When Jennifer Bird deployed to Baghdad as an analyst supporting the U.S. Army, traditional defense contractors dominated every aspect of military technology. Today, as Senior Director of Global Defense at Anduril Industries, she's helping lead a revolution that's fundamentally changing how America builds and deploys defense capabilities—proving that the best ideas don't always come from the biggest companies.
With a career arc spanning tactical operations in the Middle East, Congressional policymaking, Pentagon strategy development, and now pioneering defense technology innovation, Bird brings extraordinary perspective to DMV Rising 2025's "Defense Tech Disruption: The Last Supper is Over" panel. She represents a new breed of defense leader, one who understands both the urgent operational needs of warfighters and how Silicon Valley-style innovation can meet them faster than traditional procurement ever could.
Three reasons Bird is uniquely positioned to discuss disrupting the defense industrial base:
She's operated at every level of national security. From supporting Naval Special Warfare operations in Bahrain to authoring counterterrorism legislation on the House Armed Services Committee to developing bilateral defense strategies at the Pentagon, Bird has seen firsthand what works, and what doesn't, in America's defense apparatus. Her time at the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research & Engineering, focused specifically on technology transition and fielding new capabilities, gave her deep insight into why traditional defense procurement struggles to keep pace with threats.
She bridges the operational-innovation divide. Unlike many defense tech executives who come purely from Silicon Valley or traditional primes, Bird's background combines ground-truth experience from deployments with high-level policy expertise. She's analyzed intelligence in combat zones, crafted defense sales strategies for Gulf partners, and supported the Counter-ISIL campaign, giving her unmatched credibility when Anduril claims its autonomous systems and AI-powered platforms can revolutionize military operations. She knows what warfighters actually need because she's been there.
She's executing the disruption playbook at scale. As leader of Anduril's international strategy team, Bird is expanding a fundamentally different defense business model globally. While traditional primes wait years for government requirements and funding, Anduril identifies problems, privately funds R&D, and delivers finished products in months. Their Lattice OS, an autonomous command and control platform, represents the software-defined future of warfare that Bird helped the Pentagon envision during her government service. Now she's making it reality.
Bird's trajectory embodies the DMV's unique position at the nexus of government expertise and private sector innovation. Her path from supporting troops in Baghdad to shaping Congressional policy to driving Anduril's global expansion demonstrates how regional talent is redefining what's possible in defense technology. For a region where traditional contractors have dominated for decades, Anduril's presence—and leaders like Bird—signal a seismic shift toward agile, software-centric defense solutions.
The "Defense Tech Disruption" panel will explore how new entrants are circumventing traditional procurement pathways, attracting top technical talent, and forcing established contractors to evolve. Bird will share insights alongside Seanna Senior (Govini) and Charlie Katz (King & Spalding), moderated by Vikram Singh (WestExec Advisors).