Biographies

Justin Porter is a city planner and transportation strategy expert with a mastery in GIS. He has previously served in transportation management and GIS advisory roles in local, state and federal government agencies, including NASA, the District of Columbia, City of Los Angeles, City of Baton Rouge, and States of Georgia, Florida, and California. He…

Mr. Dustin Gard-Weiss became the Deputy Director of National Intelligence (DDNI) for Policy and Capabilities (P&C) on August 16, 2020. In this role, he will work to ensure the Intelligence Community (IC) is well-positioned to anticipate and meet future mission requirements. Prior to this position, Mr. Gard-Weiss served as the Associate Deputy Director of National…

Brigadier General Steven J. Butow is the Space Portfolio Director for the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research & Engineering, located in Silicon Valley. Prior to joining DIU, he was the Vice Chief of the Joint Staff, California Military Department. Colonel Butow is a former Commander of the 129th…

Balan Ayyar is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of percipient.ai, a Silicon-Valley based artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision firm focused on intelligence and national security missions. Percipient.ai’s intelligence analysis platform Mirage is operationally deployed in the national security and Intelligence Community of the USG. Balan is a seasoned CEO and retired…