Defense Tech Summit
Join us for our Defense Tech Summit in DC on May 20 at The Capitol with Future Union and Entre bringing together leaders across defense tech, policy, and capital. Future Union's "Commission of Fellows" comprises some of the most senior active technology investors and leading operators in the country, who volunteer their time year-round as a nonpartisan civic resource offering private sector perspectives helpful in drafting legislation to help improve policy outcomes.
While the event is calibrated for Hill staffers and officials, the invitation extends to friends and those in policy, defense, intelligence, foreign affairs, emerging-tech, and leaders who would benefit from such networking. Expect a highly curated group of 100+ attendees, including founders, executives, VCs, congressional staff, and principals, gathering for private programming at the Capitol and a rooftop after-hours. For non-Hill attendees, background vetting will be conducted in accordance with Capitol policies prior to approval.
The Agenda:
3:30 PM: Doors Open Arrival; Meet the Fellows (and food).
4:15 PM: Teach-In, a plain-english primer on the Top-voted Vertical + Networking
4:45 PM: Fireside I Top-voted Fellow + CEO/Founder + Networking
5:20 PM: Fireside II Second-ranked panel + Networking
5:55 PM: Fireside III Third-ranked panel + Networking
6:20 PM: Reception Officials, Fellows, Founders, Staff + food/drinks.
7:30 PM Closing then after-hours Rooftop + food/drinks.
Future Union's "Commission of Fellows" will be leading the discussions with private sector leaders, yet the networking is the conference. The Commission is comprised of 27 Fellows representing a combined $40B in AUM across 6 countries. The Panels and Fellows are listed below, while the private sector leaders and CEOs are available on the ballot.
For Hill staffers and principals, please select your top three (3) technology panels (from the eight options below) via the electronic ballot that your office received in a separate email. If you have not received the ballot, please contact us.
1. AUTONOMY & ROBOTICS - Unmanned platforms across air, ground, sea, and undersea — shipping to DoD and allies today.
Moderator: Beth Kroman, BloombergBeta
2. AI & ADVANCED COMPUTE - Foundation-model and AI for systems at the edge — the software layer of modern warfare.
Moderator: Daniel Miessler, Unsupervised Learning
3. SPACE & SATELLITES - Launch, satellite buses, ISR, and on-orbit services — operational space-domain awareness.
Moderator: Nick Kim, Upfront Ventures
4. ADVANCED MANUFACTURING - Sovereign production for critical defense and semiconductor components in the U.S.
Moderating: Vijay Bolina, Google DeepMind CISO
5. ENERGY & PROPULSION - Power density at the heart of next-gen platforms — advanced propulsion, batteries, and next-gen nuclear.
Moderating: Morgan Hitzig, Overmatch Ventures
6. CYBER & ELECTRONIC WARFARE - Operator-grade capability shipping into the national-security enterprise.
Moderating: Saša Zdjelar, Crosspoint Capital
7. BIOTECH & MATERIALS - Synthetic biology, critical-mineral processing. A sovereign-materials portfolio we are racing to rebuild.
Moderating: Valli Sanmugalingam, Senate Intel Committee
8. MARITIME & UNDERSEA - Subsurface autonomy, unmanned surface vessels, naval logistics — AUKUS and QUAD-aligned.
Moderating: David Messenger, McKinsey & Co.
Final CEO/Founder stage-speakers will be determined from the "up-vote" balloting by staffers and members on the Hill. We will announce the top three (3) ranked panels taking the stage before the Summit. Subject to change.