Top 5 Reasons to Attend the 2026 Navy Summit

• Top officials like Hung Cao, acting Navy secretary and a Wash100 awardee, will speak at the 2026 Navy Summit
• The Navy is on track to receive a record-breaking $378 billion budget for FY 2027
• Get exclusive investment insights at the 2026 Navy Summit on Aug. 27

The Navy is on track to receive a record-breaking $378 billion budget for fiscal year 2027 to help it rebuild and modernize the nation’s fleet. Get in front of the Navy’s next generation of technology buyers and hear their exclusive investment insights by attending the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Navy Summit on Aug. 27 at the Falls Church Marriott Fairview Park in northern Virginia.

GovCons looking to boost their technology revenues in FY 2027 can’t afford to miss the 2026 Navy Summit. Get direct access to Navy and Marine Corps decision-makers, spark new and high-value relationships with ambitious GovCons and learn of new requirements before they’re publicly announced. Only at the 2026 Navy Summit.

Secure your seat today for this highly anticipated GovCon event!

Why Should GovCons Attend the 2026 Navy Summit?

1. Hear Directly From the Navy Secretary

The 2026 Navy Summit is a rare opportunity to hear directly from Hung Cao, the acting Navy secretary and 2026 Wash100 awardee. Cao is actively reshaping Navy technology priorities, hearing from him directly will be the clearest signal contractors will get all year.

Be the first to learn about Cao’s initiatives for doing business with new and innovative contractors. Sharpen your contracting strategy with Cao’s keynote at the 2026 Navy Summit.

Other keynotes include:

• NEW—Vice Adm. Rob Gaucher, Navy director of submarine programs
• Vice Adm. Brad Skillman, deputy chief of naval operations for the integration of capabilities and resources, N8
• Barry Tanner, Navy acting chief information officer
• Vice Adm. Michael Vernazza, commander of naval information forces
• Lt. Gen. Joseph Matos, Marine Corps deputy commandant for information

2. Upskill on Information Warfare

Information has become central to how the Navy thinks about future warfare. Modern naval warfare depends on sensors, networks and data as much as weapons.

If an adversary can jam the Global Positioning System, spoof radar or infiltrate networks, they can blind or confuse a fleet without firing a shot. That’s why the 2026 Navy Summit is the can’t-miss GovCon forum for technology executives who want to get the full picture on the Navy’s plans for information warfare.

Attendees of the 2026 Navy Summit will examine strengthening cyber defense across shore and afloat environments and transforming enterprise networks into warfighting platforms at the From Legacy to Lethality: Modernizing the Navy’s Enterprise Networks for Information Warfare Readiness panel discussion. It features top service officials and industry experts:

• Jeffrey Hurley, Marine Corps acting director for IC4
• James Balocki, Marine Corps Installations Command executive director
• Rear Adm. Susan BryerJoyner, Navy director of information warfare, N99
• Richard Cunningham, Navy PEO Digital PMW 205 director for naval enterprise networks
• George Malkasian (moderator), AT&T Marine Corps strategy lead
• Andy Henson, Serco NA chief technology officer

Lt. Gen. Matos will also deliver exclusive investment insights on top priority information warfare efforts like Project Dynamis and Maven during his keynote address.

3. Dive Into the Golden Fleet

The Navy’s Golden Fleet initiative is about more than just building new battleships. It’s about paradigm-shifting advancements in how the service builds ships.

Golden Fleet will help the Navy improve construction paradigms, including discovering ways to slash costs using AI. Emerging technologies like factory automation and digital twins promise to reduce the time and costs to build advanced ships, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. Combined with new U.S. economic policy promoting onshoring, this promises a new era of U.S. weapon system manufacturing.

At the 2026 Navy Summit’s Building the Golden Fleet with Software panel discussion, dive into AI-native shipbuilding and digital engineering practices, and expanding industry collaboration across the shipbuilding ecosystem with top Navy officials on conversations guided by industry’s top talents:

• Shery Thomas, Navy Installations Command enterprise IT officer
• Robert Keisler, Naval Information Warfare Center senior scientific technical manager, data science and analytics engineering competency senior manager
• Edmond Kuqo, Navy Raise technical warrant holder AI/LLM
• David Voelker, Navy zero trust architecture lead
• Capt. (retired) Rich Sussman (moderator), SAIC director of business development

4. Network With Top Contractors

The 2026 Navy Summit is a unique opportunity to spark collaborations with the leading companies in naval technologies. Sharing a room with these leading sponsors…

Kpler Defense | Carahsoft | AT&T | SAP NS2 | SAIC | C5MI | Legion Intelligence | Exiger | Windward | Serco | AWS | Akima | HP | Valkyrie | Oracle Cloud

…means real-time insight into partnership opportunities, teaming strategies and where budget dollars are headed next.

For technology professionals, that access translates directly into contracting results: warmer introductions, sharper positioning and a front-row seat to where innovation meets contract dollars. Few venues combine that much relationship value into a single day like the 2026 Navy Summit. Get your seat at the table.

5. Get Business Opportunities in Network-Centric Warfare

Network-centric warfare programs like Project Overmatch, the Navy’s contribution to the Pentagon’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2, effort, is one of the service’s top investment priorities. The 2026 Navy Summit has all your bases covered for investment opportunities in network centric warfighting.

Upskill on accelerating software-defined modernization across the fleet and delivering assured C2 across the battlespace at the Project Overmatch, CJADC2 and Network-Centric Warfighting panel. Featuring:

• Bryan Lopez, Navy office of the chief information officer director of emerging technologies
• Jeffrey Proudfoot, Navy PEO Digital executive director
• Jared Kaib, Navy Overmatch technical director
• Amina Al Sherif, Google Public Sector head of AI
• Dr. Nick Weir, Legion Intelligence vice president for mission engineering
• Col. (retired) Mark Campbell (moderator), Legion Intelligence senior business development executive

Get your pressing questions during robust question-and-answer sessions. Network with leaders from the top echelon of the Navy and Marine Corps, and the brightest minds in industry afterward. Only at the 2026 Navy Summit.

Why You Can’t Miss the 2026 Navy Summit

For GovCon technology professionals, the 2026 Navy Summit is the must-attend forum of the summer — and the grand finale of Potomac Officers Club’s Summer Service Series. Gain direct access to program leads, get a read on the competition and build relationships with top firms in naval technologies. Shorten sales cycles and win more, and larger, contracts by attending the 2026 Navy Summit. Sign up now!