Pat Host 
- Clay Goldwein took an unusual approach to GovCon leadership
- He started his GovCon with a simple desire to code and without business experience
- Goldwein sat down for his latest Spotlight interview to discuss AI and growth
Clay Goldwein found his way into business leadership by accident. After graduating from Duke University with a computer science degree in 1994, the CGI Federal senior vice president, and national security and justice business unit leader went to work for AMS supporting the Environmental Protection Agency.
But Goldwein didn’t have any business knowledge, or interest. He simply wanted to write code. As time passed, especially after AMS merged with CGI in 2004, he had opportunities to learn more about the business side of the company’s work. Ultimately, his role evolved into a path for leadership positions.
Since then, Goldwein has passed his lessons learned to others, participating as a leader in the American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council’s, or ACT-IAC, professional development program. Watching younger professionals discover talents, develop career strategies and advance in the direction they want to move has been gratifying to Goldwein.
We’ve sat down with Goldwein numerous times over the years, including in 2021 to discuss the company’s “Build and Buy” strategy and in 2022 talk about improvements in federal innovation. We caught up with Goldwein for his latest Spotlight interview about AI in CGI Federal’s national security work, how he stays up-to-date on AI and emerging technologies and Goldwein’s growth strategy for CGI Federal’s national security and justice business unit.
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ExecutiveBiz: How does AI factor into the technology landscape, especially in the context of your work in national security?
Clay Goldwein: It is a revolutionary development, but it also requires responsible use. The key is using it wisely while taking steps to mitigate risk. On the security side, AI allows adversaries to identify and exploit vulnerabilities much faster than they could without it, but it also enables equally rapid defenses.
With AI, attackers can find, amplify and exploit weaknesses fast—certainly faster than most vendors can respond with software patches. We seek to proactively bridge that gap between exploit discovery and software patch to keep our clients, and ourselves, safe from the threat.
That said, there is no end to the potential of AI for boosting efficiencies, sharpening accuracy and speeding service delivery, all of which are vital for federal agencies in the national security and justice domain. We’re entering an era of digital labor—the ability of agentic AI to handle even some complex tasks with minimal human intervention. We expect to see it move the role of human labor higher up the value chain, with automation taking over the repetitive, lower-level work that is nevertheless indispensable for agencies to meet their mission requirements.
EBiz: How do you stay up to date on the state of the art with AI and other emerging technologies?
Goldwein: I try to get hands-on experience when possible, doing things in a way where I, and other leaders across the business, can get exposure. Not long ago, we had a vibe-coding workshop, exploring the use of AI to develop code based on user prompts. We had 30 or 40 people learning how to vibe code together. The experience enabled me to be more knowledgeable and better equipped to talk to clients and other CGI partners about it.
Experiences like that help ground leaders in the capabilities and limitations of emerging technologies, ensuring decisions are based on knowledge and realistic understanding.
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EBiz: What is affecting the market right now? What factors are you considering as challenges or hurdles?
Goldwein: As I just discussed with regard to AI, we are in a period of profound disruption. The rapid shifts in technology have a ripple effect that factors into agencies’ short- and mid-term strategies, and their budgeting and spending decisions.
Everything is moving fast. An agency’s need to step back and rethink things is normal and expected. This is just the reality of the market and there are always variables in play.
As our clients evaluate the landscape, it’s our job to stay ahead of technology developments and serve as advisers in this era of rapid change. This is why I’m especially focused on marshaling experts and tapping top technology talent to provide clients with the expertise they need.
EBiz: What does CGI Federal’s national security and justice business unit look like in five years if your growth strategy goes as planned?
Goldwein: It will probably split into more than one business unit after a certain amount of growth. Increased activity means expanded operations and, eventually, a single leadership team might not be able to effectively manage the breadth of work.
Reaching that point will require building stronger and deeper relationships with a broader set of customers, which we’re always working toward. This leads to a wider reach and the need to expand to the point where remaining a single business unit doesn’t make sense.
On the technology side, we will continue to work with emerging technologies. In five years, some of the older ways of working will be obsolete, today’s emerging technologies will be the norm and there will be new ones on the horizon to investigate. The growth of the business and the potential to accommodate the expansion and changes in leadership will create opportunities for all in the future.
