efficiently by combining synthesis with innovation. The company leverages its deep domain and mission expertise to connect the dots of systems, processes or networks that have been left alone or developed in a vacuum and that aren’t connected, he said.
“When you combine that newly gained knowledge and insight with the power of innovation and the application of technology across technical and process domains, you can bring forward more practical and scalable approaches and help customers modernize with less disruption,” Nouri said.
This not only significantly increases efficiency for customers but also enhances their situational awareness and strategic decision‑making capability.
“Babak brings a strong combination of market insight, disciplined execution and authentic leadership,” said John Steckel, president and CEO of AMERICAN SYSTEMS. “He understands that the best growth outcomes come from aligning customer needs, technical differentiation and delivery excellence, and that approach is helping position AMERICAN SYSTEMS for long‑term success.”
Why Watch
Nouri said the one constant for 2026 has been rapid change. First, there is increasing mission complexity in space, maritime and contested domains.
“Second, we are in the full vortex of what we termed back in 2022 as ‘digital convergence’ — the intersection of cloud, cyber, data and engineering, with their offspring of AI and autonomy now emerging to the forefront,” he said.
Lastly, the need for speed emphasizes engaging customers earlier, not only in terms of timelines but also in the maturity of proposed solutions.
Consequently, Nouri’s business development team is focused on partnering with the company’s business leaders and employee‑owners who have deep technical expertise in areas such as cloud, digital transformation, secure data center services, AI/ML, digital engineering, model‑based systems engineering, as well as other disciplines, to leverage the company’s deep mission understanding and bring forward solutions to complex and rapidly evolving needs.
Beyond that, because of AMERICAN SYSTEMS’ new capabilities and deep mission understanding, Nouri and his team are also putting strong emphasis on secure data center services as the computing demands of mission‑critical customers expand exponentially.
“We all have to keep our heads on a swivel and think of ways to bring speed to market to better serve our country, be it the warfighter or the citizen,” Nouri said. “Often, this requires flexibility in our pursuit and bid practices, where timelines of months and years are now days and weeks, and recognizing that the need is not just ‘what’ but also ‘when.'”
Fun fact: Nouri spent 10 years coaching college football while starting in this industry. Business development, like coaching, requires strategy and adaptation, he said. On a moment’s notice, leaders must assemble teams and resources. Emphasizing the process of learning and developing good habits and practices, as opposed to just outcomes, is crucial, he said. His favorite part is the power of mentorship and development and the pleasure of seeing a team come together and achieve new heights, both as a group and as individuals growing and expanding their horizons.
