Pat Host 
Greg Fortier knows success in GovCon is a lot like the skill required to fly the Department of Defense’s most advanced aircraft. Both environments are unforgiving, demand superior judgement and require exceptional execution to deliver the desired outcomes.
Fortier, SAIC senior vice president for Army business, is taking those skills developed while accumulating over 4,000 flight hours flying aircraft such as the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter and the Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter and applying them to GovCon. After completing a 26-year military career that brought him to two combat theaters, two commands of flight test squadrons (Army and Navy) and two major project manager positions in Army aviation, Fortier, a retired Army colonel, is now leading more than 2,200 employees and overseeing strategy, growth and program execution for Army customers in Huntsville, Ala.— SAIC’s second largest location.
Fortier sat down with ExecutiveBiz for his first Spotlight interview, where he discussed SAIC’s ideas for the proposed Golden Dome homeland missile defense system, the most challenging aspect of getting through the research and development “valley of death” and fielding a product and successfully getting a handle on “Big Data.”
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ExecutiveBiz: Is SAIC interested in Golden Dome? If so, what are you offering?
Greg Fortier: Yes. Golden Dome must unite all tiers of our missile defense system into a fully-connected, fast, scalable and resilient architecture built on open systems and American innovation that works in real time. From pre-detection to consequence mitigation, SAIC delivers data-driven decision advantage by fusing sensors, platforms and domains into a unified defense picture. While Golden Dome is certainly a Space Force and Air Force endeavor, the lower-tier of the air domain is also critical, and our support of the Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville will be a complementary component.
Our open, standards-based approach avoids vendor lock and reduces acquisition delays. Using digital engineering and field-tested commercial tech, we deploy solutions in weeks, not years—ensuring the U.S. can detect faster, act smarter and win decisively across any mission environment. SAIC will bring its proven track record of performance across multiple business groups (Army, Navy, Space Force and Air Force) to unify U.S. Northern Command’s air picture and build U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s data mesh.
We also have advanced Space Force missile tracking and Air Force air operations centers, modernizing legacy systems and deploying scalable commercial tech at speed. We plug into existing environments, eliminate seams and deliver joint interoperability without duplication or delays, giving Golden Dome the connected decision data ecosystem it needs to respond to any threat.
EBiz: What’s the most challenging aspect of transitioning from R&D and prototyping to actually fielding a new technology? What solution would you propose for this challenge?
Fortier: One of the biggest challenges is bridging the gap between existing military systems and emerging technology. Protecting the warfighter and delivering on our national security goals requires mission integrators to weave together existing systems with emerging tech—smarter, more efficiently and at a scale that will impact mission outcomes.
SAIC is our nation’s premier mission integrator, leveraging our experience, expertise and ecosystem to deliver solutions that are modular and open. We blend commercial, traditional and non-traditional technology providers to sustain and enhance our military’s asymmetric advantages in every domain.
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EBiz: One of the most pressing concerns about data in today’s digital landscape is the sheer amount to be processed and sorted. What do you see as some of the more viable solutions to tackling this challenge?
Fortier: Addressing the overwhelming volume of data, commonly referred to as “Big Data,” involves several viable solutions. Advanced analytics and machine learning play a crucial role, with machine learning models and AI algorithms automatically identifying patterns and insights from vast datasets, thus reducing manual effort and enhancing processing efficiency. Cloud computing and storage solutions, provided by platforms such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, offer scalable storage and processing power. Data lakes, serving as centralized repositories, facilitate the easy retrieval and processing of both structured and unstructured data.
Data integration and real-time streaming tools like the extract, transform and load computing process and Apache Kafka streamline data collection and transformation and enable immediate processing. Modern data warehousing solutions such as Snowflake, Redshift and BigQuery provide robust analytics and significant storage capacities optimized for handling substantial data volumes. Effective data governance and management are also essential, ensuring data quality through validation and cleansing processes. This is alongside efficient metadata management, which helps maintain accurate and accessible data.
Data visualization and business intelligence tools like Tableau, Power BI and Looker are invaluable for simplifying the visualization of complex datasets. These aid in the extraction of actionable insights while dynamic dashboards offer real-time data reflections. Distributed computing frameworks such as the Hadoop ecosystem and Apache Spark enable efficient distributed processing and large-scale data management.
Additionally, edge computing, which processes data closer to the source, helps reduce latency and bandwidth usage, with smart devices employing AI and machine learning to process data locally before transmitting summaries to central servers. Collectively, these strategies allow organizations to transform potential data overload into actionable intelligence, requiring thoughtful integration of technology, skill development and process management.
EBiz: Where are you seeing the most exciting opportunities to deliver better capabilities to our warfighters today and how are you harnessing these opportunities?
Fortier: There are several exciting opportunities today to deliver better capabilities to our warfighters, leveraging cutting-edge technologies and innovative strategies. Two key areas are AI and machine learning, which can enhance decision-making, predict system failures, optimize logistics and improve threat detection and response times. By integrating AI-driven analytics into command-and-control systems, we provide warfighters with real-time insights and predictive capabilities, ensuring they have the most up-to-date information to make informed decisions.
Cybersecurity is another crucial area, where protecting critical infrastructure and sensitive information from cyber threats is paramount. Advances in cybersecurity are enabling more robust and adaptive defense mechanisms. Implementing advanced threat detection systems, continuous monitoring and employing AI to identify and respond to threats in real time is imperative, as is training warfighters in cyber hygiene and response strategies.
Advanced networking and communications technologies, such as 5G and software-defined networking, offer enhanced communication capabilities that are essential for effective operations. Deploying advanced communication networks ensures secure and resilient connectivity, even in contested environments. Satellite communications for global coverage and redundancy are also essential.
Autonomous systems and robotics present opportunities for unmanned systems in the sky, on land and undersea, to perform tasks ranging from reconnaissance to logistics support, thereby reducing risks to human personnel. Developing and deploying interoperable autonomous systems that can work seamlessly with human operators and other systems, coupled with continuous improvement through field testing, refines these capabilities.
Quantum computing and sensing technologies have the potential to revolutionize encryption and sensing, providing significant tactical advantages. Investing in R&D of quantum technologies and exploring practical applications for secure communication and advanced sensing is crucial.
Wearable technology and human augmentation are also advancing, with enhancements in wearable technology improving situational awareness, health monitoring and the overall endurance of warfighters. Deploying advanced wearable sensors and exoskeletons, integrating augmented reality for improved situational awareness and continuous monitoring of health metrics enhance performance and safety.
Lastly, space operations are increasingly important as space becomes a contested domain. Ensuring superiority and resilience in space-based capabilities involves developing resilient space architectures. It also requires enhancing satellite capabilities for surveillance, communication and navigation, and ensuring rapid response and recovery from space-based threats.
By staying at the forefront of these technological advancements and integrating them into comprehensive strategies, we can significantly enhance the capabilities of our warfighters, ensuring they are well prepared to meet current and future challenges.
