The Future of GovCon

Government contracting is changing fast—driven by foreign policy shifts, new technology, and major talent moves. The Future of GovCon is your front-row seat to the leaders shaping what’s next. Hosted by Jake Frazer, CEO of Precision Talent Solutions, the show features candid conversations with CXOs, Flag Officers, diplomats, and innovators across defense, intelligence, space, and cybersecurity. Most of us only see from our own foxhole—this podcast pulls the camera back to show the whole battlefield, offering clear insights without spin or partisanship.

The Future of GovCon is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts The Future of GovCon, a business show with 0 episodes published.

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  Episode #51

  Every Big Call from Season 1 | The Future of GovCon Greatest Hits

  Sep 29, 202627 min

  Welcome to the Season 1 finale of The Future of GovCon, and we're closing out the season with something special: a Greatest Hits compilation featuring bold predictions from over 20 of the brightest minds in government contracting. From robotic battles in Ukraine to data wars in space, acquisition reform, workforce upskilling, European defense investment, and the rise of private equity in GovCon, our Season 1 guests didn't hold back. In this episode, you'll hear from leaders across defense tech, staffing, intelligence, logistics, cybersecurity, space, and more, all sharing where they see the industry heading and what you need to do to stay ahead. Season 2 launches next week. Subscribe so you don't miss it. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:28 NATO, Acquisition Structures, and the Pace of Change 01:37 Speed, Partnerships, and Capability Delivery 02:01 Selling Outcomes vs. Inputs: The New Business Model 02:33 We Are on the Precipice of a Data War 03:01 Teaching Allies to Fish: The U.S. Role in NATO 03:19 Workforce Upskilling: Refreshing Talent at Every Level 04:33 Following the Money: Financial Intelligence in Government 04:59 Speed vs. Cost: Trade-offs in a Debt-Constrained Environment 05:37 RFP Deluge Coming: Market Outlook for 2026 and 2027 06:35 Contested Logistics and the Future of Supply Chain 07:25 DHS, Border Security, and Joint Contracting 07:55 AI and Quantum: The Game Changers on the Horizon 08:54 2028: Another Fork in the Road 09:11 The Gulf Region: U.S. Force Presence and Energy Priorities 10:34 For the First Time, Defense Is a Growth Business 10:55 CMMC, Compliance, and the Cost of Getting It Wrong 11:30 The Risk Gap and Private Industry's Opportunity 11:56 Expendable Drones Reclassified as Ammunition 12:33 Why Private Equity Is Winning in GovCon 13:11 Adding More Tools Doesn't Solve the Problem 14:10 Supply Chain Fragility and National Security 14:48 European Capital Ready to Spend 15:10 The Force of 2030: Professional Materialists, Not Pigeonholed Officers 16:08 Cyber Is a Maneuver Area: Fight Your Network 16:51 The Coast Guard's Unique Role in the Federal Government 17:20 Ukraine's Acquisition Cycle vs. Ours: Weeks vs. Years 18:18 ICE, Cyber, and Adapting to How Government Procures 19:01 Generational Leadership Change in GovCon 19:26 Four Adversaries Aligning: Watching a Global Conflict Take Shape 20:12 Entrepreneurial Innovation Accelerating in Our Industry 21:02 $1.5 Trillion: How Do You Spend It Smart? 22:00 CMMC Through Three Lenses: Modernization, Intel, Insider Risk 23:23 Culture, Talent, and Delivering for the Customer 24:04 Teaching Allies to Lead: Shifting U.S. Role in Security 24:57 The Robotic Battle in Ukraine: A Moment Unique in Human History 25:21 Passing Data at the Speed of Warfare: The Alliance Challenge 26:00 Mission-Oriented, Tip of the Spear: Who We Are and Why It Matters

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  Episode #50

  Three Decades of GovCon and the Biggest Changes Yet | Julian Setian, CEO of SOSi

  Sep 22, 202651 min

  On this episode of The Future of GovCon, Jake Frazer sits down with Julian Setian, CEO of SOSi, one of the most respected privately held mid-tier government contractors in the industry. Julian has been building SOSi for over three decades, growing it from his mother's language and linguistics business into a highly diversified national security and defense intelligence company with work spanning the DEA, COCOMs, the intelligence community, and more. He has done five acquisitions, navigated every budget cycle, and watched the industry transform from the Cold War through 9/11, two decades of deployed operations, and now what he calls the biggest structural changes he has ever seen. In this conversation he breaks down the parallel acquisition world being built around OTAs and CSOs, why the traditional M&A playbook is no longer commanding the premiums it once did, his shift toward early stage tech investments, and why companies that are not changing how they sell are simply not going to survive. Subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps more people in the GovCon community find the show. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Hook: OTAs and CSOs are creating a parallel acquisition world 00:47 – Welcome and introduction 01:28 – Who is Julian Setian: CEO of SOSi, three decades in GovCon 02:18 – How SOSi maps to the arc of the entire government contracting industry 03:03 – Julian's 30 year prediction from 2019: how is he tracking? 03:42 – SOSi at an inflection point: seasoned team, great customer relationships 04:34 – Jake's history with SOSi: running supply chains at Taji, Iraq 05:01 – From narrow niche to highly diversified: one building block at a time 07:10 – Intimacy with customers: Julian personally in the field 08:22 – Was it destiny? Columbia, journalism dreams, and baseball 09:38 – Joining his mother's language business as a temporary gig 10:21 – Two years in and realizing what the possibilities were 11:09 – Working with family: sister joined from JP Morgan as Chief Administrative Officer 13:16 – CFO Bruce Krall: 26 years and a cornerstone of SOSi's success 14:14 – How the business grew: cleared linguists to federal law enforcement to defense 15:00 – Moving into Iraq and Afghanistan: hungry aggressive mid-tiers filled the gap 17:53 – Capacity building, infrastructure, overseas operations 18:41 – Transitioning from deployed operations to home base and headquarters 19:33 – First customer DEA still a customer today: maintaining core while diversifying 20:05 – External growth: five acquisitions including STG in 2019 21:43 – The STG acquisition: Simon Lee's business and the long game 22:36 – Shifting from traditional M&A to early stage tech investments 23:04 – Investing in AB Tech: AI and machine translation 23:38 – First VC-level investment: software vulnerability discovery company 24:36 – Bridging the gap for non-traditional companies breaking into government 24:51 – How SOSi manages a highly diverse agency portfolio 25:25 – The common thread: national security, defense, intelligence, law enforcement 28:00 – What is happening right now in the market 32:00 – The AI opportunity: intelligence analytics, data processing at scale 36:00 – The new acquisition landscape: OTAs, CSOs, NATO task force X 40:00 – The parallel acquisition world being built around flexible vehicles 43:00 – The blurring of traditional and nontraditional: Google, AWS, Palantir 45:00 – SBA proposal to collapse NAICS categories: good for government buyers, hard for small businesses 46:37 – If companies are not changing how they sell they will not survive 47:51 – The old M&A playbook is no longer commanding the premiums 48:41 – Sticky relationships, unique IP, and access placement technology: the new survival criteria 49:05 – One word on the future: "Limitless" 50:02 – Closing thoughts

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  Episode #49

  MG Pete Andrysiak: We Have Been Running Wars on PowerPoint. Here Is What Replaces It.

  Sep 14, 202659 min

  On this episode of The Future of GovCon, Jake Frazer sits down with Major General (Ret.) Pete Andrysiak, former Chief of Staff at U.S. European Command, former DCG of the 25th Infantry Division, licensed civil engineer, 36-year Army veteran, and now Senior Vice President at Palantir focused on European defense. Pete was at UCOM when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, working alongside General Cavoli as the transformation of the entire European Command took shape in real time. He helped stand up the predecessor to the Security Assistance Group Ukraine, watched NATO fundamentally change its posture, and saw firsthand how the C2 and data integration gap was limiting what allied forces could do. In this conversation he breaks down why PowerPoint-driven headquarters is a national security problem, what it actually takes to connect data across allies and partners at the speed of warfare, how NATO is implementing Maven Smart System, and why the opportunity in European defense right now is unlike anything he has seen. Subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps more people in the GovCon community find the show. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Hook: Seeing all domains, deconfliction, and passing data at the speed of warfare 00:38 – Welcome and introduction 01:21 – Who is MG Pete Andrysiak: UCOM Chief of Staff, 36 years, now at Palantir 03:47 – What Pete is doing now: NATO Maven Smart System implementation and BD 04:41 – Eastern flank focus: Romania through Poland into the Baltics 05:15 – Why Palantir: the best C2 integration platform on the market 06:11 – Career overview: combat engineer to operational leader 07:10 – Corps of Engineers, 25th Infantry, US Army Pacific, Europe, UCOM 07:45 – Why data became his passion: driven by decision quality information 08:20 – The PowerPoint problem: a mediocre common operating picture 09:00 – Why Palantir: integrate, move fast, leave PowerPoint behind 09:45 – Engineering mindset meets innovation: process cannot stifle capability 10:20 – Six months into the DCG role: Russia invades Ukraine 10:55 – Standing up the CIU predecessor with General Cavoli 11:30 – Cavoli's mandate: turn UCOM into a war fighting headquarters 12:15 – The change management challenge of a large Cold War-era headquarters 14:00 – The intelligence picture and the sensor-to-shooter gap 16:00 – How data integration changes decision speed at the operational level 18:00 – Maven Smart System: what NATO bought and why it matters 22:00 – The NATO implementation challenge: from ACO to JFC to components 26:00 – Interoperability across allies: the hardest problem in NATO 30:00 – Eastern flank urgency: Romania, Poland, the Baltics, and counter UAS 34:00 – UAS crossing NATO borders and the integrated air picture gap 38:00 – Arctic and Indo-Pacom: Pete's geographic breadth across his career 42:00 – What has changed in European defense since February 2022 46:00 – The monopsony problem: five primes and a single buyer 48:00 – Lowering barriers vs. procurement reform: are we ready to move fast? 50:00 – Measuring outcomes not butts in seats: the new contracting imperative 52:00 – Ukraine in 2026: best position since 2023 but no geographic breakthrough 53:45 – Palantir's role in Ukraine's C2 solution 54:12 – One word on the future: "Opportunity" 55:00 – The Last Supper, monopsony, and the consolidation problem 56:02 – Forward deployed engineers asking: what problem do you want me to solve? 57:04 – Closing thoughts

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  Episode #49

  The New Breed of GovCon BD Talent | Jake Frazer, CEO of PTS

  Sep 8, 202621 min

  A special solo episode of The Future of GovCon with Jake Frazer, CEO of Precision Talent Solutions. This is the fifth edition of the PTS Monthly Industry Spotlight, and this month Jake digs into what he is calling the new breed of business development talent in GovCon — and why every growth leader needs to be doing something different right now. With a $1.5 trillion defense budget request on the table, DHS surging on homeland security, European defense bubbling up, and two active wars shaping procurement priorities, the way you sell to the government has fundamentally changed. The traditional long-cycle capture model is not enough anymore. And the talent set you needed two years ago on your BD team is not the same talent set you need today. Jake walks through the article from this month's Industry Spotlight, shares perspectives from Andy McWilliams on positionless basketball in BD, references insights from Tim Garnett and Jim Carroll, and breaks down the full PTS toolbox for GovCon growth leaders. Subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps more people in the GovCon community find the show. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Hook: What are you doing differently to prepare for the generational investment? 00:47 – Welcome and introduction to the fifth Monthly Industry Spotlight 01:31 – The new breed of business development talent: the core question 02:52 – What are CEOs and CGOs doing differently right now? 03:12 – $1.5 trillion, DHS surge, European defense, and two active wars 04:01 – Speed, AI, drones, counter UAS, and space driving procurement change 04:57 – Andy McWilliams and the positionless basketball analogy 05:17 – The Knicks, the championship, and what it means for GovCon BD 05:43 – Topics the government is buying that did not exist ten years ago 06:09 – Shortage of talent on the government side and new acquisition vehicles 06:32 – Big budgets, speed, new technology, OTAs, and direct awards 07:18 – The new BD cycle: know the problem, develop the solution, iterate 07:50 – The new talent set: solution architects, account execs, capture folks 08:09 – The seats have changed: you need to know where people are sitting 08:39 – What are you doing differently on your BD team right now? 09:05 – The top talent is not looking for a job — you have to go get them 09:29 – PTS's track record across BD, capture, proposals, and multiple agencies 09:58 – Tim Garnett episode: bring the solution, do not ask what they need 11:05 – Byron Bright at Atkins: industry must partner with government 11:28 – Jim Carroll at PSC: talent drain, acquisition overhaul, and what it means for BD 12:16 – Big moves: Acclaim becoming Quantum, KBR spinning off into Intrinsic 13:04 – PTS toolbox: how we support chief growth officers 13:48 – BD talent search: the hardest labor category in GovCon 14:17 – Screening tools: video interviews, personality assessment, nine block predictor 14:57 – Win sheets, referral process, and finding needle moving talent 15:23 – Key personnel searches: bolt on to capture teams, find non-obvious candidates 16:07 – Increasing P-Win: the government is savvy to bait and switch 16:41 – Precision Experts: over 100 flag officers, SES, ambassadors on the catalog 17:28 – Smart ways to use Precision Experts for speed and access 17:48 – Bespoke searches and temp to perm options 18:07 – Career Transition Services: protect your brand when you reorganize 19:32 – Our Rolodex is your Rolodex: network, events, and introductions 20:17 – Closing: if you wait until 2027, your competitors will already be ahead

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  Episode #48

  MG (R) Adrian Ciolponea on the First Robotic Battle and What It Means for the Future of War

  Aug 31, 20261h 4m

  On this episode of The Future of GovCon, Jake Frazer sits down with Major General (Ret.) Adrian Ciolponea, 41-year Romanian Army veteran, former NATO ACT Representative in Europe, former Special Operations Brigade Commander, doctoral researcher in drone and counter UAS integration, and author of the upcoming book "Drone Revolution: Transforming Future Military Operations." Adrian joined the Romanian military in 1981 as a cadet under the communist bloc, witnessed the fall of communism, trained at US institutions including Ranger School, Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, National War College, and Joint Special Operations University, and spent the last three years building the bridge between NATO's Military Committee in Brussels and Allied Command Transformation. In this conversation he describes a robotic battle in Ukraine in November 2025 that lasted four hours with no humans on the ground, breaks down the ten drone mission types that now exist for land forces, explains how the OODA loop has compressed from 24 hours to five minutes, and lays out exactly what the defense industrial base needs to be building right now. Subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it helps more people in the GovCon community find the show. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Hook: The first robotic battle in the history of humanity 00:58 – Welcome and introduction 01:17 – Adrian's background: 41 years, Romanian Army, NATO ACT 02:22 – Starting as a cadet in 1981 under the communist bloc 03:54 – What is NATO ACT and why it matters for the future of warfare 04:19 – ACT as NATO's future warfare laboratory: concepts, experimentation, transformation 05:30 – 10 years in Special Operations: the most rewarding years of his career 06:20 – Nine years in NATO: SHAPE, working with Scaparrotti, Walters, Cavoli 07:05 – The book: Drone Revolution — Transforming Future Military Operations 07:23 – Robotics as the word that encompasses everything coming next 08:09 – The robotic battle in Ukraine: four hours, no humans on the ground 09:07 – Did he ever imagine warfare would look like this as a young soldier? 09:51 – Starting his doctoral research in 2021 before the war in Ukraine 10:30 – From two drone mission types to ten: ISR, strike, resupply, relay, security 11:20 – Loyal wingman concept: protecting expensive platforms with cheap barriers 12:00 – Three elements of future warfare: OODA loop compression, transparency, autonomy 13:00 – The killing cycle compressed to five minutes at tactical level in Ukraine 14:20 – The transparent battlefield: if you are seen, you will be hit in minutes 16:00 – Anti-thermal blankets, EW signature reduction, and why legacy platforms are vulnerable 18:00 – Counter UAS: the most dynamic and fast-evolving sector in defense right now 22:00 – Jamming, kinetic, laser, microwave: the counter UAS toolkit explained 26:00 – High energy lasers and directed energy: where the investment is going 28:00 – The integration challenge: drones with legacy systems and C2 30:00 – How the Romanian Army has adapted faster than most NATO allies 32:00 – What NATO is learning from Ukraine and applying to doctrine 36:00 – The drone threat to naval vessels and what happened in the Black Sea 38:00 – Swarm attacks and saturation: overwhelming air defense with numbers 40:00 – What US industry is doing right and where the gaps are 44:00 – Anduril, autonomous systems, and cheap precision strike 46:00 – What industry should be building for 2029 48:00 – Russia's hybrid warfare playbook: Baltics, Balkans, shadow fleet, jamming 52:00 – If you are not in the game right now you will not get the contract later 57:41 – Closing thoughts on hybrid warfare and what is happening daily 01:01:00 – One word on the future: "Robotics" 01:01:48 – Closing remarks and book release

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