Rocio Bauer’s profile over at WashingtonExec is worth your time if you’re thinking about what leadership looks like when you’re building technology for the Army. She’s spent her career at the intersection of mission and modernization, and the through-line is clear: serving warfighters means understanding both the problem set and the people solving it.
What stands out is how she frames technology as an enabler, not the end state. That perspective matters when you’re hiring into defense IT or cyber roles—especially at the senior level. The executives who last in this space don’t lead with the stack or the platform; they lead with the mission and work backward. It’s a filter I use when mapping passive candidates for Army-facing programs.
If you’re building a team that needs to deliver for DoD customers, look for people who’ve done the translation work—between operators and engineers, between legacy systems and what’s next, between urgency and sustainability. That’s the track record that predicts success in a retained engagement, and it’s harder to surface than a clearance and a résumé.