Executive Profiles

Member Profile: Derick Trask, CFO of CACI’s Operations & Support Sector

Derick Trask currently serves as chief financial officer of CACI’s operations and support sector. He began his career at Northrop Grumman, holding a variety of senior leadership roles in both the intelligence and Department of Defense divisions. He later held executive positions at Hexagon and Freedom before joining CACI earlier this year. In a rece

Member Profile: Lisa Talcott, VP of Federal Sales at Dataminr

Lisa Talcott currently serves as vice president of federal sales at Dataminr, where she oversees federal civilian and Department of Defense key account directors. She collaborates with clients to obtain key renewals, add new agency logos and expand the delivery of the First Alert AI platform alerts through Application Programming Interfaces. In a rece

Member Profile: Ash Thankey, Director of National Security at AWS

As director of national security at Amazon Web Services, Ash Thankey is responsible for the company’s human systems, cyber, signals intelligence and defense intelligence units within its U.S. business. He carries more than two decades of experience in commercial and federal account management, and has previously held roles at Oracle and Adobe. Than

Member Profile: Ashutosh Gokhale, CFO of HII Mission Technologies

As chief financial officer of HII’s Mission Technologies division, Ashutosh Gokhale oversees the company’s financial and business management activities while guiding the integration of acquired businesses, most recently Alion Science and Technology. In a recent interview with the Potomac Officers Club, Gokhale discussed the Alion acquisition and

Member Profile: Didier Cormary, Executive Officer, Head of Corporate Strategy & C4ISR, Airbus U.S. Space & Defense

Throughout his over two decades with Airbus, Didier Cormary has served in numerous leadership roles across the globe. Informed by his experience managing government contracts in multiple countries, Cormary now guides Airbus U.S. Space & Defense’s efforts to support the U.S. government as head of corporate strategy and C4ISR. Cormary recently pa

Member Profile: Tom Gauthier, SVP at SkillStorm

SkillStorm Senior Vice President Thomas Gauthier spoke with the Potomac Officers Club about his goals in his current role, the principles that inform his management style, his advice for executives in government contracting and more during a recent Executive Spotlight interview. Prior to joining SkillStorm, Gauthier spent time at companies including CG

Member Profile: Derrick Pledger, CIO of Leidos

As Chief Information Officer of Leidos, Derrick Pledger is responsible for establishing and executing the organization’s information technology strategy and leveraging technology to optimize multiple aspects of the business. Pledger recently sat down with the Potomac Officers Club to talk about the lessons he’s gleaned from his career thus far in

Member Profile: Chris Hegedus, Senior Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton

Booz Allen Hamilton Senior Vice President Chris Hegedus recently spoke with the Potomac Officers Club to share his advice for adapting, growing and succeeding in government contracting, as well as executing a winning leadership strategy. Hegedus is a leader in Booz Allen’s civil business, and he manages operations for the company’s domestic resilie

Member Profile: Alex Dixon, Defense Health Agency Market Leader at Maximus

Alex Dixon’s role in government contracting was foretold as a native Washingtonian. His father consulted with multiple agencies and passed along his interest in the Department of Defense and national security. Alex started as a contract specialist with the Department of the Navy where he learned the budgetary and business dimensions of the DOD while

Member Profile: Juliana Vida, GVP & Chief Strategy Advisor at Splunk

Juliana Vida, group vice president and chief strategy advisor for Splunk’s public sector business, recently spoke with Executive Mosaic about her career accomplishments thus far, the values at the heart of her leadership strategy and the skills she employs to navigate the evolving government contracting industry. Vida has been with Splunk for four ye

Member Profile: Henry Choi, VP of Growth and Strategy for Cyber, EW and Space at HII’s Mission Technologies Division

Henry Choi, vice president of growth and strategy for cyber, electronic warfare and space within HII’s Mission Technologies division, recently participated in an Executive Spotlight interview with the Potomac Officers Club to talk about our nation’s most pressing challenges, how to build a successful team and the changes that need to be made within

Member Profile: John Linford, Forum Director at The Open Group

John Linford, Security Forum and Open Trusted Technology Forum director at The Open Group, recently sat down with the Potomac Officers Club to talk about the importance of adaptability, the criticality of public-private partnerships and the core values that steer his leadership strategy. Linford has been with The Open Group for nearly four years, and a

Member Profile: Jake Weyant, Marketing and Communications Lead at SAIC

Jake Weyant, marketing and communications lead for the national security and space sector at SAIC, recently spoke with the Potomac Officers Club about navigating the government contracting landscape, what it takes to succeed in a professional context and the importance of adaptability. Weyant has been with SAIC for over two decades, during which he has

Member Profile: Brian Baney, VP of Corporate Development at Aeyon

The Potomac Officers Club recently spoke with Brian Baney, vice president of corporate development at Aeyon, to learn more about what inspired him to begin a career in the GovCon space, the goals he wants to accomplish, which attributes make a winning team and more. After starting his career in the public sector, Baney spent over seven years with IBM.

Member Profile: Nate Aiken, Senior Director, Air Force Market Leader at Maximus

During his time as a U.S. Navy surface warfare officer and anti-terrorism training specialist, Nate Aiken came to realize the gulf between how data was managed and how it got into a decision-making process. Disparate systems required lots of effort to collect data on materiel and overall readiness, so commanders did not always have a timely or accurate

Member Profile: Cameron Chehreh, VP & GM of Public Sector at Intel

Cameron Chehreh, vice president and general manager of Intel’s public sector business, recently spoke with the Potomac Officers Club to shed light on lessons learned throughout his career and to provide insight into his leadership style. Chehreh, a 2023 Wash100 Award winner, has worked in the technology industry serving government customers for over