AI FedLab

Jake currently serves the Senior Technical Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research, Development and Acquisition (ASN RD&A). In this role Jake is responsible for implementation of Modular Open System Architecture (MOSA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) as well as rapid acquisition in the Department of Navy and the Marine Corps. Jake previously served as Director of Advanced Capabilities for the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) Program. He was responsible for developing and integrating critical new technologies in conjunction with the US Army and DARPA into the CPS platform with an annual budget of over $60M. Jake served as a Program Manager at the Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Unmanned Systems transitioning critical technology to the warfighter and Program Lead for Team Submarine Project Turing rapidly introducing AI into the undersea domain with a total budget of $140M. Jake served as the Assistant Program Manager (APM) for Submarine Combat Future Development and the Payload Control System (PCS) in NAVSEA PEO Submarine with an annual budget of over $30M. His portfolio as APM includes all Payload control and integration including unmanned vehicles, missiles and torpedoes for the BYG-1 Combat Control System and the Common Weapon Launchers (CWL). In his future development portfolio Jake is the Program Manager for the Submarine Launched Unmanned Aerial System (SLUAS) providing command and control as well as a Virtual Twin Combat System for the Submarine Force.

Jake served as the SEA05 System Design Manager (SDM), Technical Warrant Holder for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Mission Module (MM) program in the PMS 420 program office and the SDM for a Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) program for the Unmanned Maritime Systems program in the PMS 406 program office. Jake has extensive Naval Engineering experience from with the Remote Minehunting System (RMS) as the lead software engineer and extensive submarine development and engineering experience with the BYG-1 Submarine Combat Control System.

Jake’s first job with the Department of the Navy was a CO-OP at Lockheed Martin Moorestown during his undergraduate study at Drexel University in Philadelphia spending three years working Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense in charge of test development and simulations of the combat system capability. Upon graduating Jake joined the civil service at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division Hydrodynamics group spending 4 years as the In Service Engineering Agent (ISEA) for the Seawolf Class Submarine Ship Control System and Data Distribution System.

Jake first came to the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in 2011 serving as the lead software engineer for the RMS and AN/AQS-20A sonar system. From 2012 to 2014 he served as lead engineer of the Submarine Weapon Control System and head of the Open Architecture initiative for the BYG-1 Submarine Combat Control System.

Jake has received several NAVSEA awards including a NAVSEA Innovation Award over his career for innovation and excellence in engineering. Jake was recognized as Engineer of the Year (2020) by ASNE and has been published by the Naval Submarine League on Combat Systems of the Future. He has a Bachelor’s of Science (BS) in Computer Engineering from Drexel University, a Master’s of Science (MS) in Systems Engineering from The George Washington University, a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Maryland and is completing a Masters of Arts (MA) in Strategic Studies at the Naval War College.

Natalie Buda Smith is the Director of Digital Strategy for the Library of Congress, charged with artificial intelligence, and innovation. A leader in digital transformation and innovation through data, emerging technologies, and customer insight; she has been engaged in research, planning, designing, and developing technology platforms and experiences for a variety of organizations in the United States, India, and Europe for over 30 years.

Kevin Walsh is a Director in GAO’s Information Technology and Cybersecurity team. He oversees work related to AI, Census, CIO authorities, legacy modernizations, and satellite and space systems. He has led reviews covering topics related to the authorities of federal Chief Information Officers, management of legacy IT systems, coordination of IT contracts, and assessments of IT-related risk.

Kevin joined GAO in June 2006, and led projects related to FITARA and GAO’s High Risk area on Improving the Management of IT Acquisitions and Operations.

Kevin earned a master’s degree in business administration from Virginia Tech. Kevin earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Guy Cavallo serves as Chief Innovation Officer for Planet Technologies. Guy joined Planet after leading successful federal government modernization and transformation initiatives for the past decade. He is a visionary IT leader with nearly five decades of transformative impact across federal, state and local, and commercial organizations.

Most recently, as Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Guy led a groundbreaking Two-Year Sprint to the Cloud, modernizing critical systems like USAJobs and launching the new Postal Health Benefits System. His leadership propelled OPM’s FITARA score from a C+ to an A and significantly improved cybersecurity and customer satisfaction metrics.

Beyond OPM, Guy has driven cloud transformation at the Small Business Administration, enabling the rapid distribution of $500B in emergency relief funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, and at the Transportation Security Administration. His impact also extends to state and local government, where he advised on digital modernization strategies as a Senior Government Advisor at Microsoft and served as IT Director for the City of Charlotte, NC.

Mr. Cavallo has been highly recognized throughout his career as an IT innovator. In 2024 Mr. Cavallo was honored with the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award, making him the only Federal CIO to receive this recognition. In 2024 he also was recognized as the FedScoop 50 Golden Gov Federal Executive of the Year and the Federal 100 award for IT Leadership. He also has received the Federal 100 award and the FedScoop 50 award for Federal IT Leadership multiple other years. He also was selected as a finalist for the 2023 and 2024 ORBIE awards for enterprise IT leadership for the Washington area.

Mr. Cavallo received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan.

Katrina Brisbon is a distinguished former career member of the Senior Executive Service with extensive leadership experience in federal acquisitions and procurement strategy. Most recently, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisitions/Chief Procurement Officer and Senior Procurement Executive at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In this role, she advised the HHS Senior Executive leadership on matters related to the HHS Acquisitions Enterprise while ensuring delivery of transparent, best value solutions across the $40 billion HHS acquisition portfolio. Prior to her tenure at HHS, Ms. Brisbon served as the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Contracting and Procurement and Head of the Contracting Activity at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). There, she directed all aspects of TSA’s $3.8 billion acquisition operations, including oversight of contract operations, contract policy, business systems, and strategic planning. Ms. Brisbon also served as the executive liaison to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Chief Procurement Officer on all matters related to TSA contracts and procurement, policy, legislation, and the workforce.

Ms. Brisbon’s federal service also includes a key leadership role as the Deputy Head of the Contracting Activity for the Defense Information Systems Agency. In this capacity, she provided strategic direction and oversight for the acquisition of telecommunications systems, information technology assets and associated services for annual obligations of approximately $7 billion.

Prior to joining the Senior Executive ranks, Ms. Brisbon held several influential roles, including Director of Acquisition Policy & Systems for the U.S. Coast Guard; Chief of the Contracting Office for the U.S. Army Intelligence Command; and Director of Major Acquisition Systems – Information Technology for the U.S. Coast Guard. In each role, Ms. Brisbon was responsible for developing and optimizing acquisition practices and advancing the capability and effectiveness of the acquisition workforce to ensure the most efficient means of acquiring supplies and services for the nation’s military forces.

Ms. Brisbon earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration & Computer Science from Newbery College, Newberry, South Carolina. She also earned a Master of Science in Human Relations (Concentration in Counseling Services) from the University of Oklahoma, and a Master of Business Administration from Liberty University.

Martin Stanley, AI and Cybersecurity Researcher, leads the NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF) efforts at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Information Technology Laboratory. Martin previously led the Emerging Technology and R&D Program at CISA and the Enterprise Cybersecurity Program at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Prior to his federal service Martin held executive leadership positions at Vonage and UUNET Technologies.  Martin co-authored “Digital Health”, an Oxford University Press Publication.

Captain Christopher D. Clark enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2008. His initial assignment was with the Headquarters & Headquarters Squadron Futenma, where he served as a Financial Analyst until 2010. He then moved to Marine Corps Forces Pacific, holding the position of Budget Chief until 2013, where he was responsible for overseeing financial transactions worth $38 million annually.

In 2012, Captain Clark completed an Associate of Arts in General Studies at Hawaii Pacific University, which assisted in his selection for the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program. He continued his education at The Ohio State University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Physics in 2016, followed by commissioning as a Communications Officer in the Marine Corps.

Captain Clark served as the Staff Communications Officer (S-6) for Marine Aircraft Group 24 (MAG-24) from 2017 to 2021. In this role, he managed the communications requirements for the Group and its seven Squadrons in garrison, exercise, and deployment requirements across the Pacific Region to include multiple Marine Corps Rotational Forces Darwin deployments, exercises in South Korea and the Philippines, and Service Level Training Exercises as the Aviation Command Element S-6.
Captain Clark obtained a Master of Science in Cybersecurity Management and Policy from the University of Maryland Global Campus in 2020 while working as the MAG-24 S-6, complementing his military duties and expertise in the field of information security.

Captain Clark was then selected to attend the Naval Postgraduate School, graduating in 2023 with a Master of Science in Computer Science, specializing in Artificial Intelligence. For his thesis, he created a novel adversarial example attack using the A* Search algorithm that creates adversarial images that cause deep neural networks to misclassify images with minimal added noise. This thesis involved significant work in building, training, and attacking advanced machine learning models in white and black box settings.

Currently, Captain Clark is the Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Information, Service Data Office Artificial Intelligence Lead Officer, a role that utilizes his extensive academic background and experience in the Marine Corps. He is the author of the USMC Artificial Intelligence Strategy, is leading the development of the USMC Artificial Intelligence Implementation Plan, and is a Doctor of Engineering in Artificial Intelligence candidate at George Washington University.

Dr. Jesus Caban is the chief data scientist for the Enterprise Intelligence and Data Solutions Program Management Office. In this role, he provides direct support to the EIDS program manager in the PMO’s development and delivery of robust information and data platforms that facilitate informed decision-making for the entire Military Health System.

Dr. Caban previously served as the chief of clinical and research informatics at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence/Defense Intrepid Network from 2011 to 2022. In that role, his team led the planning, implementing, and sustaining of the DOD Traumatic Brain Injury Patient Registry, TBI Portal, TBI dashboards, the Clinical Assessment Management Portal, and multiple artificial intelligence/machine learning models for mental health. Dr. Caban is a trained computer scientist with more than 16 years of experience in inter-disciplinary clinical and informatics research. He has authored more than 60 scientific papers in clinical informatics, TBI, AI/ML, image processing, and data visualization. He is also an adjunct faculty member at the Uniform Services University at Johns Hopkins University, where he teaches within the Data Science graduate program.

Dr. Caban holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and an MS in Computer Science from the University of Kentucky. He was a 2022 Inductee to the University of Kentucky College of Engineering Hall of Distinction. He won the Defense Health Agency Innovation Award and AMSUS HealthIT Award in 2018, and the TBI Portal won a Federal HealthIT Innovation Award in 2019.

Dr. Prithviraj (Raj) Dasgupta is a research scientist in the Distributed Intelligent Systems Section, Information Technology Division at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. His research is in the areas of adversarial artificial intelligence, machine learning, game-playing AI and game theory. He has led several large projects in these areas involving multi-agent and multi-robot systems, and has published over 150 research papers in premier journals and conferences. His research has resulted in several best paper and commendation awards. He is a senior member of IEEE; he serves as the editor of IEEE Intelligent Systems and on the program committees of top-tier AI conferences including IJCAI, AAAI and AAMAS. Prior to joining the Naval Research Laboratory, he was a full professor (tenured) with the Computer Science department at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2001.