James Crocker

CTO BESPIN

U.S. Air Force

James “Guideaux” Crocker has over 25 years of professional experience in cybersecurity and is a seasoned innovator and leader in the field of DevSecOps within the Department of Defense (DoD). He currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the Department of Air Force's (DAF) enterprise cloud program named Cloud One, ICAM, and DAF Data Fabric. As the CTO, he is responsible for overseeing a $3B portfolio of programs that maintains 125 applications supporting 700K users across the DAF.

Before joining the Air Force, Guideaux worked for IBM as a network and infrastructure engineer maintaining the backbones for companies such as Texaco, USPS, Gap Inc, and Walmart Inc. In November 1999, he joined the Air Force as a software developer. During his first assignment, he played a crucial role in designing and programming munitions, providing countermeasures, and contributing to IR/RF analysis that proved vital in early combat efforts in Afghanistan. In 2005, he embarked on his second and most notable assignment, living/working across northern-most disparate INDO-PACOM locations as an Intel Systems Developer and Crypto specialist for the National Security Agency (NSA).

Following his tenure at the NSA, he served as the Enterprise Information System Security Manager and Communications System Lead for ACC. There, he successfully completed five Enterprise Enclave Authority to Operate (ATO) certifications across three classifications, modernized the second-largest specialized data center in the Air Force, built and maintained secure facilities and networks for the Air Force and other government agencies, collaborated with the FBI and other government entities to enhance security in a multi-state region, and led software development for DoD’s sole mission planning capability.

In his most recent accomplishments, he was one of the original creators of the DoD Software (SW) factories. As the founder of the BESPIN SW factory, he established the first digital services environment for mobile, web, and cloud-native development across DAF enterprise systems. Additionally, he established Digital University as the premier cyber training capability in the DoD, accommodating over 120K students every year. His unique approach to improving efficiencies allowed him to revamp SW factory acquisitions and technical approaches, resulting in the lowest cost per Airmen while maintaining the highest customer satisfaction in the DAF.

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