NatSec + Space Innovation Summit | Fleet Week × SF Tech Week
The Department of Defense is embracing a commercial-first model: operating at startup tempo, adopting dual-use technology, and shortening the path from breakthrough to fielded capability.
The Bay Area already holds the other half of the equation: the Defense Innovation Unit, NASA Ames, the national laboratories, the world’s leading frontier AI companies, and the deepest concentration of venture capital on the planet.
What this moment lacks is not capability, capital, or urgency. It is a place where they converge.
No dedicated forum is built to bring together the founders creating critical technologies, the investors funding them, the government leaders who can buy and deploy them, and the veterans who understand both the mission and the market. The missing layer is human infrastructure: a high-trust, high-signal environment where introductions become pilots, partnerships, contracts, and companies—and where veteran operators are central, not peripheral.
The NatSec + Space Innovation Summit is designed to create that environment. VetsinTech and the Bay Area Council will convene 250–300 hand-selected leaders at the intersection of national security, space, frontier technology, and venture capital—aboard the historic Klamath at Pier 9 during San Francisco Fleet Week, with the Blue Angels overhead and Navy ships on the Bay.
This is not a general-interest conference. Attendance is curated. Every seat is intentional. Registration is by approval.
📍 The Klamath, Pier 9, The Embarcadero · October 8–9, 2026 · Invite-only · 250–300 attendees
Why now
The government infrastructure to act on what happens in this room has never been more developed:
The Defense Innovation Unit was elevated to a Department-level Field Activity in January 2026 — commercial technology adoption is now permanent Pentagon architecture, not an experiment.
The Office of Strategic Capital is deploying new financing tools for defense-relevant companies, from direct loans to a new fund-finance program launched this year.
A 2025 executive order and Pentagon implementing guidance now require commercial-first procurement to the maximum extent practicable.
Artemis II flew in April — the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years — and the national security space economy is scaling behind it.
Two-plus years of drone warfare in Ukraine have rewritten the playbook for autonomy, attrition, and iteration speed — and the lessons are landing hardest in exactly the rooms this summit convenes.
The summit is timed to that moment.
One week, two worlds converging
The summit sits at the only 48 hours of the year when both of San Francisco's tribes are fully assembled: SF Fleet Week (Oct 4–12) concentrates the defense and maritime community — over a million attendees, the Parade of Ships, and the Blue Angels flying Friday through Sunday — while SF Tech Week (Oct 5–11) fills the city with founders, researchers, and investors. For 48 hours, the people who fund, build, buy, and fly next-generation national security capability are all within a mile of Pier 9. We put them in one room.
Day One · Wednesday, October 8 — Careers in Defense Tech & Space
The summit opens with a hiring-focused program connecting transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses with space and defense tech companies and government entities actively recruiting for technical and leadership roles — plus employer sessions on what actually attracts top veteran talent. The day closes with a VIP reception bringing together workforce leaders, government partners, and industry hosts ahead of Day Two.
(Full Day One schedule to be announced.)
Day Two · Friday, October 9 — Innovation Summit
Government innovation units, investors, founders, and veteran technologists, in fast 30-minute sessions — closing on the waterfront under the Blue Angels.
8:30 AM — Registration & networking breakfast
9:00 AM — Welcome — Katherine Webster, CEO, VetsinTech · Emcee: Mike McNerney
9:10 AM — Special remarks — Libby Schaaf, CEO, Bay Area Council
9:20 AM — The Bay Area Defense Tech Report — Sean Randolph, Bay Area Council Economic Institute — the first-of-its-kind report on the region's defense-tech ecosystem, debuting at the summit
9:50 AM — Briefing: The U.S. defense tech market — a Bay Area focus
10:05 AM — DIU & the National Labs — where government R&D meets commercial speed
10:35 AM — Military Innovation Units — AFWERX, SpaceWERX, Army & Marine Corps innovation commands
11:05 AM — Academic panel — UC Berkeley, Stanford, and the Naval Postgraduate School
11:35 AM — Keynote fireside chat — speaker to be announced
12:05 PM — Working lunch & networking
12:30 PM — Fireside: Apollo to Artemis — America's return to the Moon, months after Artemis II's success
1:00 PM — Hardware panel — drones, robotics & autonomous systems: lessons from Ukraine
1:30 PM — Software panel — AI at the edge of national security
2:00 PM — Vets in Space panel
2:30 PM — VC panel: Capital Behind the Mission — may incorporate a live founder pitch segment
3:00 PM — Blue Angels flyover & on-the-bay demonstrations — 60 minutes, waterfront viewing
4:00 PM — Closing plenary
4:45 PM — Closing remarks — Katherine Webster
5:00 PM — Program concludes
All panels are capped at 30 minutes including Q&A. Sessions and times subject to change; speaker confirmations are in progress.
Speakers
Keynote speakers
Maynard Holliday — Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Critical Technologies
Led the Pentagon's critical-technologies portfolio in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering (2021–2024), spanning trusted AI and autonomy, space technology, hypersonics, microelectronics, and advanced computing — and earlier served as Senior Technical Advisor to the Under Secretary for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, where he helped stand up DIUx. Before government: two decades building robots at Sandia, Lawrence Livermore, Evolution Robotics, Intuitive Surgical, and Willow Garage. Twice a NASA astronaut-candidate finalist; now a senior engineer at RAND.
Frank Kendall III — 26th Secretary of the Air Force
As Secretary of the Air Force (2021–2025), Kendall was responsible for organizing, training, and equipping the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force — nearly 700,000 Airmen and Guardians and an annual budget exceeding $173 billion — and drove the service's reoptimization for great-power competition, including next-generation air dominance and collaborative combat aircraft. Previously Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (2012–2017) and a Raytheon VP of Engineering. West Point, Caltech aerospace engineering, Georgetown Law; 11 years active-duty Army.
Doug Beck — Former Director, Defense Innovation Unit
As DIU Director (2023–2025), Beck ran the Pentagon's front door to commercial technology — driving "DIU 3.0" and the Replicator autonomous-systems initiative. He came to the job from 13+ years as a Vice President at Apple reporting directly to Tim Cook, and had founded DIU's joint reserve component years earlier. A Captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan; Yale summa cum laude; Rhodes Scholar.
Featured speakers
Maj. Gen. Steve "Bucky" Butow — Commander, California Air National Guard · Strategic Advisor, Golden Dome
California's senior National Guard airman — nearly 4,900 Airmen across five wings — and one of the Pentagon's longest-serving champions of commercial space: present at the Defense Innovation Unit's founding, builder of its Space Portfolio from 2016, and now DIU's Military Deputy. A combat rescue pilot with 3,500+ flying hours and deployments from Desert Storm through Enduring Freedom.
Raj Shah — Managing Partner, Shield Capital
Founder and Managing Partner of Shield Capital, investing at the intersection of commercial technology and national security. Led the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), reporting to the Secretary of Defense, and co-authored Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War. Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Resilience; board member of the NATO Innovation Fund; former U.S. Air Force F-16 pilot. Princeton, Wharton.
Ernie Bio — Managing Director, Forgepoint Capital
Early-stage cybersecurity investor. As Chief Operating Officer of the Defense Innovation Unit, he scaled the organization from ~20 to 80 people across four offices and oversaw $250M+ in commercial contracts; earlier he directed U.S. Cyber Command's Point of Partnership. Began his career as an Air Force fighter pilot. NYU Stern MBA.
Ryan Micheletti — Cofounder & General Partner, The Veteran Fund
Invests early in veteran-led, dual-use technology companies — portfolio includes Firestorm (3D-printed unmanned aircraft), HavocAI (autonomous maritime vessels), and Glīd Technologies (speaking below). As Head of Global Operations at the Founder Institute, the world's largest pre-seed accelerator, he has supported thousands of startups across 200 cities, and he co-founded Vet-Tech, the nation's first startup accelerator for veterans.
Katherine Webster — Founder & CEO, VetsinTech
Founded VetsinTech in 2012 after 16 years at Sun Microsystems, building it into the leading national nonprofit connecting veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses to the tech industry — a community of more than 100,000, with chapters across the country and recognition from the White House and the Department of Labor. This year she launched Vets in Space, creating pathways for veteran talent into the aerospace and defense workforce.
Libby Schaaf — President & CEO, Bay Area Council
Took the helm of the Bay Area Council in 2026 after serving two terms as Mayor of Oakland (2015–2023), followed by teaching and fellowships at UC Berkeley, Stanford, and Harvard. Now leads the region's premier business-sponsored public policy organization — and its push to establish the Bay Area as the nation's defense innovation capital.
Sean Randolph — Senior Director, Bay Area Council Economic Institute
Led the Economic Institute as President & CEO for nearly two decades and now directs its research agenda — including the first-of-its-kind Bay Area defense-tech ecosystem report debuting at this summit. Former Director of International Trade for the State of California, with prior senior roles at the U.S. State Department and White House. Georgetown JD; PhD, Fletcher School.
Joshua Marcuse — Director of Defense Strategy & Growth, Google
Ran the Defense Innovation Board (2016–2019) alongside Eric Schmidt — where he led development of the Pentagon's AI ethics principles — after eight years inside DoD as an innovation advisor. Now leads defense strategy and growth for Google Public Sector, and serves on the board of the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum.
Jon Bal — Account Director, OpenAI for Government
Works with defense customers deploying frontier AI models for operational missions at OpenAI's government unit — home of the Pentagon CDAO's landmark $200M frontier-AI agreement. Came to OpenAI from Anduril, where he directed Connected Warfare infrastructure programs. Cornell MBA.
Zane Teeters — Head of Public Sector GTM, Scale AI
Leads Scale AI's federal and defense go-to-market at the moment of its largest government expansion — Thunderforge, DIU's agentic-AI program for military planning, and a Department of Defense agreement that grew to $500M this year. 15+ years across defense, intelligence, and federal civilian agencies.
Peter Dixon — CEO, Arkenstone Defense
Marine Corps veteran who led scout-sniper and infantry platoons in Afghanistan, then built the bridge between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon twice over: founder of Second Front Systems, and now co-founder & CEO of Arkenstone Defense, the $35M-backed company building the compliance infrastructure that lets commercial companies enter the federal market. Co-founded With Honor, the cross-partisan veterans' political organization.
Mike McNerney — Chief Compliance Officer, Arkenstone Defense (Summit emcee · VetsinTech Board Member)
Two decades across cyber and national security in government and industry: cyber policy advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. State Department service, founder/CEO of Efflux Systems (acquired by Arbor Networks), COO of Resilience, and co-founder of the Institute for Security and Technology. Air Force veteran.
Ian Kalin — CEO & Co-Founder, TurbineOne
Leads TurbineOne, the SF-founded frontline-perception company putting machine learning directly onto battlefield sensors and devices — no cloud required. The company closed a $36M Series B in 2025 and won a ~$99M U.S. Army contract for AI-powered target recognition this spring. A former Navy counter-terrorism officer and nuclear engineer, Kalin served as the first Chief Data Officer of the U.S. Department of Commerce and as a Presidential Innovation Fellow.
Kevin Damoa — Founder & CEO, Glīd Technologies
U.S. Army veteran who ran railhead logistics in Operation Iraqi Freedom — now building autonomous road-to-rail logistics at Glīd, winner of TechCrunch Disrupt 2025's Startup Battlefield, with defense, port, and industrial pilots on the 2026 roadmap. Previously: rocket logistics at SpaceX and the F-35 program at Northrop Grumman.
Chris Pimentel — Mayor, City of El Segundo
Mayor of the city at the center of Southern California's aerospace and defense corridor — home to Space Systems Command's neighborhood and the region's hard-tech manufacturing renaissance. A technology executive and former Marine Corps infantry officer, he has served on the El Segundo City Council since 2018 and as mayor since 2024.
Vinnie Liu — CEO & Co-Founder, Bishop Fox
Runs the leading authority in offensive security, serving 26 of the Fortune 100 and 8 of the top 10 global tech companies alongside government clients. Previously at the NSA and lead of Honeywell's Attack & Penetration team; co-author of the Hacking Exposed series.
Jennifer Daskal — Partner, Venable LLP
One of the country's deepest national-security legal résumés: DOJ National Security Division, Deputy Legal Advisor at the White House NSC, and DHS Deputy General Counsel for Cyber and Technology — counsel to CISA — before joining Venable's cybersecurity practice. Previously faculty director of American University's Tech, Law & Security Program.
Davis Hake — Senior Director of Cybersecurity Services, Venable LLP
Co-founded Resilience, the cyber-insurance company, after cyber-policy roles at the National Security Council and DHS — and a stint helping draft early federal cybersecurity legislation as House Armed Services Committee staff. Teaches cyber risk management at UC Berkeley.
Andrew Reddie — Associate Research Professor, UC Berkeley
Founder and faculty director of the Berkeley Risk and Security Lab, where his work spans wargaming, nuclear policy, cyber deterrence, and the military integration of AI — including Berkeley's course on space technology and national security policy. Non-resident fellow at Lawrence Livermore and Sandia national laboratories.
Kaitie Penry — Director, Emerging Tech & Innovation, Naval Postgraduate School
Runs NPS's Emerging Technology & Innovation Office — the "idea to impact" pipeline aligning naval research with national-security priorities. Came to NPS from the National Security Innovation Network, where she was the Bay Area engagement lead connecting startups, academia, and DoD, after eight years at Headquarters Marine Corps.
The lineup is still being built — additional speakers will be announced on a rolling basis.
The autonomous systems demo
One of the summit's defining moments: a live, on-the-water autonomous systems demonstration staged against Fleet Week's naval operations — Blue Angels overhead, Navy vessels on the bay, and next-generation autonomy operating in a real maritime environment. No panel or keynote can match it.
(Final demonstration subject to confirmation, permitting, and site approvals.)
Who's in the room
Capital — Defense-tech VC partners and LPs actively deploying into national security and space, plus corporate venture teams.
Founders & operators — CEOs of dual-use and national security startups from Series A through growth, and senior executives from frontier AI, autonomy, and space companies.
Government & policy — Program leads and technology scouts from DIU, In-Q-Tel, AFWERX, SBIR, and service innovation commands, with the academic and policy leaders shaping the framework.
Veteran talent — Transitioning service members and veteran technologists: the community this summit exists to serve, at the center of the room rather than the margins.
The room is built for conversion: engineered 1:1 matchmaking, curated session formats, and private meeting space, so every attendee leaves with relationships that move their work forward.
The venue
The summit takes place aboard The Klamath — the historic 1924 ferryboat moored at Pier 9 on The Embarcadero and home of the Bay Area Council — directly on the waterfront where Fleet Week's on-the-bay activity unfolds, between the Ferry Building and Pier 39.
Getting there: BART/Muni to Embarcadero Station (~15-minute walk) or the F-line streetcar; from SFO, BART runs ~30 minutes. During Fleet Week expect road closures and heavy congestion on the northern waterfront, especially around Blue Angels flight windows — favor BART, ferries, or walking. Hotels: the Embarcadero and FiDi put many options within walking distance. Book early — Fleet Week is one of SF's busiest weeks of the year. Details on a discounted attendee hotel block to follow.
Hosts & sponsors
VetsinTech is the leading national nonprofit connecting the military veteran community to the technology industry through education, employment, and entrepreneurship — training 1,000+ veterans a year with chapters nationwide and deep Silicon Valley roots. This summit is the natural evolution of that work: from community support to ecosystem leadership.
The Bay Area Council is the region's premier business-sponsored public policy organization, representing more than 375 of the Bay Area's largest employers since 1945. Its forthcoming Economic Institute report on the region's defense-tech ecosystem is the intellectual foundation for this summit.
Sponsors: Holland & Knight · Arkenstone Defense · Scale AI · Blue Origin
Founding-sponsor and activation opportunities remain across limited tiers → Sponsorship overview (PDF) · Speaking and sponsorship inquiries: info@vetsintech.co
FAQ
Is this open to the public? No — the summit is an invitation-only convening of 250–300. Registering here is a request for an invitation; approvals go out on a rolling basis as we curate the room.
I'm a transitioning service member, veteran, or military spouse. Day One was built for you — hiring-focused programming with companies and government entities actively recruiting for technical and leadership roles. Say so in your registration answers.
Can I attend one day? Yes — indicate which day(s) when you register.
What about Fleet Week itself? The Blue Angels fly Friday–Sunday of Fleet Week; Day Two's program breaks at 3:00 PM for waterfront viewing of the flyover and on-the-bay demonstrations.
Will photos be taken? Yes. We will take photos and short video clips for event recap and promotion. By attending, you consent to being photographed and recorded, and to the use of those images by the organizers on event marketing channels.
Connect with VetsinTech: vetsintech.co/nssis · LinkedIn · X · YouTube
The NatSec + Space Innovation Summit · The Klamath, San Francisco · Fleet Week, October 8–9, 2026 · Hosted by VetsinTech in partnership with the Bay Area Council