The Daily Scoop Podcast
Episode: Navy CTO Justin Fanelli on Rewriting the Rules of Defense Acquisition
Date: January 6, 2026
Host: Billy Mitchell
Guests: Justin Fanelli (Navy CTO), Paul Tatum (Salesforce EVP Global Public Sector)
Overview
This episode centers on the Department of the Navy's transformation in defense acquisition, with a keynote from Navy CTO Justin Fanelli at Defense Talks. He details how the Navy is breaking down bureaucratic barriers, accelerating tech adoption, and shifting toward data-driven, outcome-focused acquisition. The episode also features a sponsored segment where Paul Tatum (Salesforce) and Wyatt Cash discuss the rise of agentic AI in federal agencies.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Defense Acquisition Headlines & Changes
- Host Billy Mitchell (00:00 – 04:35)
- Reports on Kirsten Davies’ appointment as DoD CIO, bringing a wealth of digital transformation and cyber expertise.
- Quote: “She brings to the department two decades transforming organizations for the digital age, building cyber defenses, tackling tech debt and innovating at scale.” (01:05)
- FAA launches a massive radar modernization project with RTX and Indra Systemas as contractors.
- Context for Navy CTO keynote: The Navy is at the forefront of acquisition overhaul aiming for speed and innovation.
- Reports on Kirsten Davies’ appointment as DoD CIO, bringing a wealth of digital transformation and cyber expertise.
2. Justin Fanelli’s Keynote: Rewriting Navy Acquisition
[Defense Talks keynote, 04:35–14:45]
A. The Need for Urgency and Change
- Fanelli reflects on a pivotal moment for defense tech and acquisition.
- Quote: “Winners have a sense of urgency. We caught that. Right now we are moving faster.” (05:11)
- Stresses that shifting from reacting to proactively enabling disruption is critical.
B. Overcoming the “Valley of Death” in Tech Acquisition
- “I think this group knows the valley of death for technology better than most. We’re over that.” (05:55)
- Embracing a "bridges" metaphor: moving from isolated pilots to integrated, scaled deployments.
C. Agile in a Waterfall World
- The Navy embeds agility into traditionally rigid acquisition processes.
- Quote: “We are living agilely in a waterfall world... We are now doing strategy through execution.” (06:36)
- Partnerships with R&E and the Defense Innovation Unit support rapid pilot-to-execution transitions.
D. Standardizing Innovation Adoption – Turning Art into Science
- Launch of the “Innovation Adoption Kit” to accelerate and demystify new capability rollouts.
- Quote: “We have made this a science... We partner across services to say, hey, what are the more streamlined, easier ways to execute these things?” (07:10)
E. Emphasis on Pilot-Driven, Data-Informed Decision Making
- Navy is running “about 20 times” more tech pilots than before; quick to “scale or kill.”
- Quote: “We are either scaling them or killing them. People saw that as risky behavior. Turns out... we are trying to take more acquisition risk in order to lower operational risk.” (08:16)
- Adoption of a “funnel” model familiar to product delivery teams—scouting, piloting, scaling, production.
- Horizons:
- Horizon 3: Scouting for new tech
- Horizon 2: Piloting, scale up or kill fast
- Horizon 1: Production
- Horizon 0: Graveyard of unsuccessful pilots
- Horizons:
F. Divestment and Enterprise Services
- Proactive “divest to invest” approach: cut redundant systems, focus on scalable, high-value platforms.
- Example: Navy consolidating cloud environments, recently awarding to Google and Oracle, creating a “one-stop shop for cloud.”
- Quote: “We don’t want 50 DevSecOps environments anymore. We want some that work that are so good, the warfighters say, please never turn this off.” (09:54)
- GenAI pilots consolidated into a successful enterprise offering; others sunsetted after lessons learned.
G. Data-Driven Outcomes and Transparency
- Use of live dashboards to assess pilots with clear, quantitative metrics.
- Quote: “Data is non-dilutive... we can go to the money people and say hey, this is the data we have from our vendor partner. It is having this impact. It's irrefutable.” (12:13)
- Recognition: Navy wins the North American Award for Tech Strategy from Forrester, unique for a government org.
H. Culture Shift & Call to Action
- Fanelli underscores the importance of a shared language and focus on measurable wins.
- Quote: “Let’s share a language, bring wins, send them to us quantitatively... and then send more winners because we need more pullers in the department who can make those trade offs.” (13:36)
- Navy moves from tech laggard to a leader in adopting, scaling, and sunsetting projects at the pace of commercial industry.
3. Agentic AI in Federal Government (Sponsored Segment)
[Paul Tatum (Salesforce) & Wyatt Cash, 15:11–27:32]
A. AI Transformation and Mission Force Initiative
- Salesforce launches “Mission Force” to accelerate AI and CRM technology adoption in the defense, intelligence, and national security sectors.
- Quote: “Mission Force is helping us do that. So it’s bringing acceleration, focus and execution for everything that our defense partners need across the board.” (18:55)
- Investments in FedRAMP-high AI solutions for deeper government integration.
B. Agentic AI: Practical Impact
- Agentic AI (like Salesforce Agent Force) takes action within workflows—can adapt, learn, reason, and navigate, directly supporting defense operational needs.
- Quote: “[Agentic AI] can now take action… It can learn, it can adapt, it can reason and it can navigate.” (20:48)
- Examples: streamlining recruiting, case management, document validation—freeing human capacity for higher-value tasks.
C. Organizational Readiness for AI
- Agencies need to:
- Unlock and integrate data silos.
- Prioritize high-impact, realistic use cases.
- Prepare culture and workforce for digital “coworkers” (AI tools as augmentation partners).
- Quote: “You have these kind of new digital employees... preparing your staff and your organization to work alongside.” (25:43)
- Assurance that it’s not “DIY AI”—Salesforce delivers a fully integrated, easy-to-implement stack.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
Justin Fanelli (Navy CTO)
- "Winners have a sense of urgency. We caught that. Right now we are moving faster." (05:11)
- “We are living agilely in a waterfall world... We are now doing strategy through execution.” (06:36)
- "We are either scaling [pilots] or killing them. People saw that as risky behavior... we are trying to take more acquisition risk in order to lower operational risk." (08:16)
- “We don’t want 50 DevSecOps environments anymore. We want some that work that are so good, the warfighters say, please never turn this off.” (09:54)
- “Data is non-dilutive... It is having this impact. It's irrefutable.” (12:13)
- “Let’s share a language, bring wins, send them to us quantitatively... and then send more winners because we need more pullers in the department who can make those trade offs.” (13:36)
-
Paul Tatum (Salesforce)
- “Mission Force is helping us do that. So it’s bringing acceleration, focus and execution for everything that our defense partners need across the board.” (18:55)
- “[Agentic AI] can now take action… It can learn, it can adapt, it can reason and it can navigate.” (20:48)
- “You have these kind of new digital employees... preparing your staff and your organization to work alongside.” (25:43)
Timestamps for Important Segments
- 00:00–04:35: Top federal tech headlines (Davies’ DoD CIO appointment; FAA radar update)
- 04:35–14:45: Justin Fanelli keynote on Navy acquisition transformation
- 15:11–27:32: Discussion on agentic AI in government (Salesforce, with Paul Tatum and Wyatt Cash)
Tone and Language
- Fanelli’s keynote is energetic, optimistic, and laced with personal anecdotes and metaphors (“City of Bridges,” “downhill running,” “funnel” instead of “Rube Goldberg charts”).
- Common theme: urgency, agility, and measurable outcomes in modern defense acquisition.
- Paul Tatum adopts a customer-centric and pragmatic tone, focusing on service and tangible mission value.
Summary Takeaways
- The Navy is actively breaking down barriers to technology adoption, emphasizing pilots, data-driven decisions, and aggressive divestment from outdated tools.
- Industry and government collaboration is closer than ever—the emphasis is on execution, scalability, and lasting outcomes for warfighters.
- The defense sector is poised to rapidly adopt agentic AI, with Salesforce and others delivering ready-to-use, secure, and integrated solutions tailored to federal needs.
For more news on federal government and technology, visit fedscoop.com.
