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.

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

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:
  1. Unlock and integrate data silos.
  2. Prioritize high-impact, realistic use cases.
  3. 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.