Virtualitics

Michael is the CEO and Co-Founder of Virtualitics. Michael is a data scientist and entrepreneur with a background in finance and physics. He co-authored many of the patents underpinning the Virtualitics AI platform. He believes that AI applied to data analytics can help solve some of the world’s toughest challenges.

Prior to co-founding Virtualitics, he was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank, where he started and headed a data driven trading desk in London, New York, and India focused on the insurance and pensions markets. Managed a large group of data scientists. Designed the group’s predictive modeling and risk management systems. Started and was technical advisor to the bank’s first insurance-linked fund. Previously was an interest rates derivatives trader at various large banks. Graduated from the Goldman Sachs analyst program.

Michael was also a researcher in nanotechnology at Caltech, where he contributed to two papers and obtained one patent. The patent is related to a quantitative method for determination of target molecules in the context of nanotechnology devices applied to medical research.

Michael is interested in science education, especially for early childhood, to reduce inequality. He is a member of the Board of Caltech’s Computer Science Department (IST division), a member of the Board of the Pasadena Math Academy, and judge at the LA County Junior High Physics Science Fair. He was a member of Caltech Children’s Center Board. He has an MBA from Harvard, an MS in Applied Physics from Caltech, and a BS in Physics with honors from Columbia University.

Ciro Donalek is a leading expert in Artificial Intelligence and data visualization. As a Computational Staff Scientist at Caltech he successfully applied Machine Learning techniques to many different scientific fields, co-authoring over a hundred publications featured in major journals (e.g., Nature, Neural Networks, IEEE Big Data, Bioinformatics). He holds several patents in the fields of AI and 3D Data Visualization, co-authoring the ones that define the Virtualitics AI platform. During his 20 years career in Data Science he has been awarded numerous grants and research fellowships.

Dr. Donalek has also pioneered some of the uses of 3D and Mixed Reality for data visualization, AI-assisted data exploration and collaboration, leading the iViz project at Caltech (Virtualitics Explore precursor).

Dr. Donalek is passionate about teaching and public outreach and has given many invited talks around the world on Machine Learning, Immersive technologies and Ethical, Interpretable and Explainable AI.

He also has a Minor Planet named after him as a reward for the work done in the automatic classification of celestial bodies and has been part of the small group that built the Big Picture, the single largest real astronomical image in the world, 152 feet wide and 20 feet tall, currently installed at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, the most-visited public observatory in the world (with 1.5 million visitors a year).

Dr. Donalek holds a PhD in Computational Sciences / Artificial Intelligence (University Federico II of Naples, Italy) and a MS in Computer Science (University of Salerno, Italy). He is married with two children.

Jerome Josz is the Chief Financial Officer and is responsible for strategic planning, finance, accounting, legal and operations at Virtualitics. Prior to joining Virtualitics, Jerome was the Director of Finance at GoGuardian, where he helped scale the company and manage a successful exit to private equity. Previous experience also includes working for JP Morgan in the investment banking division. Jerome holds a MSc in Finance from HEC Paris (France) and a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Economics from Queen’s University (Canada). He enjoys being outdoors and spending time with his family.

Rob leads the Virtualitics global go-to-market organization that is maniacally focused on helping customers achieve quantifiable, high-impact outcomes through AI-driven data analysis, insights, and predictions.

Prior to joining Virtualitics, Rob served in key sales leadership roles at growth-oriented enterprise software companies including Salesforce, where he spent over a decade leading national and global teams, Oracle, PTC, and most recently as CRO of Automation Anywhere.

Rob lives in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife and two kids. His passions include golf, skiing, and giving back through involvement with several non-profits including Special Olympics Northern California where he previously served on the board.

Rob grew up in England where he graduated from the University of Kent with a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Chemical Physics.

Rob Bocek is President, Public Sector, and leads the strategy and execution for Virtualitics across U.S. Defense, Intelligence, Federal Civilian agencies, and State and Local Government business verticals. He is responsible for overseeing the end-to-end customer acquisition and expanding mission partnerships while spearheading strategic business development campaigns, sales, and go-to-market strategies to drive revenue and communicate our company’s mission, core values, and vision.

Rob has nearly 15 years of experience leading teams focused on bringing new & disruptive technologies to market. Prior to joining Virtualitics, Rob led multiple VC defense-tech startups in the rapid scaling and buildout of revenue operations. His business experience includes serving as Chief Revenue Officer for a privacy-enhancing technology company with deep roots in DOD & Intel mission communities to leading the Revenue and Growth for a Directed Energy counter-electronics weapons development company.

Rob was also a senior executive at Microsoft for nearly 7 years, leading the Defense Industrial Base/FSI business across Microsoft Federal – National Security organization. His core initiatives centered on positioning enterprise SaaS solutions and driving the adoption of Microsoft’s advanced technologies including Artificial Intelligence, Mixed Reality, and human-machine teaming capabilities supporting next-generation Battle Management Command & Control.

Before launching into the tech landscape, Rob had a distinguished career in Naval Special Warfare where he served for almost a decade as a U.S. Navy SEAL; a decorated tactical commander with over four consecutive combat tours supporting national directives. Rob holds a Bachelor of Science in Weapons & Systems Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and is a graduate of Harvard Business School – Executive Education and Program for Leadership Development.

Rob is an avid fly fisherman with a genuine love for the outdoors. He and his family reside in Western Loudoun Virginia.

Bio Michael is a data scientist and entrepreneur with a background in finance and physics. He co – authored many of the patents underpinning the Virtualitics AI platform. He believes that AI applied to data analytics can help solve some of the world’s toughest problems.

Prior to co-founding Virtualitics, he was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank, where he started and headed a data driven trading desk in London, New York, and India focused on the insurance and pensions markets. Managed a large group of data scientists. Designed the group’s predictive modeling and risk management systems. Started and was technical advisor to the bank’s first insurance – linked fund. Previously was an interest rates derivatives trader at various large banks. Graduated from the Goldman Sachs analyst program.

Michael was also a researcher in nanotechnology at Caltech, where he contributed to two papers and obtained one patent. The patent is related to a quantitative method for determination of target molecules in the context of nanotechnology devices applied to medical research.

Michael is interested in science education, especially for early childhood, as a way to reduce inequality. He is a member of the Board of Caltech’s Computer Science Department (IST division), a member of the Board of the Pasadena Math Academy, and judge at the LA County Junior High Physics Science Fair. He was a member of Caltech Children’s Center Board. He has an MBA from Harvard, an MS in Applied Physics from Caltech, and a BS in Physics with honors from Columbia University.

Ciro Donalek is a former Computational Scientist at Caltech where he successfully applied Machine Learning techniques to many different scientific fields, co-authoring over a hundred scientific and technical publications (e.g., Nature, Neural Networks, IEEE Big Data, Bioinformatics).

Dr. Donalek has also pioneered some of the uses of Mixed Reality for immersive data visualization, exploration and machine learning, leading the iViz project at Caltech (Virtualitics Immersive Platform precursor); he has also four patents in the fields of AI and 3D Data Visualization.

During his 20 years career as a data scientist Dr. Donalek has been awarded different research fellowships, served as reviewer for numerous major scientific journals, and has given many invited talks on Machine Learning, Virtual Reality and Data Visualization.

He also has a Minor Planet named after him as a reward for the work done in the automatic classification of celestial bodies and has been part of the group that built the Big Picture, the single largest real astronomical image in the world, 152 feet wide and 20 feet tall, currently installed at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, the most-visited public observatory in the world (with 1.5 million visitors a year).

Dr. Donalek holds a PhD in Computational Science (University Federico II of Naples, Italy) and a MS in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (University of Salerno, Italy). He is married with two children.

George Djorgovski is a Professor and the Executive Officer (Dept. Chair) for Astronomy at Caltech, as well as the founding Director of the Center for Data-Driven Discovery. He was one of the founders of the Virtual Observatory framework, which is now a global data grid of astronomy, as well as of the emerging field of Astroinformatics. He was the Director of the Meta-Institute for Computational Astrophysics, the first professional scientific organization based in virtual worlds, and he pioneered some of the uses of virtual reality as a scientific and scholarly platform. He and his group also pioneered uses of machine learning and other advanced data analytics methods in astronomy and other fields. Prof. Djorgovski is the author or a co-author of several hundred scientific and technical publications, and a recipient of numerous professional honors and recognitions, including the Presidential Young Investigator, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow, a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science, a Harvard Junior Fellow, a NASA Group Achievement Award, several Distinguished Visiting Professorships, etc.

Virtualitics is proud to announce that General (ret) Frank Gorenc is joining its advisory team. He retired from the United States Air Force after 37 years of active duty service. His career culminated as the Commander US Air Forces Europe, Commander US Air Forces Africa, Commander NATO Allied Air Command at Ramstein Air Base, Germany and Director, Joint Air Power Competence Centre, Kalkar, Germany.

General (ret) Gorenc was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. He was commissioned after graduating from the USAF Academy in 1979. He commanded units at every level and served in staff positions at HQ USAF, HQ Air Combat Command, the Joint Staff, and US European Command/Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. As a command pilot, he flew over 4,800 hours in the F-15C, T-38A, MQ-1B, UH-1N, and C-21.

He participated in Operations DESERT STORM, PROVIDE COMFORT, SOUTHERN WATCH, NORTHERN WATCH, IRAQI FREEDOM, ENDURING FREEDOM, ODYSSEY DAWN, UNIFIED PROTECTOR, and INHERANT RESOLVE. In addition, he commanded three standing NATO operations: Air Policing, BMD, and Augmentation to Turkey missions.

His education includes Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering, a Master of Aeronautical Science, and a Master of Science degree in National Security. He graduated from the Air Force Fighter Weapons Instructor Course and the NATO Tactical Leadership Programme.

General (ret) Gorenc is now a defense and leadership consultant, a public speaker and serves on several boards.

Shay Badie is a partner at Centricus, a global investment platform backed by a select group of sophisticated, global and long-term investors. Centricus currently has four investment verticals: technology, financial services, infrastructure and FEMS (fashion, entertainment, media and sport). Shay has over 17 years financial services experience.

His most recent role was at Goldman Sachs where he was responsible for structuring and executing strategic financing solutions, principal investments, hedging and asset liability management as well as complex derivatives in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Shay was Head of Local Rates and FX Derivative Structuring for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions at Deutsche Bank. Prior to this, Shay held roles in structured and project finance, FX structuring, Interest Rate structuring at Deutsche Bank. Shay holds PhD and Masters in Engineering (First Class Honours) both in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine.

Marco is the co-founder and a general partner of The Venture Reality Fund (The VR Fund), where he oversees the company’s investments in early-stage virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) startups. He has extensive experience in executive roles with leading technology companies and in global investments. For more than ten years Marco has focused on strategic investments across media, entertainment, lifestyle, sports and technology with firms most recently with Evolution Media Capital (Evolution), where he led its investment in JauntVR, as well as Trinity Ventures, Selby, GameChange Ventures, U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Ventures.

In addition to his role at The VR Fund, Marco actively advises numerous media and technology companies in the VR and AR sectors. Marco started his career as a programmer and then researcher at NASA/Ames Research Center. Prior to joining Evolution, he served as president and chief executive officer of the leading mobile game studio, PlayFirst, which he sold to Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU) in 2014.

Marco’s previous exec roles included president and chief executive officer of Racktivity, and chief financial officer of General Magic, where he managed its Initial Public Offering raising over $100 million, and worked alongside some of the most talented engineers and visionaries in Silicon Valley’s history developing intelligent communications devices and technologies that were essential to today’s smartphones, online communication and commerce. Marco holds a Master of Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University; a postgraduate Engineer degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University; a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from San Jose State University; and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the United States Naval Postgraduate School. His postgraduate studies and research at NASA focused on mathematical modeling and digital control of helicopters, drones, and robotics.

Sara Varni is currently the CMO of Attentive, where she drives the end-to-end marketing strategy for one of the world’s fastest-growing software companies. Prior to Attentive, Sara was the CMO of Twilio where she helped reaccelerate revenue growth by bringing a developer first company to the enterprise market. She also spent over a decade in various leadership roles at Salesforce, most notably as the SVP of Product Marketing for the Sales Cloud, the company’s flagship product.

Sara holds a BS in Business Administration from Bucknell University and an MBA from The Anderson School of Management at UCLA.

Brian Miller is the Chief Investment Officer of North Sound Partners, which he founded in 2013. Brian has worked closely with many of the firm’s portfolio companies including joining boards, committees, and gaining board observer status. Prior to founding North Sound, Brian spent 21 years at Elliott Associates, a $40 Billion AUM hedge fund based in New York. When Brian retired from Elliott in 2012, he was one of four equity partners and held the title of Chief Trading Officer and was a member of Elliott’s Management Committee. Prior to starting with Elliott in 1991, Brian was a Vice President at Yamaichi International where he specialized in arbitrage strategies. Brian received a B.Sc. in Economics from the University at Albany in 1988. Mr. Miller is a Chartered Financial Analyst and received his C.F.A. designation in 1992. Brian served on the Board of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research in NYC and currently serves on the board of Inseego (Symbol: INSG), a leading provider of 5G CPE, FWA and edge devices.

Major General Taliaferro retired from the U.S. Air Force after 32 years of service. Jeff first served in a variety of B-1 flying positions, including U.S. Air Force Weapons School Instructor, and his career culminated as the Vice Director for Operations on the Joint Staff, Pentagon. He has commanded at the squadron and wing levels and last commanded the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force and NATO Air Command-Afghanistan as the senior Airman in Afghanistan.

He has extensive experience in corporate decision-making within the Department of Defense, including programming over $44 billion dollars a year into combat air force portfolios, and guiding several major weapons systems through the requirements and acquisition process. His experience includes various operations, strategy, programming and military planning positions within headquarters U.S. Air Force, Air Combat Command, U.S. Central Command, U.S Northern Command and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Maj. Gen. (ret) Taliaferro is a command pilot with over 2,600 hours, including combat over Iraq, Serbia, and Afghanistan.

Jeff graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy (BS Human Factors Engineering), with follow on degrees from George Washington University (MA Organizational Management), and the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (MA Operational Art and Science). He also served as a National Defense Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington, DC.

John Wookey has a 40-year career in enterprise software across strategy, product development, and organizational management. Most recently, John led the procurement and network management development organizations at SAP, including the SAP Concur, Ariba, and Fieldglass products.

Prior to SAP, John held several roles at Salesforce, including the core platform development organization and Salesforce Industries. Prior to his role in industries, John developed Salesforce’ first HR application, work.com, which was subsequently integrated into their core product portfolio.

Prior to Salesforce and SAP, John spent 14 years in the applications division of Oracle, beginning as the VP of development for financial applications, and ending as the overall leader for the applications division, responsible for all horizontal and vertical products. During his tenure at Oracle, he was also responsible for numerous strategic acquisitions including PeopleSoft/J.D. Edwards, Siebel Systems, Agile, G-Log, Portal Software, and Treasury Services.

John holds BS and MS degrees in Engineering Sciences from the University of California at Berkeley.

Lisa Marie Cheney is a thought leader and noted expert on business development and corporate strategies for doing business with the federal government. She has served at the highest levels of government and within the commercial industry. Her areas of expertise include defense and national security, intelligence, energy, homeland security, cyber security, and foreign policy. Ms. Cheney currently serves a Partner with Mission Reliance Partners, a firm specializing in federal business and strategy development, with a focus on cutting edge AI/ML technology applications to enhance government mission needs and requirements, especially related to U.S. national security. Ms. Cheney currently serves on the advisory boards of Veritone Inc. and Symetrica.

Previously, Lisa Marie Cheney worked on the National Security Council Transition Team for President-elect Trump. She was responsible for developing the future policy strategy for the national security council which included the first 100-day, 200 day and long-term policy strategy for the Trump Administration. She was directly responsible for vetting key personnel currently serving on the NSC and in the DoD. She was also appointed to serve on the Department of Energy Nuclear Energy Advisory Board from 2017 – 2020. In that capacity, she was the co-chair of the International Subcommittee, tasked with assessing and promoting the United States competitive position related to SMRs and Advanced Nuclear Reactors. Ms. Cheney also served as a Senior Advisor on the Joint Staff Innovation Group. From 2012-2015, Lisa Marie worked with Jim Ervin at Ervin Graves Strategy where she worked a cadre of defense, energy, cybersecurity and healthcare reform issues. She has also served as the Senior Director for Government Relations and Strategy and Planning for Chemring North America. Chemring North America is the U.S. business of Chemring Group, an established U.K defense company, recognized as a key supplier of defense products to include pyrotechnics, countermeasures, energetic devices, chem/bio detection, man-rated commercial and military space components, and the ground penetrating radar technology used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

During the George W. Bush Administration, Lisa Marie Cheney served the President as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Outreach, and the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Office of Secretary of Defense Legislative Affairs. In that capacity, Ms. Cheney was responsible for all strategy, outreach, and contact between the U.S. Department of Defense, other Federal Agencies, and the U.S. Congress. She traveled with senior delegations composed of Senators, Congressman and Governors around the world working to strengthen and preserve America’s national security. She assisted all components of the US Department of Defense with the fiscal year budget preparations and participated in high level policy negotiations with US government, as well as government leaders around the world, related to global national security efforts.

Ms. Cheney owned and operated a government relations and strategy company, PSMA, Inc., from 1994 – 2010. (She took a leave of absence from 2006 – 2008 while serving the Bush Administration, and as Director of Surrogate Operations for the 2008 McCain Campaign). During that time, she worked on high profile defense issues including both offensive and defense missile systems and missile defenses. Ms. Cheney also worked on many issues related to arms control, military satellites, C4ISR programs, and next generation F-22, JSF, F-18 E/F fighter aircraft. She has also been active in preserving the shipbuilding industry, and the industrial base infrastructure in Norfolk and Newport News, VA. From late 2008 – late 2010 Ms. Cheney served as the senior management consultant for Strategy and Planning for BAE Systems, Inc.

Ms. Cheney is also very active in the Virginia Republican Party, and in 2004, was the 8th Congressional District Republican Candidate nominated to run against the incumbent Jim Moran. She has served in numerous capacities on both national presidential campaigns, as well as Virginia state and federal campaigns. She served as an appointed official on the Virginia National Security and Military Installations Committee established by VA Governor Bob McDonnell, a committee established to aid in the protection and increased viability of national security infrastructure in the state of Virginia.

Lisa Marie Cheney is a Graduate of The George Washington University with a degree in Political Science. She also holds a Master of Arts in National Security Statecraft from The Institute for World Politics, which at the time the degree was conferred was a degree program associated with Boston University, and a Certificate in Corporate Strategy from Harvard Business School.

Lisa Marie is also an active volunteer in Alexandria, spending her time working on many issues related to child welfare and education. She has served on the board of Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theater and is currently serving as Chairman of the Executive Board of Governors for Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, VA, and serves on The Commissioned By Christ Board of Directors, and Vice President of the Bishop Ireton Crew Association Board. Lisa Marie Cheney is a native of Alexandria, Virginia where she resides with her husband, David Cheney, a retired Commander in the U.S. Navy now working with Redhorse Inc, and their three children, Matthew a graduate of the University of Maryland, Kathryn (Kayla) an ensign in the U.S. Navy currently attending the Uniformed Services University Medical School, and Elizabeth, a Freshman at the University of South Carolina.

Jon Duffy is the president of Duffy Strategies, LLC, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business focused on helping government and corporate entities develop strategic plans, execute scenario-based learning, and unleash high-performing teams’ potential. His focus is helping others navigate confusion and achieve goals in changing environments.

Jon served in the US Navy for nearly 30 years. He has lived and deployed all over the world, sailed in and commanded multiple ships, and worked in the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill, and in The White House. In addition to his operational experience, he is a recognized strategy and policy expert.

Jon is a graduate of the US Naval Academy with a BS in Physics and holds an MS in Leadership Education and Development from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Lieutenant General Michael Howard retired from the US Army in October of 2022 after 36 years, and he currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Warrior Focused Solutions (WFS) located in Huntsville, Alabama. WFS’s focus is maintaining the Army’s premier training environment at the US Army’s Combat Training Centers.

Mike is also the President of MLHoward Consulting, LLC in Atlanta, Georgia. He serves as a Senior Advisor, Professor, and Speaker on NATO, US European Command, Ukraine-Russia, China, National Security and Organizational Leadership.

In the Army, Mike led or commanded Soldiers at every rank he held culminating his career as the Deputy Commanding General for US European Command. He served principally as an infantry officer but also had assignments with Special Operating Forces (Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and The Ranger Regiment). Much of his service was during times of conflict and crises. His awards include Combat Stripes (11), Bronze Star Medal (5), Combat Infantryman’s Badge (2), Ranger Tab, and Master Parachutist Wings.
Michael earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Mercer University in Macon, GA, and his Master’s Degree from the National War College, National Defense University in Washington, DC.

Mark built his career in health care, with a primary focus on government-sponsored programs. His experience spans every aspect of Medicare and Medicaid operations, and the complexities of health plan finance and contracting. He began his career with Deloitte Consulting and was a Co-founder and Principal of MMC 20/20, a national Medicare Advantage consulting firm.

He served as the Vice President of Medicare, Government Programs for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Health Plan, where he was responsible for the launch of the Medicare Advantage offerings for UPMC Health Plan, UPMC for Life, now a $3B line of business for the UPMC Health System.

He led business operations, finance and all legal activities for Cavulus, a leading technology platform (SaaS CRM) built specifically for the government programs market. He played an integral role in UPMC Enterprises’ acquisition of a minority share of Cavulus, and in the strategic positioning of Cavulus as it relates to sales and acquisition opportunities of complementary businesses to optimize revenue and profitability for the enterprise.

Mark is a member of the South Carolina Bar Association, and has a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Wake Forest University.

He lives with his family in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Dale Miller has over 25 years of experience in technology strategy and management. Currently, as CEO of Cinnamon Bay Advisors, LLC( CinnamonBayAdvisorsLLC.com ), Dale is known as an innovator with a focus on building next-generation solutions. His management and leadership experience spans multiple areas including: innovation and product development, start-up and VC advisory and evaluation, data analytics and visualization, program and project planning, and post quantum cryptography (PQC). Prior to leading his own firm, he was the Director of Cybersecurity Innovation for Wells Fargo.

As Director, Dale built the innovation program from the ground up and designed it to deliver significant value by driving the discovery, evaluation, and adoption of new technologies into all areas of the organization. He and his team also implemented and led an intellectual property(IP) process to grow the cyber patent portfolio. Dale was recognized by the CTO and CEO with the Tesla award for evangelizing innovation and IP portfolio growth across the technology organization. In addition, he also sponsored the Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) program where he built and positioned a team that now leads the industry in addressing this highly complex emerging risk.

Dale is also an avid inventor and product developer with patent applications granted or pending in multiple focus areas including third-party vendor risk analysis, cryptographic risk models, retail banking applications, synthetic data library management, and electrical grid monitoring. He has a Bachelor in Business and Economics from SUNY Oneonta, and an MBA in Management Information Systems from SUNY Albany.

John “Mike” Murray is a retired United States Army General, the first Commanding General of United States Army Futures Command (AFC), a four-star Army Command headquartered in Austin, Texas. Murray was previously the Army G-8, a deputy to the Chief of Staff of the United States Army. As the G-8, Murray served as the principal advisor to the CSA for materiel requirements and as the military counterpart to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology.

Murray was born in Kenton, Ohio, the son of John and Janet Murray.  He received his commission as an infantry officer via the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program upon graduation from The Ohio State University in 1982. Throughout his career, Murray has served in leadership positions and commanded from company through division, with various staff assignments at the highest levels of the army.

He stepped down as AFC commanding general on 3 December 2021 and was officially retired from the Army on 1 February 2022, completing nearly 40 years of service.

Since retirement from the Army, he has founded a LLC, is a member of several boards of advisors and directors, and individually consulting with defense focused companies.

Cynthia “Didi” Rapp spent four decades in public service—predominantly with the Central Intelligence Agency–in a career that came full circle from the Cold War, counterterrorism, multipolar world, and renewed Russian hostility. Ms. Rapp joined the CIA as a geographic analyst, but for much of her analytic career she covered a range of intelligence issues in the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, and Europe, and she served in several overseas assignments.

As a manager, she directed the production and substance of the President’s Daily Brief (PDB), the Intelligence Community’s foremost analytic product, overseeing content and senior-level reviews. She later returned to analysis, assuming responsibility for the CIA’s Middle East analytic program. Ms. Rapp progressed through a series of executive positions, including Deputy Director of Congressional Affairs, the initial Assistant Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Intelligence Integration, and Director of Public Affairs at the CIA. She also represented senior analysis in a major European capital and served as Deputy Chief Operating Officer in Washington, overseeing daily Agency operations. In her final analytical role, she led the global analytic program as Director for Analysis, ensuring the quality of all-source analysis and guiding the entire analytic cadre. Toward the end of her career, Ms. Rapp served as Chief of Staff for the CIA’s first female Director.

Her accolades comprise two Presidential Rank awards for sustained extraordinary achievements, the Director’s Award for Distinguished Service, and recognition through the Distinguished Career Intelligence and National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement medals.

Based in Madrid, Spain, Kially Miguel Ruiz brings to the advisory board experience from his distinguished career as a technology strategist, business executive and consultant.

During this ten-year tenure at French engineering materials giant Saint-Gobain, Kially contributed notably to the introduction of Statistical Process Control for the High Performance Materials division of the company, and later served as Technology Marketing Director overseeing strategic plans in the Aerospace & Defense, Energy, and Semiconductor industries.

As a business executive at energy management and industrial automation leader Schneider Electric, Kially led the strategic shift from On-Premise to IoT and Hyperscale Cloud shaping the direction of the $4.5 billion IT & Data Center Business of the company. More recently, Kially directed strategy at scientific instruments and pharmaceuticals leader Thermo Fisher Scientific, spearheading inorganic M&A for the Analytical Instruments division.

As a consultant, Kially’s global perspective is underscored by a profound commitment to advancing relationships between investors, startups and corporates in technology and business, and his passion for science and innovation.

Vice Adm. T.J. White is a native of Spring, Texas. He is the grandson of a Sailor and son of a soldier. White is a 1987 graduate of the United States Naval Academy where he received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He holds a Master of Science in Systems Technology (Command, Control and Communications) from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University–Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, District of Columbia. He is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI fellow.

He was originally a surface warfare officer. White served aboard USS Missouri (BB 63) as electronic warfare officer, combat information center office er, and assistant operations officer. He was selected for re-designation as a cryptologist, now cryptologic warfare officer, in 1992 and was assigned to the Operations Directorate at the National Security Agency, Fort Meade, Maryland.

His operational fleet tours include assignments as assistant cryptologist, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet in Manama, Bahrain, and assistant chief of staff for Information Operations, N39, commander, U.S. 7th Fleet embarked aboard USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), home-ported in Yokosuka, Japan.

White has served on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations as the Joint Military Intelligence Program and Tactical Intelligence and Related Activities (now Military Intelligence Program) program resources director, as the deputy director of intelligence and chief of staff, Joint Functional Component Command–Network Warfare, U.S. Strategic Command, and as the director, Commander’s Action Group at U.S. Cyber Command.

His command tours include Naval Security Group Activity Bahrain and Navy Information Operations Command Maryland. As a flag officer, he has served as deputy director, Tailored Access Operations, NSA and as director for intelligence, J2, U.S. Pacific Command. White’s last tour was as Commander, Cyber National Mission Force, USCYBERCOM. He assumed command of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet in June 2018.

Neil Wiley retired from government service in 2021 with 38 years of experience in the national security arena, both as a naval officer and as a civilian intelligence professional. He is currently a Professor of Practice at the University of Maryland Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS) and Managing Principal of Lyseon Consulting LLC, providing senior advisory services for industry and government.

Mr. Wiley most recently served in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) as Principal Executive, performing the duties and responsibilities of the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence. Prior to that, he served in ODNI as Chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC). Mr. Wiley held multiple leadership positions with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) including the Director for Analysis where he led DIA’s all-source analytic effort. Mr. Wiley also served as the DIA Principal Deputy Director for Analysis, Chief of the Defense Technology and Long-Range Analysis Office, and Chief, of the Military Forces Analysis Office.  He also served at the United States European Command’s Joint Analysis Center in various capacities including Deputy Director of Intelligence.

Mr. Wiley’s awards and honors include the Presidential Rank Award-Meritorious Senior Executive, the National Intelligence Distinguished and Superior Service Medals, DIA Director’s Award, and creation as an Honorary Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for service as US Liaison Officer to the UK Permanent Joint Headquarters.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. Wiley attended the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where he studied Biological Sciences, and Ancient History and Classical Languages.  He is married to Alison Michelli, a writer.