Space
The defense space is shifting from exquisite, one-of-a-kind satellites to proliferated constellations, and that changes the entire value chain. The advantage now turns on rate production at DoD quality, the cleared workforce pipeline, and the gap between vertical integration strategy and how SDA is buying.
Autonomy
The expendable-to-attritable continuum is reshaping how defense companies design, produce, and sustain autonomous systems. Kristin Robertson explains why the industrial approach has to match where a system sits on that spectrum, and what CONOPS maturity, software-defined sustainment, and affordability constraints mean for companies competing across this space.
Disruptor Business Models
Non-traditional defense companies are succeeding by treating capability as a living product: software-defined, operator-informed, continuously improved. Kristin Robertson examines what the industry can learn from that model, and why the winners will combine the speed of disruptors with the scale of incumbents.
Defense Finance and Capital
Record levels of private capital and new acquisition pathways are reshaping how defense technology gets funded and fielded, but OTAs, Replicator, and VC money serve different functions with different constraints. Kristin Robertson breaks down why procurement timelines and investor return expectations remain misaligned, and what companies need to understand about PPP authorities before assuming they're accessible.
Manufacturing and Sustainment
Defense customers buy AI-enabled outcomes, but delivering them takes integrating platform data, infrastructure, tools, workflows, and the physical layer. Kristin Robertson explains why most defense orgs still run fragmented point tools instead of integrated stacks, what orchestration really involves, and why the gap is an operating model problem, not a technology one.
DaaS and Orchestration
Defense customers are buying AI-enabled outcomes, but delivering them requires integration across platform data, infrastructure, tools, execution workflows, and the physical layer. BCE Senior Advisor Kristin Robertson explains why most defense organizations are still running fragmented point tools rather than integrated stacks, what the orchestration role actually involves, and why the gap is an operating model problem more than a technology one.
Space
The defense space is shifting from exquisite, one-of-a-kind satellites to proliferated constellations, and that changes the entire value chain. The advantage now turns on rate production at DoD quality, the cleared workforce pipeline, and the gap between vertical integration strategy and how SDA is buying.
Autonomy
The expendable-to-attritable continuum is reshaping how defense companies design, produce, and sustain autonomous systems. Kristin Robertson explains why the industrial approach has to match where a system sits on that spectrum, and what CONOPS maturity, software-defined sustainment, and affordability constraints mean for companies competing across this space.
Disruptor Business Models
Non-traditional defense companies are succeeding by treating capability as a living product: software-defined, operator-informed, continuously improved. Kristin Robertson examines what the industry can learn from that model, and why the winners will combine the speed of disruptors with the scale of incumbents.
Defense Finance and Capital
Record levels of private capital and new acquisition pathways are reshaping how defense technology gets funded and fielded, but OTAs, Replicator, and VC money serve different functions with different constraints. Kristin Robertson breaks down why procurement timelines and investor return expectations remain misaligned, and what companies need to understand about PPP authorities before assuming they're accessible.
Manufacturing and Sustainment
Defense customers buy AI-enabled outcomes, but delivering them takes integrating platform data, infrastructure, tools, workflows, and the physical layer. Kristin Robertson explains why most defense orgs still run fragmented point tools instead of integrated stacks, what orchestration really involves, and why the gap is an operating model problem, not a technology one.
DaaS and Orchestration
Defense customers are buying AI-enabled outcomes, but delivering them requires integration across platform data, infrastructure, tools, execution workflows, and the physical layer. BCE Senior Advisor Kristin Robertson explains why most defense organizations are still running fragmented point tools rather than integrated stacks, what the orchestration role actually involves, and why the gap is an operating model problem more than a technology one.