Pat Host
Brian Baney brings a dynamic blend of experience and vision to the GovCon industry. Joining CGI through the Aeyon acquisition in 2024, Baney, now CGI Federal vice president for Army and other defense agencies, has played a pivotal role in expanding the company’s defense portfolio and introducing cutting-edge capabilities in automation, data and audit.
As an expert on acquisition reform, data integrity and the integration of commercial best practices, Baney stands at the forefront of helping government clients navigate evolving priorities and embrace emerging technologies such as AI. Baney sat down with ExecutiveBiz for his first Spotlight interview, sharing his perspective on the Army Transformation Initiative, the future of AI and CGI Federal’s strategy for attracting top talent in a competitive GovCon marketplace. CGI Federal is a wholly-owned U.S. operating subsidiary of CGI Inc.
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ExecutiveBiz: What’s your outlook on the defense contracting landscape over the next couple of years?
Brian Baney: I wish I had a crystal ball for that answer. If anyone knew that answer, they might not be sitting in the current seat they’re in. I think the outlook is going to be one of adjusting to constant change, but that isn’t a negative. It allows us to reinforce, and even strengthen, our approaches and some of our solutions that get at some of these changing requirements and the administration’s priorities. We’ve seen several executive orders targeting the acquisition and procurement side and how the government acquires services and products.
Even on the defense side, we’re seeing policies and direction that are asking the Department of Defense to strengthen and be smarter about how it is buying things. That’s going to require every contractor to adjust. But we’re very well positioned to help our clients, especially on the acquisition and procurement side, be able to meet these new and changing requirements.
I do believe as part of that support, we can showcase and strengthen some of our capabilities around optimization and automation. We’re delivering that now and I think the change is good. It will lead to a more efficient government, which is obviously the target of some of these changes. CGI is in a very good position to work with our government partners and help navigate these changes and address their current requirements.
EBiz: What are your thoughts on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Army Transformation and Acquisition Reform initiative? I’m really interested in acquisition reform and budget optimization, including right to repair and expanding the use of other transaction authority agreements.
Baney: Reforming defense acquisition has been an ongoing initiative. There’s a general understanding that when it comes to acquiring large weapons platforms, big defense business systems, or even some of the services, there is plenty the government and industry can do better. Better solutions, technology and capabilities for the end user—which in DOD, is the warfighter—means better outcomes. That should be everyone’s focus. That’s a very critical and important objective and it’s good that the government is focusing resources on acquisition so that it is going from requirement to warfighter much more efficiently and effectively.
I’ll go back to your question, and I’ll bias it towards where CGI can help. We are experts on defense acquisition and procurement. Not necessarily how the government is acquiring things, but in measuring the outcomes, integrating data and providing analysis on how the government acquires major platforms, which goes all the way from acquisition to sustainment. When we are able to share this analysis with our clients, it will allow them to make better decisions. That will help them be part of this transformation and get to the acquisition reform that the Army is seeking.
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EBiz: There’s not a day goes by where we don’t hear about AI and how AI is going to impact society and defense procurement. What are some emerging technologies you think are poised for a breakthrough over the next couple of years?
Baney: Before you can really leverage AI, you have to consider data and automation and how you harness this vast amount of data that we’re collecting. How can you automate the pull of that data in information from the dozens of business systems that are currently throughout DOD? How do you leverage that and take advantage of all that information and use it to your advantage? You can’t do much without access to good data.
Analytical models, whether AI-driven or not, don’t work with bad data. We want to place a huge emphasis on being able to access quality data and integrate and automate data-sharing. There is a good opportunity to help grow that space and really set the foundations for some of the things that are being talked about in terms of AI, such as better decision-making and automating more government processes.
I think everything is becoming software. A fighter jet used to be a very mechanical package that was mostly at the control of the pilot. I’ve heard fighter jets referred to as software packages with wings. When you look at some of the emerging technologies and capabilities that are coming out of software, there is a great opportunity to realize some of the initiatives that the government is looking for in terms of automation, efficiencies and optimization.
EBiz: What is the difference between good data and bad data, and how do you ensure that the data is good?
Baney: We support our clients on several defense processes with data management. We ensure when the services are reporting and analyzing information, especially on their major weapons programs, that it’s all being used the same.
It’s a pretty deliberate effort to make sure you’re working across the enterprise or working across organizations so that they’re all defining their data the same. It doesn’t need to be in one system, it can be in many systems, but it needs to be defined properly. We’ve taken a big step in doing that so when leadership has this data, the types of analyses they can do far exceed what they could previously. That is leading to some things like predictive analytics and some of the language models that are getting at some of the answers that they’re looking for and tying it more to some of the emerging capabilities that we’ve been talking about.
EBiz: What is CGI Federal’s strategy for attracting top talent in a competitive marketplace?
Baney: At CGI, we focus on two things: the goals of our clients and employees. It’s about finding a good culture where people feel like they have ownership in the business and the success of our clients. They have the ability to expand and grow their careers and do so in an environment that invests in the employees.
I think that translates to not only better delivery and better engagements with our clients, but also leads to happier clients. Then you see a model of people that want to stick with the organization because they become vested and they see the outcomes and have the ability to grow. The way to do that is for a strong growth-driven, accountable culture that I think people can buy into and see a path toward their future.
