2026 Navy Summit | Potomac Officers Club
RegisterWHAT
The Department of the Navy has requested a record-breaking $377.5 billion budget for fiscal year 2027 to rebuild and modernize the nation's fleet. Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Navy Summit is the place to hear directly from Navy leadership on where that funding is headed and how it will translate into new warfighter platforms and opportunities for government contractors.
Speakers from the upper echelons of the sea service and defense industrial base will come together to explore the challenges and priorities facing the Navy today and into the future. Panel discussions will include building a hybrid fleet at scale, integrating commercial capabilities into maritime operations centers, modernizing enterprise networks for information warfare readiness, network-centric warfighting through Project Overmatch and CJADC2, and accelerating the deployment of mission-critical capabilities.
The event will also host dedicated panels on the public-private partnerships for the development of unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned surface vehicles and the advanced technologies needed to bring President Trump’s vision of the Golden Fleet to reality.
Keynote Speakers
Hon. Hung Cao
Acting Secretary
U.S. Department of the Navy
VADM Robert M. Gaucher
Director, Submarine Programs
U.S. Department of War (DOW)
Lt. Gen. Joseph Matos
Deputy Commandant for Information
USMC
VADM Brad Skillman
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Integration of Capabilities and Resources, N8, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations
U.S. Navy
Barry Tanner
CIO
U.S. Department of the Navy
Vice Adm. Michael Vernazza
Commander, Naval Information Forces
U.S. Navy
Speakers
Amina Al Sherif
Head of AI
Google Public Sector
James Balocki
Executive Director, Marine Corps Installations Command
Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
RADM Susan BryerJoyner
Director of Information Warfare (N99)
U.S. Navy
Col (Ret) Mark Campbell
Sr. Business Development Executive
Legion Intelligence
Col. Craig Clarkson
Program Manager Overmatch Rapid Capabilities Cell PAE Mission Systems
USMC
Capt. Randy Cruz
Commanding Officer
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)
Richard Cunningham
Director, Naval Enterprise Networks
U.S. Department of the Navy
Brian DeFelice
Deputy Director, Financial Operations (FMO)
U.S. Navy
Justin Fanelli
Chief Technology Officer
U.S. Department of the Navy
CDR Collin R. Fox
Chief Strategy Officer, Task Force Hopper
U.S. Department of the Navy
Chris Fraser
SVP
Exiger
Van Gurley
CEO
Metron Inc.
GEN (Ret) Charles R Hamilton
The SPECTRUM Group
Mark Harris
Strategic Advisor
Exiger
Andy Henson
CTO
Serco NA
Glenn Hickok
Vice President, Noblis Defense and President, Noblis MSD
Noblis
Capt. Joseph Houser
Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific Executive Officer
U.S. Navy
Jeffery Hurley
Director (Acting), Information Command, Control, Communications and Computers (IC4)
Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
Robert J. Keisler
Director, Software, Data Science, and Artificial Intelligence (5.4/5.6)
Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC)
VADM (Ret) Joseph D Kernan Kernan
Former USD(I&S) & Senior Vice President of Strategic Engagements
SAP NS2
Brian Kesecker
Executive Director, Government Business and Strategy
Kpler
Louis Koplin
PAE Mission Systems Chief Information & Technology Officer
U.S. Department of the Navy
Edmond Kuqo
RAISE Technical Warrant Holder (TWH) AI/LLM | DevSecOps | Cybersecurity | Cloud
U.S. Department of the Navy
CAPT Ruth Lane
Assistant Chief of Staff for Maritime Operations Center Type Command, Naval Information Forces
U.S. Navy
RDMU (Ret) Anthony Lengerich
Vice President, Naval Programs
Thales Defense & Security
George Malkasian
Marine Corps Strategy Lead
AT&T
Rob McGregor
Senior Manager, Department of War Solutions Architecture
Amazon Web Services
Jeffrey Proudfoot
Marine Corps Technology Officer, PAE Mission Systems CI&TO
U.S. Department of the Navy
Dave Raley
Chief Digital Services Officer
Operation StormBreaker, USMC
Bill Sellers
DON Advanced Wireless Technologies IPT Director
U.S. Department of the Navy
VADM Retired Robert Sharp
Chief Maritime Intelligence Officer.
Windward US
Joe Simons
Head of US Defense and National Security Affairs
Kpler
Chuck Sparks
Client Executive, Navy & Marine Corps
AT&T
Capt. (Ret.) Rich Sussman
Director of Business Development
SAIC
Shery Thomas
Enterprise IT Officer, Navy Installations Command
U.S. Department of the Navy
Candice Tisdale
Palantirian
Palantir Technologies
David Voelker
Zero Trust Architecture Lead
U.S. Department of the Navy
Lacey Wean
Senior Director, Space & Defense Technology
Carahsoft
Brandon Wehler
Executive Director
C5MI Insight LLC
Dr. Nick Weir
VP Mission Engineering
Legion Intelligence
Agenda
| 7:00am | 8:00am | Networking Reception |
| 8:00am | 8:15am | Welcome & Opening Remarks |
| 8:15am | 8:40am | Opening Keynote: Hon. Hung Cao & Brian Kesecker (Introducer) |
| 8:40am | 9:00am | Morning Keynote: Vice Adm. Michael Vernazza & Chuck Sparks (Introducer) |
| 9:00am | 9:20am | Morning Keynote: VADM Brad Skillman |
| 9:20am | 9:50am | Networking Break |
| 9:50am | 10:50am | Panel A: Hybrid Fleet in Production: Autonomy at Scale: Lacey Wean (Moderator), VADM Retired Robert Sharp (Panelist), David Raley (Panelist), Capt. Randy Cruz (Panelist) |
| 9:50am | 10:50am | Panel B: Integrating Commercial Capabilities into the MOCs: Opportunities & Challenges: Joe Simons (Moderator), Capt. Ruth Lane (Panelist), Candice Tisdale (Panelist), Capt. Joseph Houser (Panelist), Mark Harris (Panelist) |
| 10:50am | 11:00am | Break |
| 11:00am | 12:00pm | Panel A: Building the Golden Fleet with Software: AI, Digital Engineering, and the New Shipbuilding Stack- Rich Sussman (Moderator), Shery Thomas (Panelist), Robert Keisler (Panelist), Edmond Kuqo (Panelist), David Voelker (Panelist), Rob McGregor (Panelist), Justin Fanelli (Panelist) |
| 11:00am | 12:00pm | Panel B: From Legacy to Lethality: Modernizing the Navyu2019s Enterprise Networks for Information Warfare Readiness- George Malkasian (Moderator), Jeffery Hurley (Panelist), James Balocki (Panelist), RADM Susan BryerJoyner (Panelist), Andy Henson (Panelist), Richard Cunningham (Panelist) |
| 12:00pm | 1:30pm | Networking Lunch |
| 12:15pm | 1:15pm | Lunch Panel: The Future of UUV & USV Navy-Industry Partnership- Glenn Hickok (Moderator), RDMU (Ret) Anthony Lengerich (panelist), Van Gurley (Panelist), Chris Fraser (Panelist) |
| 1:30pm | 2:30pm | Panel A: Connective Tissue: Project Overmatch, CJADC2, and Network-Centric Warfighting- Mark Campbell (Moderator), Amina Al Sherif (Panelist),Dr. Nick Weir (Panelist), Bill Sellers (Panelist), Jeffrey Proudfoot (Panelist), Col. Craig Clarkson (Panelist) |
| 1:30pm | 2:30pm | Panel B: Go Live Faster Panel-Brandon Wehler (Moderator), VADM Retired Joe Kernan (Panelist),GEN (Ret) Charles R Hamilton (Panelist), Brian Defelice (Panelist), Louis Koplin (Panelist), CDR Collin Fox (Panelist) |
| 2:30pm | 2:40pm | Networking Break |
| 2:40pm | 3:00pm | Afternoon Keynote: Barry Tanner |
| 3:00pm | 3:20pm | Mid-Afternoon Keynote: VADM Rob Gaucher |
| 3:20pm | 3:40pm | Closing Keynote: LT Gen Joseph Matos |
| 3:40pm | 4:00pm | Closing Comments |
