Executive Spotlight: Interview With Paul Dillahay, President & CEO of NCI Information Systems

Paul Dillahay recently spoke with ExecutiveBiz regarding NCI’s recent partnership with Holonic Technologies, the benefits the relationship will have on both companies, their customers and how NCI will be able to differentiate itself in the federal market moving forward.

“I really believe there’s an opportunity here for us to bring something to the market that’s differentiated.”

ExecutiveBiz: What are some of the most effective ways that you’ve been able to drive growth for NCI?

“When I started with NCI, after looking at our portfolio and the pipeline, we deliberately laid out a strategy to differentiate ourselves in a commoditized world and decided on artificial intelligence to help do that. We started to form strategic AI partnerships. This one with Holonic is our third, but we’re open to more partnerships.

Our focus is to execute with our current partners in the marketplace and realize the benefits of those relationships. We were very fortunate to find three companies that are innovative, have discriminating technologies with a US-code base and are new to the federal sector. We’re really excited to form this new partnership with Holonic and bring their CodeIntent solution to the federal space.”

ExecutiveBiz: What benefits do you think the new partnership with Holonic Technologies will have on NCI?

“At NCI, we’re focused on operational AI and scaling humans using RPA, machine learning and code refactoring. Holonic’s CodeIntent takes old legacy code and modernizes it four-to-six times faster than humans, at an 80 percent cost savings – reducing risk to the federal government.

The government has a tremendous amount of legacy code that needs to be modernized and this is a very unique way to do that while it’s also being cost effective. Other efficiencies include identifying vulnerabilities from a cyber perspective and modifying the code using Holonic’s tools to add new features as opposed to having developers create the code themselves.

I believe we’re going to accelerate our growth dramatically alongside Holonic. Ultimately, I believe it positions NCI to differentiate itself in the federal space, as we respond to RFPs and speak with our customers about how to modernize their code more effectively.”

ExecutiveBiz: How else does NCI hope to continue to differentiate itself from other companies in the federal market?

“We’re now using our three exclusive partnerships to respond to RFPs and AI is everywhere. We are bringing these solutions to all of our customers and existing programs. We are also responding to a number of discrete AI opportunities. There are many RFPs coming out that we will be responding to with AI exclusively and there’s a number of code refactoring RFPs coming out as well.

The timing of this relationship and the maturing of it aligns extremely well with what we see from a buying perspective from the federal government. I really believe there’s an opportunity here for us to bring something to the market that’s differentiated.”

ExecutiveBiz: Where do you see NCI bringing the most value for the rest of 2019 and 2020? What are your current initiatives? Are you trying to break into any new markets?

“We’re trying to drive value for our existing customers. CMS has given us an ATO that we are using today. HHS also just awarded us a seat on the IAAI IDIQ. We’re also partnering with some of the larger integrators to serve new customers.

When you have this type of innovation, you can get in front of the market, explain the technology to customers and provide them with effective use cases. That’s going to make adoption more likely for us going forward.”

About NCI Information Systems

NCI is a leading provider of enterprise solutions and services to U.S. defense, intelligence, health and civilian government agencies. We have the expertise and proven track record to solve our customers’ most important and complex mission challenges through technology and innovation. We hold core competencies in delivering cost-effective solutions and services.

Coupled with a refined focus on strategic partnerships, NCI is committed to bringing commercial innovation to missions of national importance for our customers.