USGIF is pleased to welcome Jim McCool as its new Vice President of Tradecraft.
Mr. McCool, CEO of McCool Team LLC, retired from government service as a National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) senior executive in 2023 and now serves as an advisor for artificial intelligence companies.
His final NGA assignment was standing up the Data and Digital Innovation Directorate, which was responsible for leading GEOINT artificial intelligence. Prior to this, Mr. McCool served for several years as NGA’s senior officer in Israel. His other NGA leadership roles involved improving analytic skills and methods, operationalizing automation technology, and directing intelligence production across all NGA analytic offices, as well as revamping analyst recruitment and hiring.
While at the Central Intelligence Agency, Mr. McCool led analytical teams focused on counterterrorism and irregular warfare, was a briefer for the Presidents Daily Brief (PDB), and served as an all-source analyst and an imagery analyst. He has a B.S. degree from the University of Maryland and served stateside and overseas in the US Air Force.
Welcome, Jim!
Join us at USGIF GEOINTeraction Tuesday sponsored by Esri on Tuesday, March 24, 2026 to hear from Jim McCool and Sue Kalweit.
Related Articles
GEOINTeraction Tuesday: It’s About Automation, Not AI
When NGA’s Deputy Director of Analysis steps to the front of a room and tells an audience of geospatial intelligence professionals that the community’s AI conve…
Mississippi State University Earns USGIF Accreditation for GEOINT Certificate Programs
MSU’s undergraduate and graduate Geospatial Intelligence certificate programs join USGIF’s network of accredited academic programs. The United States Geospatial…
Mission Focus: AI First Approaches
At USGIF’s July Mission Focus event, government and industry leaders discussed how AI is shifting from an add-on tool to the foundation of daily intelligence wo…