AcqCon: PEOs and CEOs is an invitation-only event to discuss the most pressing issues in defense acquisition.
Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology—together with the National Defense Industrial Association’s Emerging Technology Institute, the Special Competitive Studies Project, the Pallas Foundation, First Breakfast, and Pete Modigliani and Matt MacGregor of Defense Tech and Acquisition fame—are convening 150 of the most innovative thinkers from the acquisition community, industry, and finance for a daylong, interactive summit on June 7, 2024, at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington, DC. The event’s focus will be new approaches to defense acquisition that can flexibly deliver relevant capabilities at scale.
Defense Department Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer Radha Plumb will be the event’s keynote speaker, and panelists will include Army acquisition head Doug Bush and Air Force acquisition head Andrew Hunter.
This widely attended gathering will follow Chatham House Rules. Spaces are filling up fast, so please promptly RSVP here.
For inquiries, contact Shane Dennin at sdennin@hudson.org.
Draft Agenda
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. | Check-in and Breakfast
9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. | Keynote Address
- Radha Plumb, Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer, DoD
9:30 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. | Dialogue 1: How Can the DoD Overcome Cultural Impediments to Effective Acquisition?
- Doug Bush, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology
- David Norquist, President and CEO, National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA)
- Matt MacGregor, Fellow, Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC)
10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. | Break
10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. | History Talk: The Rise of Central Planning in Defense Acquisition
- Eric Lofgren, Founder, Acquisition Talk
11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Dialogue 2: How Should the DoD Balance Tradeoffs with MOSA?
- Dave Tremper, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Acquisition Integration and Interoperability
- Matt Steckman, Chief Revenue Officer, Anduril Industries
- Matt Sipe, Vice President of Strategy, Parry Labs
Moderator
- Liz Stein, Managing Director, US Innovative Technology Fund
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Lunch
1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. | Dialogue 3: Tower of Babel: What Do Government/Industry/Venture Capitalists Misunderstand about Each Other’s Incentives and Constraints?
- Andrew Hunter, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics
- Katherine Boyle, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
- Shyam Sankar, Chief Technology Officer, Palantir Technologies
Moderator
- William Greenwalt, Visiting Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Workshops
- Requirements in Reverse: Adapting Requirements to Use What Is Available
- Profit Margins and Lagging Utility of Weighted Guidelines
- Picking Winners: Does It Close the Door on Innovation?
- Capacity-as-a-Service: How Can the Government Create a Short-Term Marketplace or Incentive Structure to Utilize Existing Latent Capacity to Increase Manufacturing Output?
3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. | Presentation of Workshop Findings
3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | Rapid Acquisition of Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles
- Brigadier General Mike Brogan (Ret.)
4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. | Dialogue 4: Should the Government Build Software?
- Bryon Kroger, Founder and CEO, Rise8
- Tyler Sweatt, Chief Executive Officer, Second Front
Moderator
- Tara Murphy Dougherty, Chief Executive Officer, Govini
4:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | Closing
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Reception