Ireland Degges
Vincent DiFronzo currently serves as senior vice president of SAIC’s Air Force, Combatant Command and Department of Defense Agency arm, where he guides a team of nearly 2,400 professionals working to deliver advanced technology capabilities to the DOD.
Informed by 27 years of service in the Air Force and over 12 years of experience in defense contracting, DiFronzo leads hundreds of programs across the areas of command and control, information technology, research and development, engineering and numerous others.
In a recent Executive Spotlight interview, DiFronzo sat down with ExecutiveBiz to discuss SAIC’s ongoing efforts to bring new capabilities to the warfighter, opportunities offered by cloud technologies and company strategies for talent retention.
Where are you seeing the most exciting opportunities to deliver better capabilities to our warfighters today, and how are you harnessing these opportunities?
There are three areas we are highly focused on: multi-domain operations, cloud operations and virtual training. From a digital transformation standpoint, those areas are probably where we’re making the biggest difference as a company.
An example is our Advanced Battle Management System Cloud Based Command and Control contract, under which we are developing the Department of Defense’s first cloud-based command and control system to support Northern Command’s mission to protect the continental United States. CBC2 is a fast-paced program that is integrating data at multiple classification levels and implementing DevSecOps software processes as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. Many things are converging on this program, and it’s moving very quickly. This program was able to go so fast in part because they leveraged the classified and zero-trust capabilities in the Air Force Cloud One program, which we also prime. By next year, this initiative will evolve to support the Indo-Pacific area as well. In parallel with that, we are in the early stages of cloud modernization for the Air Force Air Operations Center program, which includes multiple air operation centers globally.
Along the multi-domain lines, we are working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering to develop a new data solution based on our Koverse capabilities that integrates multiple sources of classified intel and weapon systems information. All of these initiatives have an end objective of optimizing C2 systems to ensure that the warfighter has a real decision advantage. The initial work on this project focuses on the Indo-Pacific, which is a top priority for the DOD right now.
Another aspect of multi-domain command and control is coalition interoperability. This has been an area with significant challenges, and we’ve been able to assist CENTCOM, and now INDOPACOM, to develop and field flattened single networks where we used to have multiple networks for all our coalition partners. This capability greatly improves interoperability while reducing costs and is critically important to building confidence in our alliances, which in turn helps DOD achieve its deterrence objectives – a key part of the overall DOD and national security strategy.
On the training front, we have been working with the Air Force since the inception of Pilot Training Next to modernize how we train our future aircrew. This has been ongoing for about five years. Recently, we implemented a new program, the Air Mobility Fundamentals Program, which is now being fielded at all Air Education and Training Command flight training bases. It provides a true mixed reality aircrew training capability that will enable the Air Force to accelerate the pilot training timelines and meet its overall objectives for aircrew production in future years, which has been a big challenge for the Air Force. Over the last few years, they have not been able to meet their pilot training objectives, so this project is a big step forward.
In Europe, we are working with U.S. Air Forces Europe and NATO partners to field a virtual F-35 training environment that works across multiple sites to ensure that both the DOD and our NATO partners can train in a mixed fashion to ensure that they are ready to operate together for any scenarios that evolve in the U.S. European Command. Those are just a few examples of the exciting things that we’re doing.
What kind of tools and technologies can organizations use to make their data more accessible and understandable?
One of the biggest challenges with data, especially AI and ML, is the shortage of data scientists that have a high degree of experience and training in data analysis. One of the things we’ve done is focusing on what’s called low-code AI and ML solutions. This allows subject matter experts in a particular field without a data science background to get to work almost immediately with a turnkey-type solution.
This low code AI/ML approach is the capability that we recently went public with called Tenjin. It’s based on an integration of different COTS capabilities along with some of our SAIC-specific integration. It provides about 35 different types of capabilities for different use cases that can be tailored and fielded very quickly to help the customer get their arms around their data and then carry out the analysis of that data.
One example in which this tool was used very effectively was with a Navy electronic warfare customer. They have information that is at multiple classification levels, and they also need to share some of that information with coalition partners who only have access to selective information on that system. Our capability allowed the Navy to blend that data together and ensure the engineers with different access approvals could only see what they were cleared for. Then, by applying AI, they were able to make sense of the complexities of that data and move forward more quickly on modernization decisions. This is something they had been trying to do manually for over two years. With our capability, they were able to begin turning out very usable products in less than a week. It was a significant leap forward in a short amount of time and serves as a good example of what a combined data and AI solution can achieve.
What opportunities can be unlocked with the cloud, and how do you think those opportunities will change the federal landscape?
Cloud offers many opportunities and benefits. Cybersecurity and potential cost savings can provide a significant amount of mission agility with the ability to turn compute capability on and off dynamically. This enables better management of data and access to the data across multi-location enterprises. We are the prime contractor for the Air Force Cloud One program, which has been very successful and grown fourfold in the past two and a half years. We have established a phenomenal track record for cybersecurity over this timeframe, with zero breaches despite prevalent ransomware attacks and SolarWinds. Our Cloud One cybersecurity architecture with our SAIC CloudScend capabilities follows zero trust principles, which is a capability we continue to evolve to stay ahead of future cyberthreats.
Along the cloud front, we will also be assisting new partners. We recently won the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency One IT contract as well as the TRANSCOM IT contract, which are complex enterprise mission IT contracts of which cloud modernization is an important component. We’re excited about those wins and helping these organizations leverage the cloud as well as our longstanding partner CENTCOM, who we have supported on their cloud journey for many years. We want to ensure that these organizations meet their mission needs, reduce costs and improve their cyber defense capabilities while improving their ability to leverage their data for decision-making.
On the civil side of SAIC’s business we also recently won the Treasury Cloud, or T-Cloud contract. We are working across our business units to ensure we are leveraging new capabilities developed internally and with our cloud partners to bring best of breed solutions to our customers.
What is your strategy for attracting and retaining top-level talent in the midst of ongoing talent shortages in today’s highly competitive market?
This is a huge challenge for all of us, especially as we’re growing in cloud, data, AI and digital engineering. These are high-demand, low-supply workforce areas, and that demand has recently grown, so our approach is focused on retaining the great workforce we have. This is achieved through healthy, regular engagement to ensure that our people see a career path beyond their current program. We also provide opportunities for upskilling within SAIC – especially with our fortunate growth – that provide our current employees with new opportunities and challenges. This approach has been successful, as reflected by our retention numbers.
We have multiple programs that aid in recruiting and retaining our people, including employee resource groups focused on veterans, women and people of color. These groups provide social connections within SAIC beyond the current programs or systems individuals are working on and offer visibility into more opportunities across the company, leading to higher retention rates. We also engage in giving back to the local community through nonprofit affiliations. These include food drives and our strong relationship with Building Homes for Heroes, which provides mortgage-free homes to wounded veterans and their families across the U.S. We collaborate with local SAIC sites to assist in the process of delivering these homes to veterans, making these events truly special.
It is an exciting time to be in SAIC, and I feel very fortunate to be part of a team that is doing so much for national security while also contributing to great causes.
