GovDiscovery AI Podcast Ep. 73 — "U.S. Army & Innovation"

Guest: Dr. Matthew Willis, Director of Army Fuse
Host: Mike Shanley
Date: December 22, 2025

Episode Overview

In this deep-dive episode, host Mike Shanley welcomes Dr. Matt Willis, Director of the Army Fuse program, to explore how the U.S. Army is transforming its approach to innovation, acquisition, and collaboration with industry. The conversation delves into overcoming historical bureaucratic hurdles, embracing risk, cultivating speedy technology adoption, and forging new connections with startups, venture capital, and international partners. Dr. Willis offers actionable insights for founders, VCs, and industry leaders seeking to engage with Army Fuse and highlights significant reforms reshaping the Army's innovation landscape.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Army’s Historic Innovation Challenges

• Stovepipes & Siloes: Large, compartmentalized programs made it difficult for the Army to leverage synergies and scale breakthroughs ([00:42]).
• Linear Solutions to Nonlinear Problems: The traditional acquisition process is too slow for rapidly evolving tech, with "decades-long" timelines mismatched for tech advancements that now have "half-lives of months or weeks" ([02:17]).
• Army Fuse’s Mission: To consolidate multiple innovation programs, minimize stovepipes, accelerate timelines, and make the Army more adaptable and responsive.

“We’re applying a linear model or a linear solution to a nonlinear problem set… Tech’s half-life is months, weeks. If it takes decades to get a capability out the door, we’re handicapping ourselves.”
— Dr. Matt Willis ([02:54])

2. Army Fuse Program Strategy

• Venture Capital Mindset: Fuse is modeled after venture investing — betting on many early-stage innovations, testing quickly, divesting failures, and scaling successes ([02:17], [05:32]).
• Risk Tolerance: Army leadership is now encouraging greater risk in R&D investment, emphasizing that a 100% success (transition) rate means not enough risk is being taken ([05:32]).

"If we have a 100% transition rate, we are definitely not taking enough risk."
— Dr. Matt Willis ([06:09])

3. Integrating and Complementing Other Innovation Programs

• All-Inclusive Funding Ecosystem: Fuse aggregates $750M/year in non-dilutive funds, combining:
  • SBIR and STTR (Small Business Innovation/Technology Transfer)
  • Prize competitions (xTech)
  • Prototyping funds
  • Manufacturing technology ("ManTech") funding ([07:46])
• Full Life Cycle Support: The aim is to support new tech from identification to MVP, prototyping, manufacturability, and scale.

4. Public-Private Partnerships and the Role of Venture Capital

• Private Capital Is Essential: Fuse funding alone can't get technologies across the finish line; private capital partners are critical for scaling manufacturing and adoption ([10:10]).
• Improved Transparency: The Army’s working to better signal where it’s investing, align priorities, and offer data that helps VCs identify opportunities and de-risk investment decisions ([10:10]–[12:20]).
• Demand Signal Forums & Marketplaces: The Army hosts events (“Army Demand Signal Forum”) and is developing tech marketplaces for greater visibility ([12:50]).

5. Advice for Founders & Innovators

• Army Is “Open for Business”: Fewer stovepipes, faster decisions, and a clear path to soldier testing and follow-on funding ([14:52]).
• Rapid Cycle Contracting: Historically, multi-year waits led to insolvency for startups; now, Fuse is expediting the process, sometimes cutting months to days ([14:52]–[16:18]).

"We are foundationally changing how we are managing these investments so we can help companies like that to inject their capabilities into the army so we can help our soldiers."
— Dr. Matt Willis ([15:40])

6. Incorporating Soldier Feedback: User-Centered Development

• Closing the Loop: Soldiers are now routinely engaged to help define problems, evaluate prototypes, and provide rapid feedback, adjusting the development process in real time ([17:10]).
• Difference From Civilian B2B: The stakes and operating environments are unique, and the Army now values fast, iterative testing, not delayed “gold-plated” solutions.

"The 90% solution is oftentimes good enough, and we need to stop admiring the problem and actually deliver a capability and see if it works."
— Dr. Matt Willis ([18:30])

7. Army Innovation Priorities & Opportunity Areas

• Key Focus Areas:
  • Power generation at the edge in austere environments
  • Small drones (UAS) and counter-UAS technologies
  • Electronic warfare ([19:50])
• International Collaboration: Fuse is technology- and maturity-agnostic and welcomes best-of-breed solutions from U.S. and allied partners, with some restrictions for certain funding lines ([22:00]).

8. Eligibility & Participation

• Broad Access: Besides SBIR/STTR dollars restricted to U.S. small businesses, other funds are open to international (e.g., NATO-aligned) companies depending on the competition ([22:00]).
• Recent Example — Project Flag Trap 4.5: Opened to U.S. and allied/a partner nation companies for winter/arctic solutions ([23:20]).

9. Case Study: “XTech Disrupt” at AUSA (October 2025)

• What Happened:
  • Live competition, same-day company sign-ups/pitches
  • Winners deployed to Hawaii within 20 days—working with soldiers in the field at a major exercise ([24:49]).
  • Example: One company delivered a platform-agnostic swarm drone controller, integrated and demoed with 3D-printed drones on-site.

"In the course of less than 30 days—identifying a company, getting them out, working directly with soldiers, then demonstrating a capability we previously were unable to do."
— Dr. Matt Willis ([27:52])

10. What’s Next for Army Fuse & Acquisition Reform

• Acquisition Reform: Army has gone from 12 Program Executive Offices to six Portfolio Acquisition Executives plus a new “innovation” lane (the PIT—Pathway for Innovation and Technology), with Fuse as the engine ([28:31]).
• Direct Soldier Demand Signals: New structures ensure direct input from units (e.g., Joint Innovation Outpost at 18th Airborne Corps, Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate with forward-deployed officers) ([28:31]).
• Increased Pace & Scale: Faster cycles, more competitions, emphasis on ground autonomy and expanded domains in 2026 ([28:31]).

11. How to Engage with Army Fuse

• Online:
  • Website: fuse.army.mil
  • LinkedIn: Army Fuse
  • X (formerly Twitter): Army Fuse ([31:30])
• Live Events: Look for Fuse at major conferences (e.g., Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas upcoming)
• Direct Contact: Dr. Matt Willis is open to LinkedIn connections; focus is on building a collaborative community ([31:30]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We’re not trying to broker relationships between specific companies and venture capital… We’re just trying to set the conditions—to say, ‘Here are our priorities. Here are our areas. Here are the potential outcomes.’”
  — Dr. Matt Willis ([11:38])

• “Oftentimes finding out what doesn’t work is more valuable than finding out what does.”
  — Dr. Matt Willis ([18:57])

• “If it takes a year just to get a contract, that could potentially lead to insolvency, especially for many of these companies that have maybe a handful of employees.”
  — Dr. Matt Willis ([15:09])

• “We need to move quickly, and recognizing that we are going to make mistakes along the way, but that’s okay.”
  — Dr. Matt Willis ([25:09])

Key Timestamps

• 00:42 — Historical barriers to Army innovation
• 02:17 — Army Fuse’s goals and Secretary Driscoll’s VC-driven vision
• 05:32 — Risk tolerance and measuring success in innovation
• 07:46 — How Fuse integrates SBIR, STTR, xTech, and prototyping
• 10:10 — How private capital and venture funds engage with Fuse
• 12:50 — Demand Signal Forum, tech marketplaces, and VC-industry interface
• 14:52 — Advice and process for founders/innovators
• 17:10 — Incorporating soldier feedback and fail-fast philosophy
• 19:50 — Top Army tech focus areas (power, drones, electronic warfare)
• 22:00 — Eligibility: U.S. and allied companies
• 24:49 — AUSA xTech Disrupt case study: 20-day innovation cycle
• 28:31 — 2026 plans: reform, “PIT,” new acquisition structures
• 31:30 — How to connect and next steps for listeners

Conclusion

This episode offers a playbook for government contractors, startups, and VCs wanting to align with the Army’s new, fast-paced, risk-tolerant, and collaborative innovation ecosystem. Dr. Matt Willis demystifies emerging opportunities, shares foundational reforms, and gives actionable steps for getting involved with Army Fuse—emphasizing that the Army is actively inviting new players to support the mission of equipping U.S. soldiers faster and smarter.