The question in that WashingtonExec headline is the right one, but the article itself didn’t load for me—just a security checkpoint. Still worth addressing, because I field versions of this question constantly from cleared executives trying to staff programs that didn’t exist five years ago.
The technologies reshaping delivery teams aren’t always the ones dominating conference agendas. Yes, AI and zero-trust architectures matter, but so do the quieter shifts: containerization changing how DevSecOps talent operates, cloud-native tooling rewriting job descriptions for program managers, and automation compressing timelines in ways that expose gaps in leadership bench strength. The real reshape happens when a mission system requires people who can think in software pipelines and still hold a TS/SCI with Poly. That’s a thinner market than most sponsors expect.
When I map these roles, I’m often surfacing passive candidates who’ve built the capability at one prime and haven’t yet been asked to scale it elsewhere. They’re not posting resumes. The search depends on knowing who ran point on the last successful implementation—and whether they’re ready to do it again under a different flag.