Technology Executive
Strategic Leader
Senior Executive Program Director at Lockheed Martin. Professor of Cybersecurity at UMGC. Driving enterprise digital transformation, AI innovation, and operational excellence across aerospace and defense.
About
Senior Executive Program Director
Visionary technology executive with 15+ years leading enterprise digital transformation in aerospace/defense and complex manufacturing environments. Proven in aligning IT/digital strategies with business objectives, delivering $500M+ in automation efficiencies, managing $90M+ budgets, and building high-performance teams of 200+. Expertise in emerging technologies (Generative AI, IoT, cloud) to drive innovation, cybersecurity, and operational excellence. Active Secret Clearance holder adept at navigating VUCA environments and partnering with C-suite stakeholders for sustainable growth.
Grokipedia ProfileFull-Spectrum Leadership
Command and leadership experience spanning software development, business transformation, government, education, manufacturing and industrial, semiconductor, robotics, IT, & automation industries.
Award-winning customer experience and service with track record of delivering tangible results in highly-volatile uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) situations. Serve as a mentor to high-performing teams centered on business outcomes for digital business and transformational strategies.
High-energy, hands-on executive with executive presence, C-suite competencies, and a history of optimizing organizational performance and savings in operational governance, automation, and business strategy leadership roles for start-ups, small and midsize businesses, and large enterprises.
Education
- Indiana State University — Doctor of Philosophy, Management of Technology
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute — M.S., Technology Management
- University of Central Florida — B.S., Computer Science
- International Institute for Management Development (IMD) — Executive Program in Digital and Business Transformation
- Columbia University — Strategy Executive Program
Teaching
- University of Maryland Global College — Professor, Graduate School of Technology
- Florida Southern College — Lecturer, Management Information Systems
- University of Central Florida — Lecturer, Management Information Systems
Leadership
- Senior Member, Association of Computing & Machinery
- Appointed LM ACM Liaison, Corporate Engineering & Technology Office
- Tech America Committee on Technology Convergence, White House Office of Science and Technology
- Forbes Technology Council, Member
Expertise & Innovation
A catalyst in the aerospace and defense industry, known for a series of innovative firsts.
Industry Firsts
Publications & Speaking
Selected publications, articles, and presentations in technology, cybersecurity, and digital transformation.
Nowhere to Hide: Monitoring Side Channels for Supply Chain Resiliency
IEEE Reliability Magazine · 2024
Professional Engineering Ethics, Risk, and Liability with Technology
NSPE Workability Wednesday (2023 Education Series) · 2023
Building the Factory of the Future With the Industrial Internet of Things
IEEE · 2022
Critical Steps in the Process for Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence
IISE Annual Conference · 2021
Future of Data Analytics and AI in the Industrial Sector
IISE Annual Conference · 2021
Internet of Things in Business Transformation
Wiley (Book Chapter) · 2020
Maynard Handbook for Industrial and Systems Engineering
IISE (Book Chapter) · 2020
New Intelligent Factory Network Comes to Life
Lockheed Martin · 2020
The Impact of Right to be Forgotten on Deep Neural Networks
Research Publication · 2020
The Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and Professionalism
IEEE IT Professional · 2019
Advisory Board
Serving on advisory and research boards across national security, academia, and industry.
Florida Institute of National Security (FINS)
Research Advisor
Operations Science Institute
Board Member
University of Central Florida
Advisory Board Member
Robert Morris University
Board Member
Awards & Recognition
Recognized across the defense industry, academia, and technology community.
Dallas 500 Innovative Leaders
D-CEO Magazine
NOVA Award — Business Continuity and Resiliency
Lockheed Martin
Drazek Award for Teaching Excellence
University
Excellence Award — Intelligent Factory
Lockheed Martin
AeroStar Award — CodeQuest Student Programming Competition
5-year volunteer, grew from 150 students in Texas to 843+ worldwide
Enterprise Business Services Catalyst
Top 10 catalyst leader for 4,000-person organization
Lockheed Martin Excellence Award
Transformed Aero IT engagement model with JSF/F-35 program
Certified Chief Information Security Officer (C|CISO)
EC-Council
Advanced Systems Architect, Cyber
Top 1% of Lockheed Martin employees
IBM Champion Award Finalist
Recognized innovative thought leader
ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award Nominee
Association of Computing and Machinery (National Award)
ISE Central Award Project Nominee
Information Security Executive (National Award)
Resume
15+ years driving enterprise digital transformation across aerospace, defense, and complex manufacturing environments.
Professional Experience
Digital Operations and Service Management
2019 – PresentFort Worth, TX
Program Director
Technology Office executive responsible for strategic oversight of digital services consisting of traditional and digital platforms. Partner with cross-functional teams to direct data-driven strategies for a $6B+ transformational initiative.
- ▸Directed enterprise-wide digital transformation for $6B+ initiative, delivering $503M in automation savings and 30% spending reductions.
- ▸Built and led 200+ person global technology organization managing $90M budget (<1% variance) and 100+ applications.
- ▸Developed Intelligent Factory Framework integrating Generative AI, IoT, and cloud platforms.
- ▸Launched enterprise citizen innovation program, certifying 600+ innovators and growing patent portfolio.
Application Services
2014 – 2019Fort Worth, TX
Senior Manager, Application Services
Portfolio management for Aeronautics Strategic Business including shared services, quality systems, configuration management, DevOps, test automation, agile program management, and hybrid cloud computing. Managed $12M budget.
- ▸Designed and implemented first Hyperledger Blockchain instance for LM centered on DevOps methodologies.
- ▸Created strategic roadmap for cross-functional lines of business to prioritize program funding.
- ▸Reduced F-35 aircraft sustainment cycle time from 20 days to 3 days.
- ▸Strategic driver for cloud computing initiative — Digital Tapestry (IoT) and Automation capabilities.
Prior Professional Roles
Pre-2014Orlando, FL
Individual Contributor
Served as Chief Engineer, systems architect, and performance computing lead on external-facing B2B services, SaaS, Identity Management, and Cybersecurity services. Program deployments across F-35, C-130J, C-5, F-22, F-16, JASSM, NRO, SPO, and ADP.
Signature Competencies
Strategic
- ▸Organizational Vision & Strategy
- ▸Corporate Governance
- ▸Transformational Change
- ▸Metrics / KPIs / OKRs
- ▸Board of Directors Engagement
- ▸Risk Management
- ▸Active Secret Clearance
Emerging Technology
- ▸Generative AI / LLM / MCP / Agentic
- ▸Hybrid Cloud (AWS / Azure / GCP)
- ▸IoT / Industrial IoT
- ▸GitLab, DevOps, Jira, Atlassian
- ▸ServiceNow, Digital Ledger
- ▸Anthropic, OpenAI
- ▸Growth Mindset & Innovation
Leadership & Governance
- ▸IT Governance
- ▸Cybersecurity, Security+
- ▸Metrics-driven Performance
- ▸Budget & Schedule Management
- ▸Process Modeling / Mining
- ▸Open Source & Supply Chain
- ▸Relationship Management
Education & Professional Development
Indiana State University
PhD, Cloud Computing & Digital Communications
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
MS, Management of Technology
University of Central Florida
BS, Computer Science & MIS
IMD
Executive Digital Transformation Program
Columbia University
Executive Strategy Program
Contact
Interested in collaborating, speaking engagements, or just want to connect? Reach out below.
Let's Connect
Connect professionally
X (Twitter)
@jeffdaniels
jeff.w.daniels@gmail.com